Drug Watch
International
Position Statement
IT IS NEITHER LEGAL NOR
COMPASSIONATE TO PROVIDE A
HARMFUL, ADDICTIVE DRUG WITH NO SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN MEDICINAL EFFICACY
1.
We strongly support scientific research on pure cannabinoids and THC
derivatives as well as on any drug. We
note that synthetic THC, one of the chemicals found in crude marijuana marketed
as Marinol, has been approved by the FDA for therapeutic use in the
treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and the AIDS Wasting Syndrome.
We oppose any form of non-FDA-approved crude marijuana for medical use.
2.
Marijuana has never been scientifically shown to be safe or effective as
medicine as required by federal consumer protection laws.
Congress enacted these laws to protect patients from uninformed
physicians who were prescribing drugs which did more harm than good.
3.
Under Federal law, marijuana remains a Schedule 1 controlled substance,
defined as having no currently accepted medical use and lacking accepted safety
for use under medical supervision. Article
VI, Clause 2, of the United States Constitution states that Federal law is the
supreme law of the land, so marijuana use is still illegal under federal law
regardless of any changes in state law.
4.
Efforts to legalize marijuana "for therapeutic purposes" are
being promoted around the country and funded by the powerful and wealthy
pro-marijuana lobby, which has stated that they are pushing "medicalization"
of marijuana as a "red herring," as part of their strategy to legalize
marijuana.
5.
The use of marijuana is rising in youth, as they see it being falsely
promoted as a "safe medicine." Just
as the tobacco lobby has denied that tobacco is addictive or causes cancer, the
powerful marijuana lobby downplays marijuana's harmful effects in an effort to
legalize the drug.
6.
Marijuana has many harmful effects: it is psychotoxic, addictive,
cancer-causing, immunosuppressive, harmful to the lungs, reproductive system and
the developing fetus. A British
study confirmed that HIV positive persons who smoke progress to full-blown AIDS
almost twice as fast as non-smokers. How
much worse with marijuana? A 1994
study indicates that both marijuana and cigarettes have a detrimental effect on
vitamin E status of HIV-1 infected individuals.
These findings are of particular concern in light of the important role
of vitamin E. in the immune processes. Scientific
experiments show marijuana-smoking impairs motor coordination and stability in
multiple sclerosis, causing gait disturbance.
There is no evidence that marijuana improves or slows the progression of
glaucoma. Smoking marijuana induces
asthma attacks. Marijuana is a
major cause of crashes and trauma. Since
it is fat-soluble, marijuana's intoxicating effect lasts longer than that
due to alcohol. Studies have shown
that children born to mothers who smoked marijuana while pregnant tend to have
lower performance on intelligence testing and more behavioral problems.
7.
There is no scientific evidence that marijuana, which contains over 450
chemicals, many with harmful effects, is safe or effective for any medical
condition. Synthetic THC,
dronabinol, has been approved by the FDA for limited use as an anti-emetic agent
for chemotherapy patients who fail to respond to other drugs, and as an appetite
stimulant in low dosages for patients with AIDS wasting syndrome.
This pharmaceutical is available by prescription (Marinol) and
differs from crude marijuana in that it is a single, pure substance in stable,
quantified dose.
8.
In 1991 the US Public Health Service ordered a study by NIH scientists of
the purported "medicinal" use of marijuana.
Their 1992 report stated that for all conditions for which marijuana is
touted, there are already many safe and highly effective FDA approved
pharmaceuticals available, negating any need to use inferior and dangerous plant
material. Thus, both the Bush and
Clinton administrations have determined that the federal government should not
support programs which provide marijuana to patients.
It is not compassionate to provide a harmful, addictive drug which has no
proven efficacy.
9.
In February, 1994, the US Court of Appeals (DC Circuit) ruled that
marijuana should stay classified as a Schedule 1 drug, i.e. highly addictive, no
medicinal use. Pro-drug groups such
as NORML had been petitioning DEA to reclassify marijuana as a medicine since
the early seventies. The Court
noted that whereas the pro- marijuana parties, which included physicians
connected to NORML, relied on anecdotes, numerous highly credentialed experts
testified that marijuana had not been scientifically shown to be safe or
effective as a medicine. At these
hearings, many organizations, including FDA, AMA, American Cancer Society,
American Academy of Ophthalmology, and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
went on record as stating that marijuana has never been shown to be safe or
effective as medicine.
10.
Anecdotal evidence does not qualify as science, because a sick patient
may believe a drug is helping him when it really is not.
This is especially true of a mind-altering, addictive substance like
marijuana. The THC in smoked
marijuana is absorbed more quickly than oral THC, with a more rapid onset of the
corresponding high. Thus, a person
who is already a regular marijuana user may claim to prefer it to other drugs,
even prescription THC, although scientific controlled experiments have disproved
claims for the efficacy of smoked crude marijuana.
(Neither
legal nor compassionate 4/97)
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