Pot's Potential

MEDICAL MARIJUANA COULD RELIEVE MANY IN PAIN, IF WE'LL LET IT

Imagine you are forced to put on a pair of short shorts every morning
when you wake up because if long pants were to lightly brush your skin
during the day, the sensation would be similar to a thousand spiders
crawling up your legs.

Imagine your eyesight is stranger than you remember it, as there is
excess pressure on your eyes forcing you to use mainly your central
vision. Imagine that every sensation you feel is a bit off, your body
twitches because of unknown sources. Imagine that no matter how good
food may smell, you never want to taste it.

All the strange sensations mentioned above are just a few effects of a
debilitating nerve disease, multiple sclerosis. Then, imagine that you
can feel better, almost normal, but the only way for you to regain
your senses is illegal, as the drug that would ease most of your ills
is marijuana.

Marijuana was legal - even approved by a panel that sets standards for
pharmaceutical drugs in the United States - until political pressure
forced the criminalization of it in 1937. Although a few states have
passed new regulations permitting use of "medical marijuana," which is
not as effective and much more costly than the other kind, politicians
simply refuse to endorse a so called "gateway" drug.

But is this drug really that harmful? We hear about the side effects
and overdoses of currently prescribed, even over-the-counter,
medications daily. Can marijuana be much worse than these?

Scientific evidence indicates it is not. John Walters, director of the
Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in March 2002 that
"smoked marijuana damages the heart, the brain, lungs and immune
system. It impairs learning and interferes with memory, perception and
judgment. Smoked marijuana contains cancer-causing compounds and has
been implicated in a high percentage of automobile crashes."

He voices the stereotypical judgments of the drug made by most people
who oppose its legalization. However, many of the myths have been
debunked by studies that have been ongoing for decades.

Based on a 30-year research project, editors of The Lancet, a British
medical journal, established that "the smoking of cannabis, even long
term, is not harmful to health."

The cognitive, information processing and memory effects of the drug
are true but only while the individual is under the influence of the
drug. Individuals in a study had no problems remembering things they
already knew, although they did find it difficult to take in new
information. But this effect is temporary and there is not adequate
evidence to prove that even abundant daily use of the drug can cause
any permanent damage.

Studies performed on drivers show that marijuana may make them "more
cautious," but not necessarily dangerous, and the capability of a
person to operate a vehicle while under the influence of marijuana
showed no major impairments of these drivers. Alcohol, though legal,
has been proven to drastically deteriorate a driver's ability.

There is also no substantial evidence that marijuana is a "gateway"
drug, that it can lead to the use of more dangerous drugs, such as
heroin and cocaine.

Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in the United States,
therefore, people who have used less popular drugs are very likely to
have tried marijuana as well. To abolish the "gateway drug" theory,
consider that many people who smoke cannabis do not use other drugs on
a regular basis. "Pot smokers" are not heavy drug users who party all
night on cocaine, ecstasy and heroin; they are simply people who smoke
marijuana.

For more than 20 years, the Netherlands has allowed its citizens to
purchase and use cannabis. For most age groups studied, marijuana use
in the Netherlands is comparable to that of the United States. Crime
has not risen, and neither has the use of illicit drugs.

The Netherlands modifies its regulations periodically, but overall
this country seeks to "normalize rather than dramatize cannabis use,"
according to this study.

Marijuana foes also claim it is highly addictive, even dangerous. But
of the 1 percent of Americans who smoke marijuana on a daily basis,
the number who become dependent is minimal. In contrast to opiates,
alcohol and nicotine, it is impossible to develop a physical addiction
to marijuana - if individuals claim as much, their minds have
convinced their bodies that they "need" it. This type of dependence
can happen with anything.

A survey on drug dependence showed marijuana scored the lowest of
tobacco, alcohol, cocaine, heroin and anxiolytics, making marijuana's
addiction equivalent to that of coffee. A study performed on rats and
monkeys revealed that an adult would have to consume several thousand
marijuana cigarettes in a day to risk a lethal overdose. "It is simply
impossible," the study said, "to kill oneself by smoking or eating too
much marijuana."

We must also consider our overcrowded court system. Arrest rates for
marijuana possession are higher than arrest rates for violent crimes;
they represent an astonishing 45 percent of all drugs arrests, yet
these people have committed victimless crimes.

Meanwhile, there is a mindset among opponents of marijuana that "pot
smokers are lazy." However, this notion, having been subjected to 25
years of studies, has no evidence to support it. In fact, employed
adults who smoke marijuana tend to have higher wages and stricter work
ethics than those who don't. The only correlation with what's known as
"amotivational syndrome" is that people who are routinely intoxicated
by any means (marijuana, pills, alcohol, or other drugs) are routinely
less productive members of society.

The medicinal uses of marijuana are the main reason we should
decriminalize it. Right behind that is taking an enormous burden off
our judicial system. Last but not least, scientists have proven
marijuana is not the type of drug it has always been thought to be.

Life for people facing terminal illnesses, glaucoma, multiple
sclerosis and AIDS - to name a few - could be greatly improved and
more comfortable if marijuana were legalized.

The Netherlands offers a wonderful and encouraging study. We should
consider this and other new studies, as the drug has been used as
medicinal treatment for thousands of years with no serious
consequences, and since scientists and health officials have
discredited the cons to decriminalizing marijuana.

Now all we need to do is convince our government of the potential
benefits of doing so.