SCIENCE MARCHES ON

The Dangers Of Marijuana

Re: Therapeutic Pot, letter to the editor, March 7.

Please advise Russell Barth that science marches on and has advanced beyond
the 2002 Senate report he quotes. Cannabinoids do have useful
pharmacological properties, but then so do many other illicit drugs.

Using the lack of deaths attributable to excessive marijuana use is a
typical rebuttal used to avoid dealing with other major issues of marijuana
usage. According to the British Medical Journal, "We do not know the full
long-term harm caused by smoking cannabis."

However, the BMJ said "it was already known that regular use of cannabis
was associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia and depression.
Smoking the drug also causes chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and there were
reports of lung, tongue and other cancers in cannabis users."

Also, all North American regulatory and medical scientific bodies
discourage prescribing smoked cannabis. An exception is made of some
palliative and terminal cases, but the risks and adverse effects to the
general population outweigh the benefits of smoked marijuana.

There are safer more effective options available, but alternatively, there
are legal oral forms of marijuana's active ingredient available right now,
such as Marinol and Cesimet.

Ted Cooper

Powell River, B.C.