Sixteen states now have “medical” marijuana laws, but many in these same states are now fighting back.
Citing increased crime and decreased property values, cities in California are fighting for the right to ban dispensaries. Hawaiian legislators are trying to restrict their marijuana law; Colorado already has. And in Montana, the legislature voted to repeal their law. It was spared by the governor’s veto.
There’s good reason for growing opposition. These programs are barely medical; the marijuana goes almost entirely to recreational use. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. The idea that smoking pot is medicine didn’t come from doctors or medical researchers. It came from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), a group dedicated to legalization.
They say terminally ill people need access to “medicine.” However, once these laws pass, most “medical” marijuana users claim pain, not serious illness. In Arizona, 85 percent get their marijuana for pain. In Colorado and Oregon, it’s 94 percent.
Pain is a favorite complaint of drug addicts. It’s easy to fake and impossible to disprove. And there’s evidence that most marijuana patients are not telling the truth.
Two dozen studies have shown that more women than men seek help for chronic pain, whereas the latest National Survey of Drug Use and Health found that adult cannabis abusers are 74 percent male. Only two states report on the gender of their “medical” marijuana patients. In Arizona, 75 percent are male. In Colorado, it’s 69 percent.
How can these patients be mostly male if they’re almost all claiming pain, and pain patients are mostly female? Only if the vast majority are substance abusers who are just using medical complaints as an excuse.
Doctors try to screen out drug abusers, but most marijuana patients get their prescriptions from a handful of doctors who write marijuana recommendations to just about anyone who pays their fee. In Montana, eight doctors have written three-fourths of all the recommendations.
That’s why there’s a backlash. People feel hoodwinked. They voted for compassionate care, not drug abuse.
Besides, the medical benefit is overstated. Advocates claimed for years that marijuana can treat glaucoma, but the actual research disagrees. The Glaucoma Foundation warns patients that marijuana can damage the optic nerve and make glaucoma worse.
And “medical” marijuana has serious social side effects. An analysis of several studies, published this year in the British Medical Journal, found that drivers under the influence of marijuana had nearly twice as many serious and fatal car wrecks as non-users. Both California and Montana documented increased traffic fatalities caused by drivers with marijuana components in their bloodstreams, coinciding with increased use of “medical” marijuana.
The National Survey of Drug Use and Health shows that teenage marijuana use is 25 percent higher in “medical” marijuana states.
Teens who smoke pot do worse in school and worse in their careers. They also have twice the school drop-out rate of non-smokers. Teenage alcohol use, on the other hand, is only slightly correlated with dropping out. Advocates claim pot is not as bad as alcohol, but for teens who want to stay in school, marijuana is worse.
States without “medical” marijuana should count their blessings.
Edward Gogek, MD, is an addiction psychiatrist and board member of KeepAZDrugFree, the committee opposing Arizona’s “medical” marijuana law
sockratties posted at 1:42 pm on Mon, Apr 23, 2012.
Pot is illegal because of the misinformed leading the uninformed. Prohibition of marijuana has the same negative effects as prohibition of alcohol did. It finances criminal activities in the same way major crime was financed by alcohol prohibition. The mafia would never have evolved to the extent it has without the huge financial boost derived from selling illegal, tax-free booze.
If marijuana were to be legalized, regulated profits would go toward a legal industry, taxes on recreational use would go to the city and state and medical use would be tax free and prescribed. There would also be no incentive for recreational users to fake pain as the tax burden would still be cheaper than a doctor. The agricultural jobs would move from south of the border to the U.S. and otherwise law abiding citizens would not have to risk arrest buying a product that is no more dangerous than cigarettes or booze. Traffic laws already apply to hazards of driving under the influence.
Legalizing pot would also allow law enforcement to concentrate on hard drugs such as meth, white cocaine, heroin and crack. Those drugs are responsible for the majority of crime related to gangs, murder, turf wars, and prostitution.
AZWillie is correct about the motivations of the anti-pot lobby. It's all about the dollar. The doctor wants to protect the prescription drug market from less expensive alternatives by exaggerating the negatives associated with marijuana use. The use of legal prescription drugs has even greater ramifications:
--In the 10 years between 1998 and 2008 painkiller addiction jumped 400%.
--The Center for Disease Control reported that from 2004 to 2008 emergency room visits for prescription drug abuse increased over 110%.
--At least 20% of high school students use Oxycontin or Xanax type of prescription drugs without a doctor's prescription.
--In at least 17 states deaths from opiate painkiller drugs exceed those of motor vehicle accidents.
AZ Desert Kidd posted at 8:56 am on Fri, Apr 20, 2012.
