AVOID SMOKED MARIJUANA

Recently, three letters published in your paper have promoted
marijuana use for medical reasons. The time has come in this debate
when one cannot argue either side without first designating whether
the discussion is about marijuana that is in smoke or nonsmoke form.

The advocates for smoked marijuana will write the petition/law to
state when "certified" by a doctor. This bases the use on a doctor's
oral recommendation because it is against federal law to write
prescriptions for smoked marijuana. Thus, regulation would be
extremely difficult. THC is one of 61 cannabinoids in the cannabis
sativa plant. The safety or risk of all of the other cannabinoids has
not been determined. In the pill form, you receive only the THC
cannabinoid. In smoked marijuana you ingest all of the cannabinoids.

Marijuana in pill form has been legal since the mid-1980s. Those of
us who argue against smoked marijuana do not object to medical
marijuana in the nonsmoked form Marinol.

The emphasis needs to be placed on the risks of the smoke that is
inhaled by the user, either tobacco or marijuana. Research has shown
that smoking one joint (1 percent THC to 3 percent THC) leads to a
four-fold greater deposit of tar in the lower respiratory tract than
tobacco. Also, there are 50 percent more cancer-causing agents found
in crude marijuana smoke than in the same amount of unfiltered
Kentucky reference tobacco.

The most-recent figures that I have seen concerning arrests is that
less than 1 percent in jail today are there for first-time marijuana
use -- a misdemeanor. Most people incarcerated for first-time use are
those who have been plea-bargained down from a much more serious
offense.

Think of how many times you have received a prescription from the
pharmacy or even an over-the-counter medicine in which the directions
had you smoke the medicine.

GARY LOAR
Lakeland