Confessions of a Book Store Owner

weedporndaily:

Reefer madness is alive and well in Kansas.  The Weed Blogpicked up on a story out of Topeka, Kansas, where the legislature held a hearing to discuss medical marijuana.  Supporters outnumbered opponents by a long shot.

Dramatic testimony was given by a son whose mother died from the FDA-approved prescription arthritis drug Humira.  Esau Freeman of Wichita read a two-page list of Humira’s known side effects and asked, “I’m here to ask you if we can do better. If patients in Kansas deserve the legal right to access safe and more natural medicine. I’m asking you as responsible and caring legislators of this great state of Kansas to investigate the evidence of medical marijuana with an unbiased and open mind.”

According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, Eric Voth, the chairman of the Institute on Global Drug Policy, claimed that the state of Oregon has mostly stopped pre-employment drug screenings after medical marijuana passed in 1998 because “they had no usable work force.”  Also during testimony, Voth claimed that in California, more prescriptions (recommendations) are filled on Friday afternoons by those under 25 than at any other time by any other group.  ”It’s a scam, it’s not a prescription,” Voth said.

Rep. Trimmer noted that few of the people testifying offered much in the way of scientific citation for cannabis’ proven medicinal benefits.  ”Do we have any evidence on either side from sources like the National Cancer Institute, the American Medical Association, the New England Journal of Medicine, the American Opthamological Association Journal?” Trimmer asked. “I would hope that we have something in the medical profession that tells us whether these things work or not. I like to base policy on sound research.”

OK, then…

National Cancer Institute:  The potential benefits of medicinal Cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep. Although few relevant surveys of practice patterns exist, it appears that physicians caring for cancer patients in the United States who recommend medicinal Cannabis predominantly do so for symptom management.

American Medical Association:  Results of short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in patients with multiple sclerosis.

New England Journal of Medicine:  Federal authorities should rescind their prohibition of the medical use of marijuana for seriously ill patients and allow physicians to decide which patients to treat. The government should change marijuana’s status from that of a Schedule I drug … to that of a Schedule II drug … and regulate it accordingly.

American Academy of Ophthalmology:  …no scientific evidence has been found that demonstrates increased benefits and/or diminished risks of marijuana use to treat glaucoma compared with the wide variety of pharmaceutical agents now available. [This lady would beg to differ…]

The chairwoman, Rep. Brenda Landwehr, wasn’t buying any of the testimony from patients who told how cannabis had helped them medically.  ”I think that, if there was a huge benefit for those folks, the FDA would have already stepped in,” Landwehr said.

So once again we have opponents of medical cannabis use retreating to the tautological safety of the FDA excuse:

1. Cannabis is not a medicine because it is not FDA approved;
2. The FDA can’t study cannabis, because it is in Schedule I;
3. Cannabis is in Schedule I because it is not a medicine.
4. Return to Point 1.

Read more: http://stash.norml.org/in-kansas-eric-voth-says-oregon-ended-workplace-drug-testing-following-medical-marijuana-law

Hey. Someone in Kansas died from Humira because they couldn’t use medical marijuana. 

Humira can cause fatal complication in patients with only arthritis; I have lupus too. 

So next time someone wants to tell me medical marijuana isn’t necessary, they can tell it to this woman’s son.