Valley Voice: Medical pot use must be based on science

By Ruth A. Hill,
Marijuana has been around since 3000 B.C. Hemp, a variety of marijuana, has been used for medical purposes for centuries. For most of this country’s history cannabis was legal.
In 1963 an organic chemist in Israel named Raphael Mechoulam, discovered the plant’s principal active mind-altering ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. He also discovered the chemical structure that has many medicinal uses but lacks the mind-altering effects, cannabidiol or CBD. Since then research has found over 500 cannabinoids.

In the ’60s when THC was synthesized as marinol, the federal government classified it as a Schedule III drug for use as an appetite stimulant and an antiemetic.
To combat “reefer madness” in the ’70s, the federal government classified marijuana as a Schedule I drug, meaning it had no medicinal purpose and was dangerous. This essentially sent the plant into hiding and research stopped in this country.

California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996. A prescription for medical marijuana can be obtained for any contrived condition. Since then all sides of the media, liberal, libertarian and conservative, have tried to outdo the other touting the benefit or ruin of public morals due to marijuana use. The back and forth bantering reduces the subject to a political issue instead of a scientific one.

What is in the marijuana purchased at these dispensaries? The laws vary from state to state. How much TCH vs CBD is in the medical marijuana purchased in California, Washington, Utah or Colorado? In the ’60s the ratio was 1:3 TCH:CBD. Most dispensaries have bred out the medicinal CBD to get a higher price. There are no mandated testing requirements for the ratio of THC:CBD. There are no quality controls whatsoever in any state.

Yet the science behind CBD is a treasure trove. There is much anecdotal evidence that CBD can treat diseases such as multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, post-traumatic stress disorder, dementia, schizophrenia, osteoporosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease). There is also anecdotal evidence it can minimize seizures in children, kill breast, brain, and a plethora of other carcinoma cells. The potential for research into cannabidiol is unlimited and unparalleled. Since marijuana is banned federally the research is only being done on rats and monkeys.

TV makes for great entertainment when Bill O’Reilly touts the legitimate dangers to children, libertarians argue we should smoke whatever we want in our own home, and liberals want to decriminalize possession of marijuana. Everyone is reduced to yelling at each other. No one in the media is explaining to the voters the nonsense in all these laws.

Do we want to next vote to legalize cocaine or make recreational oxycodone legal? Should this be a science-based issue or a political one? The medical dangers of THC are well documented. Stoned patients are not functional. Good pain medicine makes patients more functional.
Medical marijuana in its present form is a farce. We need to close all dispensaries and regulate cannabis as we do alcohol and other drugs, or at least as well as we regulate pesticides and molds. This is an imperative. The true value of medicinal marijuana can only be determined thru extensive research and clinical trials.