Lit_Match

Feds' drug office wants it both ways
10-22-06|Argus Leader Media - Sioux Falls, SD|Chuck Baldwin

In Scott Burns' mind, it's all black and white - no gray. The research is done, the facts are in, the decisions made, the impact clear.

"Why would we, as adults ... do anything to make more drugs available?" asked Burns, deputy director of White House National Drug Control Policy.

"If this passes, you are normalizing the use of this drug ... increasing the chances of enslaving our young people to this addiction."
"This," of course, is the South Dakota ballot measure to legalize - under very specific and regulated circumstances - the use of marijuana to ease certain medical conditions.

Burns came to South Dakota this past week to preach about the evils of medical marijuana - and the evils of marijuana in general, noting ballot measures in several states and cities to either legalize or decriminalize possession of small amounts.
"We rely on the FDA (to determine medicines)," Burns said. "We don't vote on eating tree bark."

Burns the evangelist points to his bible - a 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine, a part of the National Academy of Sciences.

"They said it is not a medicine," he said.

Yes, that was one part of the study, ordered by Burns' own office. And according to him, it's the only one that matters. But he's ignoring many shades of gray. The study - a review of all the research concerning the medical use of marijuana - also found:

Synthetic drugs as alternatives? While Marinol offers some of the benefits of smoking marijuana, there also are major problems with it, and it doesn't always work.

Smoking? "The adverse effects of marijuana use are within the range of effects tolerated for other medications." No conclusive link to cancer, either.

Addiction? Not a major concern.

Gateway drug? Not really. "Few marijuana users develop dependence."

Increased drug abuse? "Present data on drug use progression neither support nor refute the suggestion that medical availability would increase drug abuse."

The study doesn't recommend long-term medical use of marijuana. But clearly, it said, "For certain patients, such as the terminally ill or those with debilitating symptoms, the long-term risks are not of great concern. ... Until a nonsmoked rapid-onset cannabinoid drug delivery system becomes available, we acknowledge that there is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions that might be relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain or AIDS wasting."
The primary conclusion of the study, though, was that much more research was needed. The scientists doubted that would happen.

Burns doubts it, too. Researchers need certification from the Drug Enforcement Agency to grow marijuana. But the DEA won't certify any researcher to do so. Will that change?

"No," Burns said.
Mind made up.

Burns surely is sincere, but he's also merely spouting the government line. He follows the April pronouncement from the Food and Drug Administration that smoked marijuana had no accepted medical use. Remember, FDA folks are partially funded by drug companies. They're the ones who gave us Vioxx and kept secret research indicating the drug's dangers.
The FDA also ignored the Institute of Medicine's study - something The Economist noted in a critical April 27 story.

That's The Economist - not exactly a liberal High Times.

Burns' position - and the federal government's - isn't just hypocritical. It's contradictory. On the one hand, he says we can't scare young people away from drug use; we have to give them scientific facts. Then he ignores the facts.
It's a mirror of the 70-year-old classic anti-drug propaganda movie "Reefer Madness." The beginning crawl calls marijuana "The Real Public Enemy Number ONE!!"

In the movie, a school principal tells the PTA of "a young boy ... under the influence of drugs ... who killed his entire family with an axe.
"... the next tragedy may be that of your daughter's ... or your son's ... or yours ... or yours ... (then, pointing to the camera) OR YOURS!"

No, by all means, let's not try to scare people. Let's give them the scientific facts.

There might be good reasons to vote against our medical marijuana measure on Nov. 7, but the science isn't one of them. Neither are the government scare tactics.
By the way, vitamins aren't medicine, either. But my doctor wants me to take them.

Chuck Baldwin is Opinion Editor of the Argus Leader.