FROM OTHER PENS - MEDICAL MARIJUANA ABUSED IN OTHER STATES

This November Arizona will vote on medical marijuana, and even
supporters have reason to dislike Proposition 203.

These laws are supposedly for diseases like cancer, AIDS and glaucoma.
But according to the Billings Gazette, only 3 percent of Montana's
medical marijuana patients have those serious illnesses. In San Diego,
it's only 2 percent. The other 98 percent have minor complaints.

In states with these laws, the most common diagnosis is pain,
accounting for 90 percent of all marijuana patients in Montana. Pain
is every drug abuser's favorite complaint. It's easily faked and
impossible to disprove.

Under medical marijuana laws, physicians are the gatekeepers. Most are
very scrupulous, but in California, Colorado and Montana, a handful of
less-than-ethical doctors decided to get rich handing out marijuana
cards to anyone with $150. They see patients one time only, for as
little as 5 minutes. Although few in number, they write almost all the
pot prescriptions, recommending it for every ache and pain, from
sprained ankles to skateboarding injuries. One woman got pot because
her high heels hurt.

With any other drug that would be illegal, but with medical marijuana
doctors are exempted from normal licensing laws.

Collusion between patients who lie and unscrupulous doctors who
prescribe pot to everyone account for almost all the marijuana sold
under these laws. It's a huge loophole, perfectly designed for drug
abusers. In San Diego, nearly three-fourths of the medical marijuana
patients are under age 40, and 12 percent are under 21. In Boulder,
Colorado, the marijuana dispensaries are all on college campuses. Do
you know any college students with glaucoma?

New Mexico's law insists on second opinions for easy to fake diagnoses
like pain. Colorado is changing its law to require long-standing
doctor-patient relationships, not just 5 minutes. But Prop 203
includes none of these protections.

That's hardly surprising. The Marijuana Policy Project wrote Prop 203,
and their stated aim is to legalize marijuana. So, of course, they
didn't fix these loopholes. They want a back-door route to
legalization.

Does it matter? An awful lot of people say pot is harmless.

But it's not. States with medical marijuana laws have higher rates of
teenage marijuana use, 20 percent higher according to the National
Household Survey on Drug Abuse. In a 2006 ranking of states by how
many teenagers smoked pot over the past month, five of the top ten
states and all of the top three had medical marijuana laws. Maine
passed a medical marijuana law, and in a few years went from 28th in
the nation to first. Parents should take note.

Medical marijuana laws hit teens the hardest.

Between 6-11 percent of teens who smoke pot regularly get addicted,
and they have serious problems. According to research published in
several psychiatric journals, teenagers who smoke pot heavily find it
harder to learn, get worse grades, and are less likely to finish high
school or college. As adults they have unhappier careers and earn less
money.

Marijuana also causes DUIs and fatal car wrecks. Research from New
Zealand found regular pot-smokers 9.5 times as likely to be in a
serious or fatal car wreck. A study from the New England Journal of
Medicine, found nearly half of impaired drivers who were not using
alcohol tested positive for marijuana. That's why the number of fatal
car wrecks involving marijuana skyrocketed in Montana when this law
went into effect.

Even worse, Proposition 203 offers drug abusers unheard-of
protections.

Under 203, Arizonans can't be charged with DUI or fired from their
jobs for small amounts of marijuana in their blood streams. But
there's no definition of small amounts. So expect their lawyers to
fight any attempt to set the bar low, and to drag it out in court for
years. Meanwhile, surgeons, teachers and truck drivers will be
protected even if they go to work stoned. Pot-smokers will have an
automatic defense against DUI.

A good medical marijuana law would have avoided all these problems.
But the Marijuana Policy Project doesn't want a good law. They're
calling Prop 203 medical marijuana so they can sneak it past Arizona
voters. What they've really written is a law that gives drug abusers
everything they want.

Ed Gogek, M.D. is an addiction psychiatrist whose website is
stop203.com. He is on the steering committee of KeepAZDrugFree.com,
the committee opposing Proposition 203.