CurtisLow
08-07-2007, 12:49 PM
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Dear Editor: I had to laugh when I read Ron Brownstein's puff piece about Rudy Giuliani respecting states' rights, "On divisive issues, Giuliani says let states decide."
When it comes to states' rights, Giuliani is adamantly opposed to medical marijuana, now the law in 12 states and supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans.
"You can accomplish everything you want to accomplish with things other than marijuana, probably better. There are pain medications much superior to marijuana," Giuliani recently said in New Hampshire.
Perhaps the pain medications he was referring to is OxyContin. Giuliani worked for Perdue Pharmaceuticals to help clean up the mess from its recent $634 million fine for marketing the powerful narcotic in ways that have led to deaths, massive addiction, and other kinds of mayhem. Still, despite OxyContin's risks, it is useful to people in severe pain, just as cannabis is useful in treating a wide range of illness.
Another recent article, "Study links pot use to psychoses," needs clarification. This is not a new study but a review of existing science. The new British government of Gordon Brown wants to reclassify marijuana. This study, with authors being compensated by drug makers as noted in the article, is simply an attempt to provide political cover for returning to arresting rather than cautioning British pot smokers.
Paul Armentano, senior policy analyst for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Washington, explains it like this: "Claims that cannabis use is a causal factor in mental illness are far from scientifically established. At best, an observable association between cannabis use and mental illness has been established in a minority of users; however, much of this association may stem from the use of other drugs or from individuals with psychotic symptoms self-medicating with marijuana."
One definition of psychosis is, "A general term for a state of mind in which thinking becomes irrational and/or disturbed." The real problem seems to be that marijuana seems to cause psychoses and hysteria in non-users.
The result is we all lose. Madison cannot have cannabis cafes, which would offer a safer alternative to alcohol. Patients are denied legal access. Farmers and businesses are denied a crop that can be used in a wide variety of products. Now that's psychotic!
http://www.mapinc.org/norml/v07/n935/a10.htm?134
Dear Editor: I had to laugh when I read Ron Brownstein's puff piece about Rudy Giuliani respecting states' rights, "On divisive issues, Giuliani says let states decide."
When it comes to states' rights, Giuliani is adamantly opposed to medical marijuana, now the law in 12 states and supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans.
"You can accomplish everything you want to accomplish with things other than marijuana, probably better. There are pain medications much superior to marijuana," Giuliani recently said in New Hampshire.
Perhaps the pain medications he was referring to is OxyContin. Giuliani worked for Perdue Pharmaceuticals to help clean up the mess from its recent $634 million fine for marketing the powerful narcotic in ways that have led to deaths, massive addiction, and other kinds of mayhem. Still, despite OxyContin's risks, it is useful to people in severe pain, just as cannabis is useful in treating a wide range of illness.
Another recent article, "Study links pot use to psychoses," needs clarification. This is not a new study but a review of existing science. The new British government of Gordon Brown wants to reclassify marijuana. This study, with authors being compensated by drug makers as noted in the article, is simply an attempt to provide political cover for returning to arresting rather than cautioning British pot smokers.
Paul Armentano, senior policy analyst for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Washington, explains it like this: "Claims that cannabis use is a causal factor in mental illness are far from scientifically established. At best, an observable association between cannabis use and mental illness has been established in a minority of users; however, much of this association may stem from the use of other drugs or from individuals with psychotic symptoms self-medicating with marijuana."
One definition of psychosis is, "A general term for a state of mind in which thinking becomes irrational and/or disturbed." The real problem seems to be that marijuana seems to cause psychoses and hysteria in non-users.
The result is we all lose. Madison cannot have cannabis cafes, which would offer a safer alternative to alcohol. Patients are denied legal access. Farmers and businesses are denied a crop that can be used in a wide variety of products. Now that's psychotic!
http://www.mapinc.org/norml/v07/n935/a10.htm?134