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Tomorrow: Philadelphia Cannabis March
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Tomorrow: Philadelphia Cannabis March
Filed Under: Protest
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| Courtesy of Chicago Now |
It's gonna be splendid out tomorrow, and you've got choices. Equality Forum? The Piazza's Restaurant Weekend? Free Comic Book Day? Inevitably drinking bucket beers in a kiddie pool in Fishtown? Or ... how about marching in the name of the marijuana legalization?
Philly's NORML chapter and local activists will be gathering at Broad and South streets for the march from 3 to 7 p.m., and promise speakers, music, vendors and people in costumes (and with floats!). Check out the event's FB page for more info.
There are certain hard scientific facts that would support the Legalization, but the "orthodox" addiction medicine establishment, being anything but independent from tight DEA control, is not nearly as forthcoming with this information as it should be for scientific integrity. As opposed to alcohol and most controlled prescription drugs, marijuana use has not been associated with one single case of fatal overdose, marijuana does not have a documented physical withdrawal, and its addiction liability is only 3% compared with 10% for alcohol and around 20% for opiates, both legal (morphine) and illegal (heroin). Cannabis use has been shown to reduce the violent crime (Substance Abuse: A Comprehensive Textbook, 4-th Edition, page 267). After working for years with seriously drug-addicted patients in Philadelphia, PA, I understand the scientific fallacy of classifying cannabis in the same group with heroin and cocaine. The so-called "gateway drug" theory is by now completely discredited, but this scientific fact is not widely advertised or known. At the same time, the medicinal properties of marijuana plant are by now so clearly beyond dispute, that even the "opponents" are no longer fully comfortable in repeating the old nonsense that the plant has "no medical benefits". Between 74 and 81% of Americans support legalization of marijuana for at least medical use. I know that whatever decision people make in the end (and I hope it will be to legalize this natural medicinal plant), they should make it with all the facts at their disposal. Perhaps the whole situation regarding the legalization of marijuana can be summarized by quoting a true expert whose dedication to scientific truth is stronger than any disinformation the "opponents" can possibly offer: "Cannabis will one day be seen as a wonder drug, as was penicillin in the 1940s. Like penicillin, herbal marijuana is remarkably nontoxic, has a wide range of therapeutic applications and would be quite inexpensive if it were legal". Dr. Lester Grinspoon, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Los Angeles Times, May 5, 2006
Here is the letter I wrote to most PA Senators urging their support for the upcoming medical marijuana Bill:
Dear Senator (name),
I am writing to request that you co-sponsor Senator Leach's medical marijuana bill.
Medical marijuana has been found very useful in a number of serious health conditions which is now recognized by none other than the American Medical Association. In fact, it is the American Medical Association that is now urging the law-makers to change the classification of Cannabis because its current classification as a Schedule I drug contradicts all scientific reality.
While we are still undecided whether to make medical marijuana legal, the Canadian Government even pays for this medicinal plant for their veterans in recognition of the remarkable medicinal properties of Cannabis Sativa.
In particular, medical marijuana has been found useful in malnutrition, pain management, severe muscle spasms, nausea associated with chemotherapy, epilepsy and glaucoma. Recent reports indicate that it is a good treatment for migraine headaches as well, and the most recent studies even indicate that non-THC compounds of the plant may have a suppressive action on aggressive breast cancer gene. Overall, the range of medicinal applications of medical marijuana is wide and growing, while the concerns associated with its use are greatly exaggerated.
As a Pennsylvania physician certified by the American Society of Addiction Medicine since 2004, I want to briefly comment on the concerns usually expressed in connection with medical marijuana use.
First, it would really be a scientific distortion to suggest that marijuana, which does not have either a lethal overdose associated with its use, or a documented physical withdrawal syndrome, so characteristic of opiates, "nerve" and "sleeping" pills or alcohol, for that matter, is less safe than any of those substances; the so-called "gateway drug" theory has been discredited by the science of addiction medicine and, no less importantly, cannabis use suppresses violent crime (Substance Abuse: A Comprehensive Textbook, 4-th Edition, page 267).
As a Program Physician in Philadelphia drug-addiction clinics for years, I observed first hand the devastating physical dependence that many currently used prescription drugs cause; however, the only cases of "pure" marijuana "addiction" were those referred by the parole and probation departments after failing a drug test. Let me just point out to you that if medical marijuana was used for pain management, this would allow to reduce the doses of dangerous and highly addictive opiates such as Morphine or Oxycontin, thereby rendering the treatment much safer.
What about the possible addiction liability of medical marijuana? I believe the numbers will be more demonstrative than words: Marijuana's addiction liability is 3%, compared with 10% for alcohol, 20% for opiates and between 50 and 75% for nicotine. What does this mean? It means that one out of 10 people exposed to alcohol will develop some kind of problem drinking disorder and 20 out of 100 people exposed to opiates may develop subsequent addiction or dependence, but only 3% of marijuana users go ahead to develop some kind of dependency. This is what one of the country's leading expert says about medical marijuana:
"Cannabis will one day be seen as a wonder drug, as was penicillin in the 1940s. Like penicillin, herbal marijuana is remarkably nontoxic, has a wide range of therapeutic applications and would be quite inexpensive if it were legal".
Dr. Lester Grinspoon, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Los Angeles Times, May 5, 2006
Senator, if the drug (any drug) has not been implicated in fatal overdoses or physical dependence and at the same time is highly effective in some very serious medical conditions, the case for the drug's acceptance to me is obvious; recent ABC and CBS polls indicate that between 74 and 81% of Americans support legalization of medical marijuana. These are very significant numbers, and it it a duty of our elected Representatives to act upon them and heed the wishes of the voters.
Senator, I strongly urge you to cosponsor this Bill for the sake of seriously ill Pennsylvanians as well as for the sake of Scientific Integrity (capital letters) itself.
Thank you Leonard Krivitsky, MD,DD
(address, phone number)Once you learn the law, the weed will be freed. ---->http://satanssmoke.us
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