Las Vegas Paper Supports
Medical Marijuana But Invites The Drug Czar To Lie To Its Readers
(Ed. note: The Review-Journal endorsed the
state’s medical marijuana initiative in the following editorial. So, it is customary
for newspapers to invite opponents of the other side of an issue to voice their opinions
on the editorial page before an election. However, what I find disturbing about this is
not that they have invited the Drug Czar, but rather that a federal official is lying to
their readers, and this in itself should be news.Notice that the paper specifically
rejects the ad hominem argument about the purported "the motivation of a handful of
initiative supporters," but the Drug Czar did not say "a handful." He said,
"Advocates of drug legalization have admitted that they couched the marijuana
question in medical terms to camouflage the issue." This is precisely the
same position as that taken by one of the most extreme prohibitionists.)
October 16, 1998
From the Las Vegas Review-Journal
letters@lvrj.com
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/
Excerpted from Review-Journal editorial:
THE STATE BALLOT QUESTIONS
Ten Issues To Consider In The Voting Booth.
Nevada voters will pass judgment on 10 statewide ballot questions this election,
dealing with matters that range from the irrelevant to the significant.
Undoubtedly the most controversial measure confronting residents is Question 9:
"Should the Nevada Constitution be amended to allow the possession and use of
(marijuana) for the treatment or alleviation of certain illnesses upon advice of a
physician, to require parental consent for such use by minors, and to authorize
appropriate methods of supply to patients authorized to use it?"
Critics argue this is a back-door effort to legalize drugs, and
there can be little doubt that many of who backed similar measures in California and
Arizona also advocate the widespread liberalization— if not the abolishment—of
many drug laws.
But the motivation of a handful of initiative supporters
should not obscure the specific issue at hand; besides, without a sudden widespread
shift in public opinion, fears that this measure represents a foot in the door to
full-blown drug legalization remain wildly overblown.
In reality, the measure is carefully tailored and would tightly regulate the
distribution of marijuana to sick Nevadans whose medical doctors believe the drug could be
of use to alleviate nausea associated with chemotherapy or to treat diseases such as
glaucoma. With the proper safeguards, the measure represents a compassionate effort to
give doctors one more tool to treat the ill. Vote yes on Question 9.
Copyright: Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1998
From the Las Vegas Review-Journal
letters@lvrj.com
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/
October 18, 1998
By Barry R. McCaffrey Special to the Review-Journal
SEEING THROUGH THE HAZE OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA
Proven scientific processes, not the ballot box, should determine what drugs can be
used to treat our ills.
On Election Day, residents of Nevada will be asked to vote on marijuana. The state
ballot features a referendum that would legalize cultivation, distribution, possession and
consumption of marijuana ostensibly for medical purposes. We
should all seek safe and effective medicine to treat medical ills, but our collective
interest is better served when proven scientific processes minister to disease—not
the ballot box.
The Nevada pro-pot amendment is a lead-in to drug
legalization. This amendment does not represent the grass-roots sentiments of Nevadans. It
is part of a stealthy national movement, bankrolled by well-known pro-drug groups that
have provoked similar measures in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Washington state, and
the nation’s capital.
Advocates of drug legalization have admitted that they couched the marijuana
question in medical terms to camouflage the issue.
We can’t afford to send the wrong message to our children about marijuana or other
illegal drugs.
See
Shalala
Says That Parents Are Wrong To Be Relieved
That Their Children Are Using Marijuana Instead Of Heroin!
Survey Results From California Do Not Support Party Line, So They Are Buried.
Juvenile marijuana usage rates have skyrocketed in the past six years. Kids now begin
smoking pot in the sixth and seventh grades. Half of today’s teens do so before
completing high school. Many will suffer from decisions made while their judgment is
impaired by the psychoactive effects of this drug. Indeed, marijuana
is now the second leading cause of car crashes among young people (after alcohol).
(Ed. note: This is a very dubious number, but most in most
"car crashes" the drivers have not been using any substances. So,
inasmuch as most "crashes" occur without the use of any substance, the fact that
a driver has been using a substance does not prove that it caused the "crash."
Marijuana impairs driving skills and judgement far less than alcohol and many prescription
drugs. Even over-the-counter cold remedies warn about driving. My point here is about
thinking skills, however, not driving skills. I hope that the Czar drives better than he
thinks.)
If we lower the societal barriers further, then marijuana use among youth surely will
escalate along with the negative consequences of drug abuse. This was Alaska’s
experience after a pro-pot ruling essentially decriminalized the drug in the 1970s.
See
Legalize
Marijuana and Reduce Use?
New Survey Puts Estimate of Dutch Marijuana Use Even More Below DEAland
A leading medical journal recently warned readers about the risks posed by unscientific
medicine. This journal outlined how American health has benefited from remedies whose
safety and efficacy have been validated by statistically reliable evidence and randomized,
controlled clinical studies.
(Ed. note: Recently, the New England Journal of Medicine carried an
article and an editorial warning about the use of herbal medicine without consulting a
doctor -- who would know nothing about herbs and would therefore tell you not to use them.
Of course, this is irrelevant to the use of marijuana to relief pain or nausea, as opposed
to using anything to try to cure a disease. Also, the Czar is careful not to mention that
the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine has endorsed the medical use of
marijuana as have numerous medical groups.)
See
Nahas versus
Kassirer
and
CMA Joins Many
Others Backing Removal Of Marijuana From Schedule I Prohibitive Status
Arbitrary dosages, contaminated ingredients, and harmful or deadly
components largely have been eliminated from American medicine.
See
Adverse
Pharmaceutical Reactions Major Cause of Death; Marijuana Does Not Kill But Must Be
Approved By FDA?
This marijuana referendum would turn its back on such progress and
return us to the medical dark ages when leeches were used to suck blood from sick
patients. There is no sense in subverting the scientific process for assessing,
testing and approving medications by resorting to a non-medical, political process.
If pot were such a wonderful medicine, why haven’t more doctors prescribed
Marinol—the real "medical marijuana?" The active ingredient in the cannabis
leaf, THC, is synthesized in measured dosages as Marinol, a prescription drug that has
been available for 15 years. The FDA has encouraged the pharmaceutical industry to develop
other methods for administering THC—for example, by patch, suppository or inhaler.
Such developments may make it easier for more individuals to realize the possible
therapeutic benefits of THC under controlled, prescribed conditions.
See
Perhaps The
Single Most Damning Article On Medical Marijuana Fiasco I Have Ever Read – Without
Intending To Be
Any purported medicine smoked in unmeasured amounts and unknown purity is suspect. No
one argues that people should eat moldy bread instead of taking a penicillin capsule.
Pills are cleaner, safer and more efficacious than smoke. Crude marijuana, unlike Marinol,
contains a host of tars and other dangerous substances that have no therapeutic value. If components of marijuana other than THC are found to be medically
valuable, the current scientific process will approve those components for safe use.
See
The New Scientist
and The Lancet Report On Pain Relief from Cannabis -- 2 Articles
and
"Cannabis
could form the basis for an entirely new approach to pain."
"Why marijuana is emerging as such a panacea." UK Report
and
Marijuana
Derivative Used To Treat Severe Head Trauma, Leading Cause Of Death In Children. The Wrong
Message?
Nevada doesn’t need wholesale experimenting with dangerous home remedies. We should avoid sham "medicine" that provides cover for
widespread trafficking in illegal drugs. Now is the time for concerned citizens to
say "yes" to their communities, their children and themselves by voting
"no" on this pro-drug referendum. It’s better
to be safe than sorry.
Supported