Sunday Dialogue

WHEN MARIJUANA IS USED AS MEDICINE.

Scientists have long known that like many plants, marijuana has some
medicinal properties. But that does not imply that to derive those
medical benefits, the plant should be smoked in its raw form (we
don't, after all, smoke opium to get the benefits of morphine). Nor
does the potential medical value of marijuana mean that, as medicine,
its fate should be left to the whims of the electorate.

Unfortunately, rather than advocating better or quicker research
protocols so that pharmacists can properly dispense marijuana-based
medications with consistent dosing and in a safe delivery manner,
many states have bypassed the approval process of modern medicine.
The result has been widespread abuses.

The federal government could certainly speed up research into
marijuana's components by giving incentives to scientists who study
the drug and loosening marijuana's strict research requirements. But
the current situation - characterized by the mass commercialization
of marijuana and the proliferation of "rent-a-doctors" who
indiscriminately hand out medical recommendations for the drug -
places the truly sick at risk while detracting from the potentially
promising future of properly approved marijuana-based medications.

KEVIN A. SABET

Honolulu, Dec. 14, 2011

The writer was an adviser on drug policy in the Obama, Clinton and
George W. Bush administrations.