Reefer madness is alive and well in Kansas. The Weed Blog picked up on a story out of Topeka, Kansas, where the legislature held a hearing to discuss medical marijuana. Supporters outnumbered opponents by a long shot.
Dramatic testimony was given by a son whose mother died from the FDA-approved prescription arthritis drug Humira. Esau Freeman of Wichita read a two-page list of Humira’s known side effects and asked, “I’m here to ask you if we can do better. If patients in Kansas deserve the legal right to access safe and more natural medicine. I’m asking you as responsible and caring legislators of this great state of Kansas to investigate the evidence of medical marijuana with an unbiased and open mind.”
According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, Eric Voth, the chairman of the Institute on Global Drug Policy, claimed that the state of Oregon has mostly stopped pre-employment drug screenings after medical marijuana passed in 1998 because “they had no usable work force.” Also during testimony, Voth claimed that in California, more prescriptions (recommendations) are filled on Friday afternoons by those under 25 than at any other time by any other group. ”It’s a scam, it’s not a prescription,” Voth said.
Rep. Trimmer noted that few of the people testifying offered much in the way of scientific citation for cannabis’ proven medicinal benefits. ”Do we have any evidence on either side from sources like the National Cancer Institute, the American Medical Association, the New England Journal of Medicine, the American Opthamological Association Journal?” Trimmer asked. “I would hope that we have something in the medical profession that tells us whether these things work or not. I like to base policy on sound research.”
OK, then…
National Cancer Institute: The potential benefits of medicinal Cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep. Although few relevant surveys of practice patterns exist, it appears that physicians caring for cancer patients in the United States who recommend medicinal Cannabis predominantly do so for symptom management.
American Medical Association: Results of short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in patients with multiple sclerosis.
New England Journal of Medicine: Federal authorities should rescind their prohibition of the medical use of marijuana for seriously ill patients and allow physicians to decide which patients to treat. The government should change marijuana’s status from that of a Schedule I drug … to that of a Schedule II drug … and regulate it accordingly.
American Academy of Ophthalmology: …no scientific evidence has been found that demonstrates increased benefits and/or diminished risks of marijuana use to treat glaucoma compared with the wide variety of pharmaceutical agents now available. [This lady would beg to differ...]
The chairwoman, Rep. Brenda Landwehr, wasn’t buying any of the testimony from patients who told how cannabis had helped them medically. ”I think that, if there was a huge benefit for those folks, the FDA would have already stepped in,” Landwehr said.
So once again we have opponents of medical cannabis use retreating to the tautological safety of the FDA excuse:
- Cannabis is not a medicine because it is not FDA approved;
- The FDA can’t study cannabis, because it is in Schedule I;
- Cannabis is in Schedule I because it is not a medicine.
- Return to Point 1.
The fact is the FDA can never approve cannabis as a medicine because that would be like asking you to define exactly what a dog looks like. The FDA is set up to evaluate the beneficial and harmful effects of a certain amount of an exact molecule given consistently to test subjects. The FDA can – and has – evaluated THC molecules in synthetic form and approved their medical benefits.
But evaluating whole plant cannabis involves too many variables, just as defining a dog runs the gamut from chihuahua and pug to St. Bernard and greyhound. Sure, they all have four legs, tails, two eyes, etc., but some are short, tall, thick, thin, long snouts, flat faces, fast, slow, friendly, aggressive, and so on. A dog that would serve well for an elderly woman in a city apartment might not work for a middle-aged man who likes hunting ducks.
The same applies to cannabis. Even different buds picked from the same plant can have variance in their constituent cannabinoids. Varieties that work great for aiding my creativity might not be beneficial for treating my co-host’s chronic pain. One grower may cultivate that variety I like with better results. Some days, I may want a different variety that eases my stress.
The main point is this: FDA approval of cannabis is unnecessary. The whole point of the FDA’s creation was to protect us from the patent medicine manufacturers of the early 20th Century that were selling us “snake oil” of dubious value, elixirs that were sometimes harmful to health. It continues to evaluate the new patent medicines devised by the chemistry of man to ensure their safety and efficacy. Cannabis has 5,000 years of history of safe, effective use in humans. It is not a new chemical substance whose effects and dangers are unknown; it is a plant as old as history. Retreating to the FDA excuse or claiming there’s not enough scientific research is the last resort of the frustrated prohibitionist.
Living in Topeka, Kansas, I was hopeful that the Republican Legislature would approve medical marijuana for people like my wife who is disabled from Fibromyalgia, and myself who suffers from RA. I find it almost funny that people who insist government is too intrusive, intruding on my right to the medicine that works best for me.
I may move. If I could convince my wife, we would be gone. Being a non Republican I have NO representation. My vote is meaningless. I would love to live in a state that doesn’t treat the poor as an affliction, that still contributes to the arts, and where I could be a law abiding citizen able to use the medicines I deem appropriate, not some government flunky.