Debate Club

Should federal authorities be able to close medical marijuana dispensaries in California? >

More Research Needed Before Marijuana Is Safe

The FDA, not popular opinion, tests and approves medicines

October 26, 2011

About Kevin Sabet:

Dr. Kevin Sabet was senior policy advisor to President Obama's drug czar from 2009-2011. He also worked in the White House on drug policy under Presidents Clinton and Bush. Visit his twitter and website.

My answer is yes, but a qualified one. Medical marijuana is certainly a complex issue. No one wants to see their loved ones suffer needlessly, and there is a good case to be made that federal law enforcement should focus its limited resources on major drug producers and distributors.

Unfortunately, however, the issue of medical marijuana goes beyond simple compassion. Medicines in the United States are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, not popular vote. So it is troubling that some states have decided to bypass that system in favor of one manipulated by political agendas.

[See our editorial cartoons on healthcare.]

Furthermore, the raw marijuana plant material--itself containing hundreds of unknown components--has not met FDA's standards of safety and efficacy. But that does not mean marijuana has no medicinal value. Indeed, the FDA has determined that some constituents of marijuana do, and they are available today in pill form. Should we stop there? Of course not. Research is also investigating other safe delivery methods for these types of medications, and the Drug Enforcement Administration has granted hundreds of licenses to researchers investigating the possible medical value of components within marijuana. The National Institutes of Health funds a number of these studies. Research into how components of marijuana may affect our brains and bodies is an exciting area of science. But we don't smoke opium to reap the benefits of morphine, nor do we chew willow bark to receive the effects of asprin. Similarly, we should not have to smoke marijuana to get potential therapeutic effects from its components. Could the Feds speed up the approval process for safe, marijuana-based medications and ensure that our scientific resources are adequately allocated as such? Of course they could, and I hope they will.

But medical marijuana as it stands today, in California and many other states, has turned into a sad joke. A recent study found that the average "patient" was a 32-year-old white male with a history of drug and alcohol abuse and no history of a life-threatening disease. Further studies have shown that very few of those who sought a recommendation had cancer, HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, or multiple sclerosis. We are also beginning to see a link between medical marijuana and increased drug use in states, according to a few recent, exhaustive studies.

The way to have medical marijuana is to do it right: through the scientific process, not the ballot box.

Tags:
FDA,
marijuana,
California
Other Arguments
#1
#2

No — Shutting down dispensaries sends patients into the illicit market

KRIS HERMES, Media Spokesperson for Americans for Safe Access

#3

No — State has right to experiment; federal government has more important things to do

MORGAN FOX, Communications Manager at the Marijuana Policy Project

#4
#6

Yes — System makes criminals money, makes highways unsafe, and doesn't make the sick any better

PETER BENSINGER, Former Administrator of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration

#7

Yes — Marijuana dispensaries have increased incidents of drug use and crime

JOHN REDMAN, Executive Director of Californians for Drug Free Youth

Reader Comments Read all comments (67)

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Im sorry but look at the facts. Marijuana has not caused a single death, states with medical marijuana suicide rates have dropped, DUI rates have dropped. Hemp which only had .03 percent thc content can completely replace the lumber industry, fact is that 1 acre of hemp can replace 4-10 acres of forestry. Hemp can also be used as a food, plastic (Model T Ford was made from hemp) cleaner burning bio diesel, list goes on and on. Its sad that big oil, big pharmaceutical and the lumber industry got their way.The people of the united states have been brainwashed. This is a PLANT and should be used by the people. I dont even smoke it!!

Ricardo Gonzalez of CA 11:47PM April 12, 2012

What makes FDA god ? The whole idea that some state bureaucracy can have life and death power over any choices of peaceful fellow citizens is a corrupt anachronism .

Bob Armstrong of CO 8:02PM November 22, 2011

A TOXI, TAR-LADEN CIGARETTE as a MEDICINE?

Get real..........A cigarette full of hot carbons, CARBON MONOXIDE, AMONIA AS A MEDICINE?

Sounds like when the cigarette companies pushed tobacco cigarettes as a healthy, wholesome medicine.

A snake oil scam by pro-drug advocates..........

Jeanette McDougal of AR 1:12PM November 12, 2011

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