Mr. Gogek, you are part of the problem that has forced people like me to buy marijuana off the streets. I'm a former business professional that had to walk away from my 6 figure salary due to my illness of RSD. I'm sure you have no clue what RSD is so I'll tell you; it's a very painful central nerve syndrome. I'm in pain 24/7 and all the doctors do is throw medicine after medicine at me in hopes something helps. The side effects from the meds are just as bad as the pain sometimes. A friend introduced me to marijuana a few years ago. It has been the only drug to help me cope with the daily pain. Just so you know, I hate having to but marijuana off the streets, it makes me feel like a criminal and it helps keep cartels in Mexico in business. Making pot legal will help put thoughs illegal cartels out of business. Jan Brewer sure hasn't helped either by delaying the opening of medical marijuana despenceries.
Rich posted at 3:59 pm on Thu, Apr 19, 2012.
'Dr. Edward Gogek, MD, is an addiction psychiatrist' ????? Doesn't 'psychiatrist' require a PhD as well? Or is it just a title to claim when you're 'spreading it.' Are you making a market for a Mexican cartel, or just expressing your 'mental problem associated with bad early toilet training which, if I mentioned the proper psychiatric term, I'm sure would be kicked by EVT's system as objectionable'.
Wolf30 posted at 1:56 pm on Thu, Apr 19, 2012.
WOW! This is a crazy thing. There is more BS in this article than there are facts. I love it when the "Ultra-conservatives" (Read holier than tho) decide what the facts are without any real data to back up their facts. The non-fact that the accident rate went up and all those people were on Marijuana when they had accidents is just not true. They didn't test for it before unless the police told them to so naturally they are going to find more once they start testing for it. That combined with the fact that the testing will show that you have used marijuana within the past 30 days doesn't mean that it was any kind of factor in the accident. The fact is that the accident rate probably went up because of people using their cell phones! The BS that he put out there about teens on marijuana isn't even close to true either. I was one of those teens back in the 70's and I am a productive member of society with a college degree and a good career! We are so busy killing and dying over this war on drugs yet if we were just a little bit smarter and completely legalized marijuana we would have very little reason for anyone to die over this drug war. I believe that we are way past the time when we used our brains a little bit and quit killing and dieing over this war on drugs! There are people out there that drink every day and are productive members of society as there are people that smoke marijuana every day and are also productive members of society. Both are less harmful to the body than tobacco yet tobacco and alcohol are legal and marijuana is not! Wake up america and get a clue!
Arizona Willie posted at 1:40 pm on Thu, Apr 19, 2012.
Pot doesn't make you lazy. It relaxes you temporarily but it doesn't make you quit your day job and sit in the park all day.
Back in the day I smoked my share and then some.
I still went through my apprenticeship working every day and going to apprentice school 2 nights a week and going to college 3 nights a week and my family had a newspaper route and I got up every other morning at 2 am to drive the route and throw papers.
Pot didn't ruin my life.
And I retired when i was 54.
Not that there aren't people out there that might classify as a waste of skin who smoke pot -- but their pot smoking isn't what makes them useless.
They would be that way with or without pot.
VofReason posted at 1:11 pm on Thu, Apr 19, 2012.
Yes DTR, and lazy children become lazy adults that are dependant . Works great for a Government that "takes care of you". Bad for society in general and expectation of self responsibility. This is the problem
VofReason posted at 12:41 pm on Thu, Apr 19, 2012.
Who could have seen this coming. Not that the people who campaigned for it looked as though they had just attended a Grateful Dead concert. Or the obvious Pharmaceutical technicians who stand on the street corners in Scottsdale in cut off shorts and T shirts with signs that say get your pot perscriptions here. This was a total snow job and the work of the legalize it all crowd. An obvious left wing attempt to further diminsh society and create dependency
downtownresident posted at 12:40 pm on Thu, Apr 19, 2012.
Come on Doc.Decend from the clouds long enough to breathe the same air as the rest of us.
Pot isn't the problem. Meth is the problem.
Pot makes you lazy. Meth makes you leave your kids alone in the middle of the night to go rob and steal.
Pot should be legal to use in the comfort of one's own home.
Get your head out of the sand.
Arizona Willie posted at 11:56 am on Thu, Apr 19, 2012.
Congratulations, you at least identified your right wing zealot and told of his connection to anti-marijuana organizations.
Funny how they always spout about how just a few doctors write most of the marijuana prescriptions --- but ignore the fact that it's also just a few doctors who have pain clinics who write the majority of the prescriptions for Oxycodone and it's various forms.
There are a few pain clinics around and there is a constant full parking lot as their addicts come in to get a renewal prescription.
They do a humongous business.
oh wait -- yeah that benefits the pharmaceutical companies and therefore it is a good thing -- but that evil marijuana should be banned so those people would have to get in line at the pain clinic for some oxycodone prescriptions.
Some MD's hate marijuana because they don't get to charge for an office visit every time someone needs a refill.