Posted on 07/19/2004 3:41:00 PM PDT by Wolfie
Prescription Pot? Only From Bayer and the U.S. Government
The truth really is stranger than fiction. My best friend and co-author, George McMahon, is one of only seven citizens who can legally smoke marijuana in every state of the union. In fact, the U.S. government has provided George with 300 prerolled marijuana cigarettes each month for 14 years, through a program called Investigational New Drug, administered by the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
Our government has grown and distributed medical marijuana since 1978. The federal patients use marijuana to treat diverse symptoms of pain, spasms, nausea and glaucoma-related ocular pressure.
Of course, officials won't yet admit their appointed "demon weed" is a medicinal herb. They call the IND program a "research" project instead. However, in 26 years of the program's existence, no government research has been conducted regarding the recipients of the federal marijuana.
Perhaps certain officials don't want to empirically quantify what they already suspect: Marijuana is good medicine, particularly when compared with the often-toxic drugs promoted by pharmaceutical industry lobbyists ( well-known in political circles as deep-pocketed campaign contributors ).
Had government officials performed the vital research, they would understand why McMahon is alive today. Prior to his acceptance in the IND program, George had been through 19 major surgeries, was declared clinically dead several times, took 17 prescribed substances on a daily basis and was confined to a wheelchair. For the past 14 years, George has smoked 10 marijuana cigarettes each day. During this time, he has had no surgeries or hospitalizations, he no longer takes any pharmaceuticals ( aside from the occasional aspirin or antibiotic ), and he is fully ambulatory.
He is living proof that marijuana has medical value, yet, many federal legislators refuse to admit it. They stubbornly persist in criminalizing patients, spreading misinformation, defying the express will of the people and denying the states their constitutional authority to resolve the issue independently.
Despite our national hypocrisy regarding medical marijuana, the international medical research on marijuana is astounding. In the United Kingdom, Bayer Corp. is partnering with GW Pharmaceuticals to create Sativex, a natural marijuana extract inhaler that works like a bronchial inhaler, only sublingually.
Sativex relieves symptoms immediately ( similar to smoking a marijuana cigarette ), without the negative ramifications of smoking. The medicine requires no cleaning or rolling. Sativex is portable and can be used discreetly, without a strong odor.
For many sick and dying patients in the United Kingdom, Sativex will be ideal. The European free market is operating in accord with sensible public policy in order to provide patients with quality medicine.
American patients, however, will be thrown in jail if they use Sativex. Adding insult to injury, Bayer is a major financial contributor to Partnership for a Drug Free America -- an organization that claims marijuana has no medical value. It's enough to make a person sick, especially if they are compassionate and reasonable.
The medical marijuana issue is not about recreation -- it's about patients with painful, debilitating, and life-threatening symptoms.
The American public is certainly capable of making this common-sense distinction between use and abuse. Perhaps that's why national polls repeatedly demonstrate 75 percent to 80 percent approval for the decriminalization of medical marijuana, in spite of the constant flow of government-sponsored "reefer madness" rhetoric.
During my travels across the nation, I've spoken with several legislators who claim they are hesitant to change the medical marijuana laws because they don't want to "send the wrong message" to children. As a father who delivered both his children with his own ( trembling ) hands, I can empathize with this concern. I don't want my children misusing any substance, be it alcohol, morphine, or marijuana. But if my children ever become sick, then I want them to have access to any medicine, including marijuana-based remedies, which will ease their symptoms and improve their quality of life. And I hope they will never be marginalized, ostracized, or criminalized for the treatment of their disease.
In a laudable but misguided attempt to administer equal justice under the law, our legislators have taken a one-size-fits-all approach in response to therapeutic marijuana. But doctors acknowledge that each person has unique physiological, psychological, and environmental circumstances.
One man's poison is another man's salve. This applies to herbs, drugs and delivery systems alike. Perhaps one day our national leaders will mature enough to grasp this simple principle and implement meaningful reform. Until that day, I'll keep my hopes high by repeating the words of Robert Randall, the first recipient of federal marijuana: "History indicates the most trivial of facts can implode the most powerful dogma."
Note: Christopher Largen, of Denton, Texas, is co-author of "Prescription Pot: A Leading Advocate's Heroic Battle to Legalize Medical Marijuana"
This post is not intended to promote drug use.
If government pot wasn't such crappy dirtweed, he could get by on a 1/10th that amount - and save his lungs from unneeded tars.
The hemp plant has been cultivated for about 5,000 years.
By contrast, it has been illegal in the US since when? 1937?
That is only 67 years.
Just to make sure I'm reading this correctly: marijuana alone has taken the place of double digit numbers of prescription medicines?
Why am I thinkin' they may be fudging things just a bit here...
I am happy that marijuana can be used as medicine, but I hate the whole stinking strategy in regards to legalization. It seems so passive, so nestled in the bossom of a leftist nanny nursemaid.
I envision some pleading Tiny-Tim like character on crutches"Please, mum, 'tis medicine...For the children... You do love the children, mum?"
"Tis nothing to do with self-sovereignty, no ma'am..."
And if we do this, the terrorist win, I take it?
Sarcasm valve now in "off" position.
Don't you know? ONE toke today, and TOMORROW, you're shooting heroin into your nether regions.
And they said DARE training didn't work! I believed every word!
Sarcasm valve now in "off" position.
