VOTE 4 "20"
Election Da|y
Tues., November 7, 2000
From CO-HIP:
Below are PRO and CON pieces published in the Denver Post about Colorado's medical
marijuana initiative, Amendment 20. Feel free to respond to the Denver Post.
Denver Post
Sunday, September 10, 2000
Perspective, Section H
Feedback: letters@denverpost.com
CON
It's bad medicine, it's bad law
By Michael J. Norton
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/per0910b.htm
Sept. 10, 2000 - A few sad stories are already beginning to show up in the news. A man
with multiple sclerosis smokes illegal marijuana, supposedly to relieve muscle spasms. A
man with AIDS thinks he and others suffering from the disease should be able to smoke
marijuana because it might relieve his nausea.
These stories are designed to engender sympathy among Coloradans, and they do.
The stories are also designed to emotionally move Coloradans to vote "yes" on
a constitutional amendment that would supposedly legalize marijuana for medical purposes.
Amendment 20 is bad medicine and bad law. For our children and for our families,
Coloradans should vote "no" on Amendment 20.
The reasons are clear:
Smoked marijuana is medically unnecessary. Ask your doctor. There are more effective
and approved drugs available, including those you don't have to smoke or swallow. The
National Institutes of Health reported in March 1992 that there are better, safer drugs
available.
Subsequent research bears this out. For example, Marinol contains the active ingredient
as marijuana but is FDA-tested and approved, and soon will be available in patch form.
Physicians can prescribe precise amounts of Marinol.
Patients would have to buy marijuana from illegal street dealers or grow their own. You
won't see this fact on the slick TV ads from the promarijuana forces. And the law would
allow them to possess enough marijuana for as many as 150 cigarettes - quite a stash. But
it will still be a criminal offense to sell marijuana.
No prescription would be required, only a statement that crude marijuana
"might" relieve symptoms. Is that a reason to amend the state's constitution?
What's potentially worse, a person could become entitled to use marijuana by presenting
his or her medical records at a state registry office. In this day of desktop publishing,
consider the potential for fraud and abuse.
The amendment invites recreational drug users to find medical excuses to smoke
marijuana. Employees at the state registry office would have little time to check the
authenticity of the doctor's signature and medical records, and if these checks aren't
made quickly, approval to use marijuana must automatically be granted. If the applicant is
rejected, would he or she sue?
If passed, this amendment would send a dangerous message to our children: If marijuana
is "good medicine," it must be "OK for kids, too" at a time when
illegal drug use by children is at epidemic proportions.
Finally, there is a threat to the workplace. You'll hear that the proposed amendment
attempts to address employers' fears. But the Americans With Disabilities Act is so broad
that it could protect employees under the influence of marijuana in the workplace.
That's a compelling list of reasons to vote "no" on Amendment 20, reasons
that doesn't even include law enforcement concerns.
Proponents, using out-of-state money, will mount a slick, well-financed campaign to
persuade Coloradans to pass this wrong-headed amendment. Mostly, you'll hear a few sad
stories. You may also hear about some so-called "research." But most of the
medical and scientific communities dispute such "research." The most important
consideration, however, is that these California-based pro-marijuana backers really want a
foot in the door to legalize drugs in our state. Use of marijuana as medicine is just the
first step. They hope that Colorado, and then other states, will legalize all drugs -
marijuana, cocaine, the rest.
I don't think it will work. Coloradans must ask themselves and their doctors: If
smoking marijuana is such a great treatment, why is it that the American Medical
Association is opposed? Why is the American Cancer Society opposed? If it's such a
valuable drug, why is it still illegal to sell? And, for that man with multiple sclerosis,
why does the International Association of Multiple Sclerosis Societies warn that smoked
marijuana is not an appropriate medicine?
The American Glaucoma Society is opposed. The American Academy of Opthalmology is
opposed. The Colorado Medical Society, Colorado Health and Hospital Association,
Tri-County Health, Colorado Academy of Family Practitioners, and Colorado Dental
Association are all against the use of crude marijuana as medicine.
Why? They know the alternatives, and they've seen the research - research that shows
that smoking marijuana is especially dangerous for people with weak immune systems,
including those with AIDS.
In our own state, Gov. Bill Owens, State Treasurer Mike Coffman, Attorney General Ken
Salazar and U.S. Attorney Tom Strickland are opposed to the amendment, and the state
legislature recently passed a resolution urging de feat of this measure.
Coloradans must ask themselves how those pot users we are about to see in slick TV
commercials will be buying marijuana: from the dealer on the corner? Will some of the
drugs end up in the hands of children? I pray not.
Coloradans Against Legalizing Marijuana is a coalition of doctors, nurses, elected
officials, law enforcement officials, business people, the faith communities, civic
leaders, parents and educators.
We have read the fine print. We understand the sham, the hidden agenda and the threat
to our children and families in Colorado. We hope other Coloradans will hear us, and vote
"no" on Amendment 20. It's bad medicine. It's bad law.
Michael J. Norton is a former U.S. Attorney for the district of Colorado and is
currently in private practice in Englewood. He is treasurer of Coloradan Against
Legalizing Marijuana. He can be reached at mjnorton@nortonlidstone.com.
