MARIJUANA HAS NO MEDICAL VALIDITY

As a doctor of pharmacy, I have some concerns pertaining to the article on
Proposition 203 in the July 5 Tribune. The portion of the proposition that
generates this concern is where this proposal would "make it easier for
medical patients to obtain marijuana for treatment . . . to those who qualify."

There is no such thing as qualifying for medical treatment with marijuana.
To date, there is not one reliable scientific study that demonstrates
marijuana has any significant medical value. This maneuver of trying to
legalize the use of marijuana through the legal process bypasses the
safeguards established by the Food and Drug Administration to protect us
from the adverse and debilitating effects of such substances.

Every prescription drug must pass through many scientific tests and studies
to ensure its safety and efficacy. Not long ago, a U.S. Court of Appeals
ruled that marijuana should remain classified as a highly addictive drug
with no medical usefulness.

The main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana (THC) is already legally
available in capsule form by prescription under the name Marinol. This
product, as I have observed its effects, is often less prescribed because
of potential adverse effects, and also because there are more
therapeutically effective medications currently available for which Marinol
is prescribed.

This medical marijuana Proposition 203 is part of an overall campaign to
have us think that there is medical justification for the use of marijuana
and that its use is harmless. Medical use of marijuana has been promoted
for "compassionate use" to assist patients with such disease states as
AIDS, cancer and glaucoma. Marijuana damages the immune system, contains
many carcinogens, and does nothing to relieve the destructive effects of
glaucoma.

In pondering over the effects of this proposition, I have weighed the
mythical medical benefits of marijuana to its adverse effects on society.
Every day I focus on people suffering with illness; and in my profession of
pharmacy, I have come to realize that we need to focus also on the safety
and well-being of those we know, love and serve. We now live in a time
where adverse drug use among our children has increased more than 75
percent over the last four years. We cannot afford to continue undermining
our society's health with such measures as pro-marijuana ballot initiatives.

Jerry Seamano

Mesa