FLORIDA DRUG CZAR: MARIJUANA NOT A MEDICINE

Smoked marijuana is not medicine.

So concludes the definitive study by the Institute of Medicine (March
1999) on the medical potential of marijuana. While the report
supported evidence-based research into the effects of cannabinoids, it
emphasized that smoked marijuana is a crude drug-delivery system that
exposes patients to a significant number of harmful substances. This
from a panel of experts that included those inclined to accept the
anecdotal testimony of marijuana users.

In the end, they could not recommend marijuana's use as
medicine.

While scientific research suggests that THC, one of the hundreds of
chemical compounds found in the marijuana plant, may be beneficial for
some symptoms, medical science as a whole has rejected the idea of
self-medication by way of a burning plant.

The American Medical Association (as well as the Florida Medical
Association), the American Cancer Society and many other professional
medical organizations reject marijuana as medicine.

Prescription drugs (such as Marinol and Cesamet) containing synthetic
forms of THC are available to alleviate identified symptoms without
exposing the patient to the risks posed by smoking marijuana.

Science continues to research the effects of smoked marijuana, and the
results continue to show the damage done by it -- weakened immune
systems, the lessened ability of the lungs to fight off fungi,
bacteria and tumor cells, pulmonary infections and pneumonia.

Other studies (e.g., Professor John Henry, Imperial College in London)
have indicated that regular marijuana use increases the likelihood of
schizophrenia (fourfold) and the chances of suffering major depressive
illnesses.

At the same time, other studies have disproved many of the claims for
marijuana's "curative" potential (e.g., for glaucoma, anorexia
nervosa, spastisity, etc.).

While we must be compassionate to those suffering from illness and
pain, we must be careful not to advance unsafe and unproven claimed
"medical" remedies.

The Food and Drug Administration's primary mission is to promote and
protect the public health.

For prescription drugs, it employs a clinical trial process that must
document both efficacy and safety for any new drug. Its systemic,
scientific procedures guard against unwanted public health
consequences. Considering the many claims of supposed miracle drugs
that prove in the end to be disastrous, we would abandon such a
process only at great risk

Nor should we forget the social and political implications of
prematurely declaring marijuana a medicine.

Clearly, there are well-financed factions that seek the legalization
of marijuana not just as medicine but also as a legal substance for
recreational use. They do not hesitate to exploit the extremely ill in
order to garner support for their otherwise untenable position.

They would move the issue to popular referendum instead by appealing
to the humanity in all of us for those who are clearly suffering and
who believe their relief lies in smoking pot. But the acceptance of
marijuana as a benign drug (despite the overwhelming evidence to the
contrary) would invariably lead to more widespread use (and not just
by those who are ill) of marijuana and other illegal drugs.

Our citizens, neighborhoods and communities would suffer the
consequences of that outcome in short order.

America has a high-quality medical system in place, one that has
established safeguards and procedures through the years to ensure that
it reflects the best medical and scientific values.

We would do well to allow that system to function as it has and not
define medicine by anecdote, political agitation or momentary popularity.