Claim: Medical associations don't support legally available medical marijuana.
Rebuttal: The following organizations either support access to therapeutic marijuana or support removal of penalties for its use: AIDS Action Council, Alaska Medical Association, Alaska Nurses Association, American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Medical Students Association, American Nurses Association, American Preventive Medical Association, American Public Health Association, American Social Health Association, American Society of Addiction Medicine, Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, Australian Medical Association, British Medical Association, California Academy of Family Physicians, California Medical Association, California Nurses Association, California Pharmacists Association, California Society of Addiction Medicine, Canadian Medical Association, Canadian Medical Journal, Colorado Nurses Association, Council of Health Organizations, DC Medical Society, Florida Medical Association, Hawaii Nurses Association, Health Canada, Institute Of Medicine, Lymphoma Foundation of America, Maine AIDS Alliance, Medical Association of Jamaica, Mississippi Nurses Association, Multiple Sclerosis California Action Network, National Association for Mental Health, National Association for Public Health Policy, National Association of People With AIDS, National Nurse Society on Addictions, New England Journal of Medicine, New Jersey Nurses Association, New Mexico Medical Society, New Mexico Nurses Association, New York State Nurses Association, North Carolina Nurses Association, Northern New England Psychiatric Society, Physicians Association for AIDS Care, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Southern California Psychiatric Society, Stichting Institute of Medical Marijuana, Virginia Nurses Association, Virginia Nurses Society on Addictions, Wisconsin Nurses Association, Wisconsin Public Health Association, and Wisconsin State Medical Society.
Claim: Marijuana legalization proponents are exploiting patients to advance their own agenda.
Rebuttal: Ask any medical marijuana patient who they support: 1) critics who want to arrest, prosecute and jail them, or, 2) proponents who believe patients, with the assistance of their physician, should be able make their own best choices without fear of arrest, prosecution or jail.
Claim: We don't need medical marijuana because Marinol is already legally available to patients.
Rebuttals:
1) Marinol does not contain cannabidiol, a cannabinoid in botanical marijuana
recognized for its medicinal properties.
2) Studies show patients, when given a choice of Marinol or botanical marijuana,
overwhelmingly prefer botanical marijuana
3) Studies suggest there may be a synergistic effect of multiple cannabinoids
in combination, specifically THC and cannabidiol.
4) Marinol is more expensive than botanical marijuana.
Claim: A medicine that can be smoked is not accepted medicine.
Rebuttal: Cocaine is still considered an acceptable medicine in dentistry, despite the fact it can be smoked. Botanical marijuana can also be eaten or vaporized. Vaporization is a process in which marijuana is heated to release cannabinoids without creating smoke.
Claim: In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of emergency room visits due to marijuana use.
Rebuttal: The reason for seeking emergency care may not have anything to do with the marijuana "mention." A mention of past marijuana use becomes a marijuana report in the ER. The numbers quoted come from the DAWN, which has also been coined as "Data About Worthless Numbers," because the information gathered only reflects the drugs consumed by ER patients, the drug mention is NOT necessarily related to the ER visit. Changes in reporting procedures have marred these statistics beyond validity; plus in 1998 54% of ER admissions were criminal justice system referrals.
Claim: Marijuana is a risk factor for cancer.
Rebuttals:
"Previous laboratory investigations, case reports, and a hospital-based case-control study have suggested that marijuana use may be a risk factor for squamous cell head and neck cancer. We conducted a population-based case-control study to determine whether marijuana use is associated with the development of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). ... There were no trends in risk observed with increasing duration or average frequency of use or time since first or last use. No subgroup defined by known or suspected OSCC risk factors (age, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and genetic polymorphisms) showed an increased risk. Marijuana use was not associated with OSCC risk in this large, population-based study." claims Karin A. Rosenblatt, Janet R. Daling, Chu Chen, Karen J. Sherman and Stephen M. Schwartz, from "Marijuana Use and Risk of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma", Cancer Research #64, June 1 2004, pgs 4049-4054, rebutting the US government agency National Institute on Drug Abuse's claim that marijuana use increases the risk of head and neck cancer.
"Although the inhalation of chemical toxins in cannabis smoke has been linked to bronchitis and other respiratory problems, it has not been shown to cause lung cancer or a higher death rate." from "Marijuana Smoking Doesn't Lead to Higher Death Rate", O'Shaughnessy's Jouurnal of the California Cannabis Research Medical Group, Summer 2003.
In 2000, "Stephen Sidney, MD, at the Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, 3505 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94611 ... confirmed that they found lower levels of cancer among the marijuana smokers when compared to their control group." American Journal of Public Health.
In February 1997, Boston researchers report tetra-hydro-cannabinol injected directly into rat stomachs did not cause cancer.
And in 1994, "Some forms of lung irritation may be more pronounced with chronic marijuana smoke, but no signs of cancer were seen seven months after the last dose" claims Dr. William Slikker Jr, researcher for a 2-1/2 year study of cannabis consumption by youth for the National Center of Toxicological Research, Jefferson, AR.
Sources for all claims and rebuttals can be found on CFAN's Guide to Cannabis Research at www.freedomactivist.net/cannabisresearch.html.
(Compiled by Rich Birkett)