MARIJUANA CAN SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM

If our government were truly concerned about rescuing our economy, it would
legalize marijuana.

It is already a prime cash crop (nationally it is the fourth largest), and
an increase in usage would also bolster the fast food industry.

If combating terrorism were the primary goal, our government would legalize
marijuana.

There is that government-funded commercial saying that buying marijuana
supports terrorism because the money goes to Al Qaeda. Now half the
marijuana consumed in the United States is grown domestically, and the
major foreign sources are Mexico, Colombia, Canada, and Jamaica, but the
minute percentage that funds terrorism would be eliminated if Americans had
no reason to use foreign sources.

There! I solved that tear-jerking problem for the DEA. I could go on, but I
want to focus on the main issue of this column, one that is more important
to me than the economy or terrorism: medicine.

A plethora of scientific research has found that marijuana is a highly
versatile drug. It can be used in comprehensive treatment plans for
multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, cancer, HIV/AIDS, chronic neuropathic pain,
Tourette's Syndrome, glaucoma, Alzheimer's, anorexia, fibromyalgia,
arthritis, post-traumatic stress disorder, endometriosis. There are
literally hundreds of medical and psychological conditions marijuana can
assuage.

It selectively kills cancer cells, acts as an antioxidant, and reduces
inflammation and pain, which are just a few of its positive effects.

Some people point out that marijuana also has negative effects.

It releases carcinogens when smoked - although this effect can be
circumvented by the use of a vaporizer, which heats (but does not burn) the
marijuana to a temperature that releases the active ingredient THC. Its
effects on heart rate and the brain also raise concern, but what legal
medicine is free of side effects?

Every drug out there used to treat medical conditions has side effects, but
the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. If marijuana causes a tumor to go
into remission, isn't some memory impairment acceptable?

Drugs that contain selected components of marijuana or allow it to be taken
orally (in pill form) have been found to not be as effective for some
conditions such as vaporized, inhaled Cannabis sativa.

In 2001, U.K.-based GW Pharmaceuticals noted "extracts of cannabis provide
greater relief of pain than the equivalent amount of cannabinoid given as a
single chemical entity."

Currently, marijuana is a Schedule I drug in the United States. This
classification means that there is no accepted medical use for marijuana
(despite all the evidence to the contrary), and it has a high potential for
abuse (although it is less addictive than both alcohol and tobacco). Other
Schedule I drugs include LSD, heroin and mescaline. Schedule II drugs also
have a high potential for abuse but are appropriate treatments for certain
medical conditions. Cocaine, morphine and dextroamphetamine fall under
Schedule II. What this means is that your 7-year-old child can take
amphetamine so that he can sit still in class, but your 70-year-old
grandmother cannot smoke marijuana to alleviate the nausea and pain
associated with her cancer and chemotherapy treatment.

Marinol, a marijuana derivative, is a Schedule III drug, which means it is
more legal than marijuana, but it is not as effective in treating various
conditions. In 2001 in the International Journal of Drug Policy, Harvard
psychiatrist Lester Grinspoon, M.D., stated that he had not found "a
patient who has used both smoked marijuana and Marinol who finds the latter
more useful. The most common reason for using Marinol is the illegality of
marijuana, and many patients choose to ignore the law when they believe
that the difference between the two puts their health, comfort or economic
well-being at risk."

I know that our nation is not necessarily fond of policies based on science
(evolution and stem cell research, anyone?), but when the only barrier to a
drug that offers so much while costing so little is legality, couldn't we
make an exception?

Everyone has or has had a friend or family member suffer from a condition
that could be treated by marijuana.

If other treatments had failed your friend or relative and you knew that
clinical trials had shown that marijuana was an effective treatment, what
would you do?