MARIJUANA NOT TOTALLY SAFE

Re. "Educate yourself on marijuana" by Colette Wilson, letters, May 10

As a medical professional I feel compelled to respond to Colette
Wilson's letter about marijuana's safety. I am on St. Joseph's
Hospital Pain Management team, and we have studied the medical use of
marijuana. It is incorrect to say that marijuana is a totally safe
drug. The known side effects include immunosuppression, increased
risk of heart attack and high blood pressure. These side effects are
probably related to problems created through smoking marijuana:
marijuana smoke contains 400 different chemicals (including 60
cannabinoids, the active ingredients). Some studies have shown
marijuana smoke to be 50 percent to 70 percent more carcinogenic than
cigarette smoke. Other studies have shown that people who don't smoke
tobacco but smoke marijuana have a lower risk of developing lung
cancer than tobacco smokers, but those who smoke both have
significantly higher odds of developing the cancer. These effects are
over the long-term and thus are hard to quantify, but it is almost
certainly wrong to say that no one has ever directly died from the
use of marijuana causing lung cancer or complicating other medical
conditions (not taking into account how the sensory altering effects
can lead to deadly accidents).

Alcohol poisoning is a direct effect from the use of too much
alcohol, and should not be categorized in the same way as marijuana
use, which has no known similar effect. Alcohol abuse has well known
effects over the long-term, such as liver cirrhosis and malnutrition.
Whether marijuana is safer than alcohol is an apple and oranges
question. Marijuana is a drug, and like any drug has benefits and
problems. Users, and those considering using MJ for medical reasons
should take the advantages and disadvantages into consideration. Most
literature available is biased towards either the pro or the con side
of the argument, so it takes careful deliberation of the known
effects. And, medical marijuana should never be prescribed for anyone
under 18, who don't typically have the judgment skills to make good
decisions about the use of this psychoactive drug, just as they don't
for alcohol use.

Michael Orlin

Silverthorne