PWND: 1 flawed article

Is medical marijuana danger or compassion? | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

FROM OUR READERS | STATE PROPOSAL 1
Is medical marijuana danger or compassion?

October 11, 2008

"Medical" marijuana is a just a ploy to legalize this drug under the guise of legitimate medicine.
Advertisement

Since when do we allow a medicine to be administered that has not passed FDA regulations? Since when do we condone smoking of any sort as a way to improve or lessen symptoms of pain or nausea? Since when do we agree to let patients grow their own "medicine"? Since when do we allow a one-size dosage for all? Since when is it OK to condone breaking the law of the land to buy illegal drugs legally?

This dangerous initiative is loaded with unintended negative consequences. Passage of this proposal would have devastating effects on the state as a whole, especially the millions of families struggling to raise children in a drug-free environment and addicts battling to break free of the deadly grip of drug addiction.

Marinol, the FDA-approved alternative, has all of the ingredients of marijuana and can be administered legally and with the proper dosage. Proponents say it is not the same as smoking the actual weed. Let's look at this as what this really is: druggies who love smoking dope.

Judy Rubin
Executive director, Tri-Community Coalition, Oak Park
Natural relief for some

I am a medical student, and in a law and ethics class, my research project was on medical marijuana. Before my research, I had not given the subject much thought, but I am very convinced of the medicinal viability of marijuana now. Some of my findings were:

â?¢ Marijuana was listed in the U.S. Pharmacopeia as a viable medicine up until 1942.

â?¢ Chemo patients report lessening of nausea, increased appetites and ease of symptoms.

â?¢ Marijuana lessens the "wasting syndrome," a chronic and debilitating condition of AIDS patients.

â?¢ It has been shown to help people with multiple sclerosis by improving their motor functions, and decreasing ocular pressure in glaucoma patients.

Marijuana is a natural plant that has been used for thousands of years in many cultures for treatment of symptoms and disease. Withholding something that could ease fellow citizens' suffering is gross negligence. Many prescription pain killers on the market now cause horrible addiction and various side effects. Marijuana costs pennies compared to the prices of these "legal" drugs.

Maria Burden
White Lake
Compassionate treatment

Twelve states have successfully implemented medical marijuana programs, and this carefully crafted initiative learns from their experience. It creates a statewide registry system, complete with ID cards, so that law enforcement officials can easily distinguish legitimate patients from those who are breaking the law, and it provides steep penalties for attempting to game the system.

Finally, numerous prestigious organizations, like the Michigan Nurses Association and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, have endorsed medical marijuana. And while an orally administered synthetic exists, it contains only one of the 60-plus therapeutic chemical compounds found in marijuana, and pills pose obvious problems for cancer patients suffering from chemotherapy-induced nausea.

Proposal 1 is a compassionate law that will bring relief to some of the most vulnerable members of our community.

Zach Jarou
East Lansing
Insufficient oversight

The language of the proposal puts the burden on patients to grow their own medicine -- up to 12 plants for home use. This is irresponsible and forces patients to act as their own unlicensed pharmacist. All other potent pain medications are regulated by the government, appropriately tested by the pharmaceutical industry, and cannot be made at home. Why this exception?

The language of this proposal is wrongheaded and would not pass in the Legislature for good reason, as the changes it proposes would lack the proper oversight of government agencies. As we have seen recently, the lack of oversight in key areas that should have been under the purview of the government has had grim consequences in our economy and other sectors.

I agree that we should show compassion to patients in pain, but this is not an honest proposal. A more prudent proposal would, if passed, direct the state to allow the distribution of marijuana to qualified patients from a qualified pharmacological group rather than make the patients grow what is now a controlled substance.

Dale Parus
New Baltimore

--------------------------------------------
hohoho... this is really good news. 3-4 years ago, there was no such massive & open support for mmj anywhere on the net... i used to test the cyber-public's opinion by asking provocative questions on yahoo answers and other sites

and i would get a shit load of hate for even asking such a question... well

who's laughing now... just go check out the comments section and u will be smiling 5 mins thru it!

please take a moment to comment on this article if u felt like it... and do contact your reps nationwide and statewide.