FACTS ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA ARE STUBBORN THINGS, TOO

In the words of John Adams, "facts are stubborn things, and whatever
may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion,
they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."

These same words resonate today in the debate over the legalization of
medical marijuana. During this month of October, which is National
Substance Abuse Prevention Month, it is important that we remind
ourselves about the facts of using marijuana.

First, marijuana is a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled
Substances Act, and Schedule I substances exhibit a high potential for
abuse or dependency, have no accepted medical value, and are unsafe to
use, even under medical supervision.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, there have been no
sound scientific studies supporting the medical value of marijuana. As
such, marijuana has not passed the rigid scrutiny of medicine proposed
by the FDA.

Two recent comprehensive studies by the Institute of Medicine and the
American Medical Association acknowledged the lack of data to support
the use of smoked marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse
has even stated that marijuana is unlikely to be used as a medicine in
its smoked or vaporized form because it is an unpurified plant with
often unpredictable side effects and it may cause cognitive defects
that dramatically hinder its utility.

What is scientifically approved by the FDA and accepted by the medical
community is a medicine called Marinol, a legal, widely prescribed
drug currently in pill form containing synthetic THC, a main
constituent in marijuana.

This FDA-approved drug has been found to relieve the adverse side
effects of patients undergoing chemotherapy and to stimulate appetites
in patients suffering from HIV/AIDS

The alternative, non-FDA approved drug, smoked marijuana, contains
more than 400 chemicals, many of which are identical to the most
harmful chemicals and carcinogens found in cigarette smoke. The fact
is that a marijuana cigarette contains four times as much tar as a
tobacco cigarette.

Another fact is that legalizing marijuana leads to the use of more
dangerous and harmful drugs, such as cocaine and methamphetamine. In a
study of 3,000 medical marijuana users published in the Harm Reduction
Journal, researchers found that nearly 75 percent of Caucasian
participants had used cocaine and more than 50 percent had used
methamphetamine in their lifetime.

In a similar study by Columbia University, teens who smoke marijuana
were found to be 85 times more likely to use cocaine than those teens
who do not smoke marijuana.

Yet another fact is that marijuana use, including its use for
medicinal purposes, is directly related to motor vehicle accidents and
reckless driving, as cannabis affects psychomotor functioning.

A medical marijuana user in San Diego is reported to have caused 13
car accidents while under the influence of the drug for medicinal
purposes, and, in a tragic accident, a 56-year old elementary school
teacher was killed by a medical marijuana user in an automobile
accident in California.

In a study of fatally injured drivers in Washington state, a state
with legalized medical marijuana, about one every eight tested
positive for marijuana.

With 16 states and the District of Columbia now defining marijuana as
"medicine," society seems to have ignored Adams' advice. We are
becoming less alarmed by the effects of marijuana and more accepting
of its use.

The undisputable facts, however, are that there are no sound
scientific data supporting the medical value of marijuana, and
legalizing marijuana raises serious public safety concerns. These
facts cannot be ignored.