Should Michigan Make Medical Marijuana Legal?

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Recent studies have shown that medical marijuana is incredibly effective at treating peripheral neuropathy in HIV/AIDS patients, a painful condition stemming from nerve damage for which there are no FDA-approved drugs. Neuropathic pain -- which is also common in other illnesses, including multiple sclerosis – is notoriously resistant to conventional pain drugs, including highly addictive opiates. However, medical marijuana has been demonstrated to help ease this agonizing condition.

Those opposed to protecting patients from arrest and jail also frequently cite the existence of Marinol, a synthetic version of one of marijuana’s active chemical components. However, Marinol, while helpful for some, is not an acceptable alternative to medical marijuana.

Patients who use Marinol typically find it takes an hour or more to begin working, while smoked marijuana takes effect almost instantaneously. They also find that the dose of THC absorbed in pill form is either too much or too little. As the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet Neurology pointed out in 2003, “Oral administration is probably the least satisfactory route for cannabis.”

Many patients use medical marijuana to treat the nausea and vomiting associated with their conditions, including cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. When you're nauseated and throwing up, taking a pill is not realistic.

THC is also only one of more than 60 active cannabinoids contained in marijuana. Many of these are believed to interact synergistically to produce therapeutic benefits that THC alone does not. And the American College of Physicians has noted that Marinol's psychoactive side effects are "more severe" than marijuana.

Finally, it’s illogical to reject a safe, effective medicine because others exist. People respond differently to different medications, and even the best drugs don't work for everyone; patients and doctors need multiple options. It’s simply cruel to criminalize the seriously ill for following their doctors’ recommendation.