LIVING IN A CULTURE OF FEAR

Limiting Knowledge Can Have Serious Repercussions

It seems that Peter Kalajian created quite a firestorm with his op-ed
concerning the decriminalization of marijuana, which, by the way, I am in
complete disagreement. Marijuana, Kalajian is correct, does not directly
kill people; however, it has been linked in studies with serious
psychological disorders such as paranoia, depression and schizophrenia.
Show me a cigarette that does that, and can linger in the bloodstream for
up to a month, and I'll advocate for decriminalization. When more research
is done, Kalajian may well get his wish, but there simply is not enough
data on the long-term effects of marijuana to allow for its
decriminalization. If that will still be the case in 20 years, who knows?

But, I digress.

The column intrigued me, being a future medical professional - after all,
medical marijuana is a hotly debated issue.

But, I drew the idea for this column in conjunction with a radio show
hosted by Dr. Dean Edell that I was listening to on the long three-hour
drive back to ECU from my hometown, Rockingham, N.C. Sunday night on 106.1
WRDU. Marijuana usage was the premise of basically every phone call. Dr.
Edell answered these questions and had some great information about
research being done on marijuana.

For instance, data from a study on THC, the active ingredient in marijuana,
has led to the formation of a diet pill that inhibits THC-like chemicals in
the brain that trigger the "munchies." Another study suggests marijuana
could be used as a treatment for nausea patients because in addition to
curing nausea, marijuana increases appetite/thirst and would thus decrease
dehydration. However, the most fascinating statement Dr. Edell made was not
concerning w hat marijuana can do, but rather what researchers aren't
allowed to do because of strict regulation of marijuana research by the
federal government. The United States government has prohibited research on
some of the chemicals in marijuana so we may never know if they have any
medicinal value. Moreover, and more frightening, what business does the
government have in stopping the ethical pursuit of knowledge?

I will stop short, however, of saying that the government should allow all
research to be conducted.

But, we're not talking about secretly injecting people with HIV and seeing
how long it takes them to die or what the effects are (don't kid yourself
and think that the government has never conducted grossly unethical
research on humans - you only have to look back to the beginning of the
20th century). We are talking about testing chemicals that we know aren't
directly lethal for any possible benefit they can create for mankind. Why
should the government ban this research?

We can also include stem cell research under this umbrella, specifically,
the government not appropriating money for research on all available lines
of stem cells, but on just a few. Why is the federal government limiting
the vast potential of stem cells that may cure diseases such as paralysis,
Alzheimer's, etc.?

History has proven that limiting the scope of human knowledge is a terrible
idea. The lack of interest in the pursuit of knowledge helped spawn the
Dark Ages and was one of the reasons for the collapse of Rome, the world's
greatest empire.

I'm not preposterously suggesting that the world's lone superpower is on
the verge of collapse because of current limits placed on scientific
research, but am attempting to show that limiting the pursuit of knowledge
can potentially be dangerous for society.

In our culture we are forced to live with fear everyday - terrorist attacks
(you know, what we're funding with marijuana purchases ... give me a
break), what is going on in North Korea and Iran, will our soldiers survive
in Iraq today? What we should not fear is progress, or the consequences of
progress, made by ethical scientific research, and we should not continue
to depress the ethical limits of human knowledge and curiosity.

Living in a world where knowledge and curiosity are limited - that's the
culture I fear.