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COMMENTARY: Medical marijuana's improper use blatant
By Carolyn Short and Ed Gogek
Arizona will vote on medical marijuana this November, and while backers of the initiative insist it's only for serious illnesses, a look at states with similar laws tells us otherwise.
According to the Billings Gazette, only 3 percent of Montana's medical marijuana patients have cancer, glaucoma or AIDS---the serious illnesses the law was meant for. In California, it's only 2 percent. Instead, 90 percent get marijuana for pain, and that pain can be anything, from a sprained ankle to a skateboarding injury. It's rarely serious. One woman got marijuana because her high heels hurt. Pain is also easily faked and impossible to disprove.
Doctors are supposed to screen out drug abusers. Most do their best. But in California, Colorado and Montana, a handful of doctors decided to get rich off marijuana, and they write almost all the marijuana prescriptions. They see patients one time only, for as little as 5 minutes, handing out marijuana cards to anyone with $150. That should be illegal, but medical marijuana laws protect them.
The result: Any drug abuser can lie and, for a fee, an unscrupulous doctor will give him a card to smoke pot legally. That's where 97 percent of the marijuana goes. In San Diego, three-fourths of medical marijuana patients are under age 40, and 12 percent are under 21. In Boulder, Colo., the marijuana dispensaries are all on college campuses.
It's not about serious illness. They're just using people with cancer to play on our sympathies. It's really a bait and switch to effectively legalize pot.
Prop 203 could have been written to prevent drug abuse. New Mexico's law insists on second opinions for easy to fake diagnoses like pain. Colorado will soon require long-standing doctor-patient relationships, not just five minutes. But Arizona's proposition includes neither of these protections. Many people shrug this off, believing pot is harmless. But it's not. Marijuana causes DUIs and fatal car wrecks. One study found regular pot-smokers 9.5 times more likely to be in serious or fatal car wrecks.
Deadly car crashes involving marijuana skyrocketed in Montana when medical marijuana became law.
However, these laws hit teenagers the hardest. In a 2006 ranking of states by how many teenagers smoked pot during the past month, five of the top 10 states and all of the top three had medical marijuana laws. That's because these laws make pot more available, and send a message that it's safe for everyday use. If Prop 203 passes, more teenagers will smoke pot, and they'll smoke it more often.
Research shows that teens who smoke pot regularly have trouble learning, get worse grades, are less likely to finish school, and earn less money as adults. No parent wants this.
November's ballot will say "medical marijuana" for "debilitating medical conditions," but that's only 3 percent of the story. The real effect of Proposition 203 will be more drug abuse, more deadly car wrecks, and more teenage drug use. That won't be on the ballot, but it should be on every voter's mind.
Carolyn Short is chairperson of Keep Arizona Drug Free. Their Web site is KeepAZDrugFree.com.
Ed Gogek, M.D. is an addiction psychiatrist whose Web site is stop203.com.
According to the Billings Gazette, only 3 percent of Montana's medical marijuana patients have cancer, glaucoma or AIDS---the serious illnesses the law was meant for. In California, it's only 2 percent. Instead, 90 percent get marijuana for pain, and that pain can be anything, from a sprained ankle to a skateboarding injury. It's rarely serious. One woman got marijuana because her high heels hurt. Pain is also easily faked and impossible to disprove.
Doctors are supposed to screen out drug abusers. Most do their best. But in California, Colorado and Montana, a handful of doctors decided to get rich off marijuana, and they write almost all the marijuana prescriptions. They see patients one time only, for as little as 5 minutes, handing out marijuana cards to anyone with $150. That should be illegal, but medical marijuana laws protect them.
The result: Any drug abuser can lie and, for a fee, an unscrupulous doctor will give him a card to smoke pot legally. That's where 97 percent of the marijuana goes. In San Diego, three-fourths of medical marijuana patients are under age 40, and 12 percent are under 21. In Boulder, Colo., the marijuana dispensaries are all on college campuses.
It's not about serious illness. They're just using people with cancer to play on our sympathies. It's really a bait and switch to effectively legalize pot.
Prop 203 could have been written to prevent drug abuse. New Mexico's law insists on second opinions for easy to fake diagnoses like pain. Colorado will soon require long-standing doctor-patient relationships, not just five minutes. But Arizona's proposition includes neither of these protections. Many people shrug this off, believing pot is harmless. But it's not. Marijuana causes DUIs and fatal car wrecks. One study found regular pot-smokers 9.5 times more likely to be in serious or fatal car wrecks.
Deadly car crashes involving marijuana skyrocketed in Montana when medical marijuana became law.
However, these laws hit teenagers the hardest. In a 2006 ranking of states by how many teenagers smoked pot during the past month, five of the top 10 states and all of the top three had medical marijuana laws. That's because these laws make pot more available, and send a message that it's safe for everyday use. If Prop 203 passes, more teenagers will smoke pot, and they'll smoke it more often.
Research shows that teens who smoke pot regularly have trouble learning, get worse grades, are less likely to finish school, and earn less money as adults. No parent wants this.
November's ballot will say "medical marijuana" for "debilitating medical conditions," but that's only 3 percent of the story. The real effect of Proposition 203 will be more drug abuse, more deadly car wrecks, and more teenage drug use. That won't be on the ballot, but it should be on every voter's mind.
Carolyn Short is chairperson of Keep Arizona Drug Free. Their Web site is KeepAZDrugFree.com.
Ed Gogek, M.D. is an addiction psychiatrist whose Web site is stop203.com.
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tree man wrote on Oct 8, 2010 1:25 PM: