Posted on 09 August 2009. Tags: Dr. Donald Tashkin, Drug Czar, FDA, Fresno Bee, Gil Kerlikowske, Institute of Medicine, Lancet Neurology, lung cancer, Marijuana, Marinol, pulmonary research, scientists, THC, U.S. Court of Appeals
Last month, Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske came under fire for his statement, reported in the Fresno Bee, that marijuana “has no medicinal value.”
Just because the FDA does not recognize the medical efficacy of smoked marijuana, it doesn’t mean that such a position is factual. Americans for Safe Access currently has a pending case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which argues against this assertion and uses a mountain of evidence to illustrate marijuana’s medical efficacy.
Even the 1999 White House-commissioned Institute of Medicine report concluded that, “there are some limited circumstances in which we recommend smoking marijuana for medical uses.” Admittedly, smoking marijuana may not be absent of medical consequences, but as the Lancet Neurology reported in 2003 in an article entitled “The therapeutic potential of cannabis,” smoked marijuana “delivers a more rapid ‘hit’ and allows more accurate dose-titration.”
In addition, Dr. Donald Tashkin, one of the world’s leading scientists on pulmonary research, stated that there was “no association” between smoked marijuana and lungcancer “and even a suggestion of some protective effect.” Dr. Tashkin concluded in May 2006 that:
[E]ven those who smoked more than 20,000 joints in their life did not have an increased risk of lung cancer.
Perhaps more to the point is that the medical community has not offered any substantive alternatives. The government touts the Marinol (synthetic THC) pill as the solution for hundreds of thousands of medical marijuana patients that benefit from smoked marijuana in the U.S. Unfortunately, Marinol does not provide an adequate delivery system for people with nausea, takes too long to take effect, is difficult to regulate dosages, and offers inferior efficacy to smoked marijuana for most patients that use it.
Source:
http://www.opposingviews.com/
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Drug Czar: Explanation on Medicinal Marijuana Not Enough8.0101Related Content
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