Wouldn't the backers of the "leftist nanny state" be the ones trying to prevent people from using whatever medicines they wanted?
For all of the nay-sayers who ridicult medical marijuana, I truly hope that you and everyone close to you never have to experience any of the symptoms that marijuana helps ease.
As for the Gubment's dirt weed; some of you will no doubt go postal to know how much of Western Canada's income is based on cultivation of bud...
I think part of the point here was that the prescription medicines he was being given WEREN'T WORKING. Now Mr. McMahon has access to a medicine that works, so it's no longer necessary to take drugs that DON'T work.
One of the reasons people in his unfortunate position are saddled with multiple drugs is that one drug (hopefully) performs the medical action but has nasty side effects, which in turn necessitates taking _other_ drugs to counteract them. Since marijuana has no real side effects aside from some a mild euphoric reaction, no secondary drugs are necessary for that purpose.
Marijuana by itself isn't always sufficient of course. Bob Randall, the first to use medical pot legally, also used other medications to control his glaucoma. He had been very close to going blind before he accidently discovered that marijuana lowers intraocular pressure. His doctor recommended several drugs including marijuana as part of his daily regimen -- but without marijuana among them he would have spent 30 years without sight.
Oh I understand that: my stepmother takes a whole host of pills for arthritis. My irritation was more with the may it was posited in this article that marijuana is a miracle drug that can cure whatever ails ye ;D
Pot is not for everyone.
This isn't at all about using whatever medicine you want. It is an effort to gain government permission to use marijuana as a medicine. This approach will not enhance freedom because it validates the notion of servitude, that your body is the property of the state. Of course you can take whatever medicine you want, it is your body for crying out loud!
I'd love to see some legislation that actually said something to the effect of "Being as your body is yours, you are free to put anything you want to in it, so long as by doing so you do not directly harm anyone else" I would support that because it is grounded in a principle I believe in. What is the principle behind legalizing only medical pot?
Okay, now I am going to go outside and smoke some marijuana. Not because I am sick. Just because I really enjoy the way it makes me feel.
The title states that only Bayer Pharmaceuticals provides USA sanctioned prescription medical marijuana.
Then the author makes another claim, that "our government" itself has grown and distributed medical marijuana. What happened to "only Bayer and the USA" working in cahoots?
"In fact, the U.S. government has provided George with 300 prerolled marijuana cigarettes each month for 14 years, through a program called Investigational New Drug..."
So what's this author's beef?
"...Marijuana is good medicine, particularly when compared with the often-toxic drugs promoted by pharmaceutical industry lobbyists ( well-known in political circles as deep-pocketed campaign contributors ). (Emphasis added)
Oh, I see. The author doesn't like the "pharmaceutical industrial lobbyists" who in cahoots with the USA, provided his best friend his 14 years medical marijuana supply.
It's unclear which "( well-known in political circles as deep-pocketed campaign contributors )..." the author is implying but maybe we're supposed to guess.
What does this author want?
"Had government officials performed the vital research, they would understand why McMahon is alive today. Prior to his acceptance in the IND program..."
The author seems to prefer "government officials" perform vital research rather than using research scientists. Okay. Different strokes for different folks, Dude.
"...Despite our national hypocrisy regarding medical marijuana..."
Far out Man, I must be getting one of those contact highs I've read about. I'm beginning to feel capable of understanding what it is you... no, sorry, it's the late hour and I'm simply tired.
Hypocrisy? The author sounds like he is going for an angry feel to the article, but it's not connecting. What hypocrisy.
He goes on: "In the United Kingdom, Bayer Corp. is partnering with GW Pharmaceuticals to create Sativex, a natural marijuana extract inhaler that works like a bronchial inhaler, only sublingually. "
So now it's not "only" Bayer Corp. and not "only" the United States but there's another pharmaceutical company and whaddya know, another country - the United Kingdom.
Aha, here's a gem:
"...The European free market is operating in accord with sensible public policy in order to provide patients with quality medicine."
What happened to
"...the U.S. government has provided George with 300 prerolled marijuana cigarettes each month for 14 years, through a program called Investigational New Drug..."
"...The American public is certainly capable of making this common-sense distinction..."
LOL, this guy is amusing. So let's see, only if I have common-sense, only if I am capable, then I am supposed to agree with him?
Wait, maybe I'm supposed to be living either in the United Kingdom or the European Union to please this authormoron.
The author first points an accusatory finger at one pharmaceutical company and one country, then one agency, but it turns out that actually there are two pharmaceutical companies the author mentions and of course two countries.
If the author would inhale a little less second hand smoke from his best friend's daily doses, he may be able to write more clearly.
If the author had fewer contact highs, he might have done research before venturing into the world of writing:
The following is just particular one brand (of many) synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol, made by one of many pharmaceutical companies. Marinol has been on the market and legally available as a prescription medication since at least the mid 1970s.
"MARINOL®, a synthetic formulation of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, is approved as an appetite stimulant for HIV/AIDS patients and as an antiemetic to stem the nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy. MARINOL® should be used with caution in patients with cardiac disorders, a history of substance abuse, mania, depression or schizophrenia.
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) rescheduled MARINOL® from Schedule II to Schedule III, a move that indicates a lower abuse potential for the product, and allows doctors to write refills for MARINOL®. (Emphasis added.)
Note: The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is yes, the USA's DEA.
If the author were capable of writing fewer contradictory statements, he might have made just one salient point.
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