PRO
It's all about compassion
By Martin Chilcutt and Chris Ott, M.D.
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/per0910a.htm
Sept. 10, 2000 - Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically
active substances known to man," stated Frances Young, chief administrative law judge
for the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Seriously and terminally ill patients should be given the option of medical marijuana
use. Its therapeutic value far outweighs its perceived social stigma.
Approval of Amendment 20 will allow patients and their physicians greater autonomy for
designing appropriate medical treatment.
Opponents claim there is no thorough scientific or medical research to support the
medical use of marijuana. This is disingenuous. In a 1999 study sponsored by the White
House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Institute of Medicine concluded that
"marijuana is an effective treatment and is neither addictive nor a gateway
drug."
Other research is producing encouraging results and is readily available on the
Internet and in peerreviewed medical journals. Scientists - like pharmaceutical compa nies
that develop and distribute "orphan drugs" for rare diseases - have diligently
studied and supported the use of medical marijuana for the sick and debilitated. The
opposition refers to these pioneers as "quacks" and "charlatans." We
Coloradans need to embrace progressive therapies instead of regressive and divisive
rhetoric.
Terminally ill and chronically debilitated patients pose a difficult dilemma for the
entire community. The community must recognize the ethical dilemmas born of the inherent
conflicts of interest between compassionate medical treatment and government drug laws.
Both physicians and patients must be free to choose effective medical treatments without
the misguided interventions of the state. If history has taught us anything, it is that
disaster results when the government is involved in the day-to-day life of the individual.
Indeed, the New England Journal of Medicine once described the restrictive federal
policy toward patient and physician discussion on the use of medical marijuana as
"misguided, heavy-handed and inhumane."
It is pure hypocrisy for the government to prevent physicians from prescribing
marijuana while permitting the dissemination of far more dangerous drugs such as morphine.
When it comes to dealing with the illness and suffering of our friends and families,
doctors' autonomy from the state needs to be sacrosanct if they are to treat patients to
the best of their abilities.
Patients dealing with cancer and its treatments as well as those with AIDS often
experience a "wasting" disorder resulting in nausea, which prevents them from
keeping down even small amounts of food and, all too often, pills. For these patients, the
anti-nausea benefits of smoked marijuana cannot be overstated.
Dr. John P. Morgan, a professor of pharmacology at the New York Medical School,
advises, "For people suffering from nausea and vomiting who are are unable to swallow
and keep down a pill, smoking marijuana is often the only reliable way to deliver THC, the
active chemical released in marijuana which has therapeutic value.
For patients suffering nausea, smoking marijuana has the additional advantage of
delivering THC quickly, providing relief in a few minutes, compared to an hour or more
when THC is swallowed." In a 1990 survey of 432 clinical oncologists, 44 percent said
that they had recommended smoking marijuana to some cancer patients.
Some citizens fear that this initiative will lead to marijuana's widespread sale and
misuse. This is not based in fact. The initiative does not overturn or negate effective
state or federal laws restricting the sale, trafficking, distribution, manufacture or
possession of marijuana. A patient may possess no more than 2 ounces of marijuana and a
maximum of six plants. Possession of more and resale of a patient's medical marijuana can
be prosecuted under existing law.
Coloradans for Medical Rights has placed Amendment 20 on the November ballot to help
physicians counteract disease and alleviate pain.
The constitutional amendment will allow patients, after consultation with their
physicians, to use marijuana in conjunction with traditional therapies to help leviate
pain, treat nausea, and stimulate appetites. It will give physicians anoth er tool with
which to continue the goal of improving their patients' quality of life.
Patients suffering from cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, chronic nervous
system disorders or any other medical condition specified by a state health agency would
will be eligible to receive certification from their physi cian. The decision on whether a
particular patient would benefit from smoking marijuana is left to the patient, physician
and family. Recreational marijuana use will remain illegal. Existing law will continue to
prohibit marijuana use in public places. Certified patients must carry a registry
identification card issued by the state health agency. Through this highly controlled and
regulated system, only the legitimate, compassionate medical use of marijuana would be
permitted.
The First Clinical Conference on Therapeutic Cannabis was held in April at the
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center's School of Nursing to discuss the subject.
Representatives from dozens of national and local professional or ganizations in the
health-care field - including the American Public Health Association, Colorado Nursing
Association, National Nurses Society on Addictions and the California Medical Association
- support the therapeutic use of cannabis.
We, the supporters of Amendment 20, have written to you, the citizens of Colorado,
directly and truthfully about this initiative. Let us give our patients the option to use
whatever means possible to ease their pain and suffering. It's the humane and right thing
to do.
Amendment 20 grants compassion and offers greater individual freedom and
self-determination to patients, their families, and the medical community. Martin Chilcutt
of Denver is a retired psyschologist, a cancer survivor and a former member of Coloradans
for medical rights. He can be reached at mchilcutt@yahoo.com.
Dr. Chris Ott os a Denver physician specializing in trauma and emergency medicine
treatment.
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