MEDICAL MARIJUANA INITIATIVE IS FRONT FOR LEGALIZING POT

The idea that marijuana should be allowed for medicinal use in
Arizona, is once again heading to the ballot in November.

Supporters of the "Arizona Medical Marijuana Act." a 16-page
initiative, are pursuing broad changes to current laws.

We are now back to the debate, is marijuana really medicine? Is the
probability of abuse worth the risk? Are there any better alternatives
to marijuana in the health field today? These three questions are the
focus of this commentaryu but there are many more that should be
addressed during this debate from now until November.

The authors of the "Arizona Medical Marijuana Act" argue that
marijuana has been used as medicine for over 5,000 years and should
still be used today. Marijuana may have been used a long time ago for
medicinal purposes, but since then there have been a few advances in
the field of medicine. Comparing marijuana to the prescription
medications available to nurses and doctors today is similar to
comparing the plane flown at Kitty Hawk to a jet. It's not as
effective, not as reliable and not as safe to use.

These same authors cite, in this initiative, a study that was written
in 1999 by The Institute of Medicine that stated: "There is strong
evidence that marijuana may have medical benefits."

What is not mentioned is that this same study goes on to explain that
the symptoms marijuana helps relieve are short-term issues as seen
with chemotherapy patients. The report clearly states that it does not
recommend marijuana for long-term use. In its conclusion, the I.M.
report states, "That any use of marijuana for medical reasons should
not involve smoking."

The AMM initiative states in Section 2, paragraph C, that of the 13
states that currently allow medical marijuana, there are approximately
260,000 patients. That is not an accurate figure. Citing statistics
from the 2008 Drug Identification Bible, in California alone there are
nearly 350,000 patients.

The laws in California and Oregon have seen widespread abuse. In 2008,
in California, eight counties and more than 100 cities banned
marijuana clubs all together or had moratoriums put in place. When
Oregon proposed its initiative in 1998, the voters were told that
there would only be 500 participants in the program. As of 2008, there
are over 17,000 card-holders.

Scott Imler, one of the co-authors of Proposition 215, the 1996 act
that legalized medical marijuana in California, was distressed by the
abuse. He was quoted in Alternatives magazine, issue 39, of 2006,
saying, "There are probably fifteen-to twenty-thousand real patients
in California." He goes on to say, "A lot of what we have now is
basically pot dealers in store fronts."

For patients who are seeking relief of specific symptoms, from
specific illnesses, there are other alternatives to smoking a plant
that contains over 400 different chemicals, including carcinogens.
Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and some other selected cannabinoids are
the substances found in marijuana that provide the relief that
patients are seeking.

With the advancement in medicine over the past 5,000 years, there are
now medications available that contain THC and these selected
cannabinoids. Marinol, a prescription medication that contains
synthetic THC, alleviates several symptoms that marijuana is said to
help. Another prescription medication currently being tested by the
FDA and available in Canada is Sativex. It's a mouth spray that has
shown to alleviate neuropathic pain, as seen with MS patients. Another
example of available medications today is Zofran. It has shown great
results for patients who suffer from nausea and vomiting related to
chemotherapy treatments.

The initiative states that the legalization of marijuana use is being
pursued in Arizona for the "health and welfare of its citizens." I
think the real reason for the pursuit of this initiative is the same
as the one behind proposition 215 in California. People just want to
be allowed to smoke pot. The health and welfare of our citizens would
be better served if we were not smoking this addictive, mind-altering,
cancer-causing drug.