http://www.globaldrugpolicy.org/3/2/2.php
 
Andrea G. Barthwell, M.D.
 
Michael C. Barnes, Esq.
DCBA Law & Policy
 
The Scientific Process
 
Crude Herbal Cannabis and Unstandardized Cannabis Preparations Do Not Meet the Standards of Modern Medicine.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has recognized that crude herbal cannabis has little future as a true medication:
 
Although marijuana smoked delivers THC and other cannanbinoids to the body, it also [...]

Cannabis dispensaries are proliferating at a rapid rate — a cause for concern, given the potential for such operations to take advantage of desperate patients and put seriously ill patients at affirmative risk. Local jurisdictions do not have sufficient resources to deal with these abuses. Requiring the DEA unequivocally to take a “hands-off” approach, no matter how egregious the dispensary’s practices, will not serve the best interests of patients.

Over the past week the issue of legalizing marijuana has been at the forefront of the media. In New York State, Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried has sponsored a bill that would make marijuana available to individuals who he claims might benefit from its possible therapeutic effects.

The world’s best business model has always been addiction. Tobacco and alcohol have been around for ages, but new temptations and spinoffs are being marketed all the time: meth, painkillers, energy drinks, you name it.

Importantly, the study also finds that the risk of violence from patients with psychoses who also have substance use disorder is no greater than those who have a substance use disorder but who do not have a psychotic illness – in other words, schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses do not appear to be responsible for any additional risk of violence above the increased risk associated with substance abuse.

Smoking marijuana over an extended period of time appears to greatly boost a young man’s risk for developing a particularly aggressive form of testicular cancer, a new study reveals. [...]

Relief from pain. In some people, prescription pain relievers also cause euphoria or feelings of well being by affecting the brain regions that mediate pleasure. This is why they are abused. Other effects include drowsiness, constipation and slowed breathing. [...]

On Sunday researchers at the University of Buffalo reported that Ritalin, used on children diagnosed with ADHD, may cause long-term changes in the brain. Many clinicians regard Ritalin as short-acting but the research with gene expression in an animal model suggests that it has the potential for causing long-lasting changes [...]

The body produces many chemicals and hormones, i.e., histamines, steroids, thyroid hormone, digitalis-like substances, adrenalin, etc, all of which work by attaching to corresponding brain receptors. The key is that these natural substances produced by the body are present in nanogram amounts [...]