Science 鈥� not folklore, pop culture and politics 鈥� should lead the way in reforming sa国际传媒鈥檚 marijuana laws. The Supreme Court of sa国际传媒 took a step forward last week when it ruled medical marijuana can legally be consumed in a variety of ways, not just in its dried form. The case was a victory for Victoria鈥檚 Owen Smith, charged in 2009 for possessing pot cookies and other cannabis-infused food.
Before that ruling, the law said marijuana can be prescribed as a medicine, but only in its dried form, which, for most users, would mean smoking it. And yet, no medical textbook, no scientific study, no logical reasoning would ever say it鈥檚 a good thing to inhale smoke from burning vegetation into your lungs.
It鈥檚 a symptom of today鈥檚 reefer madness 鈥� a hodgepodge of illogical, inconsistent laws and vastly polarized views on the harms and benefits of marijuana.
Health Minister Rona Ambrose said she was 鈥渙utraged鈥� by the marijuana decision, saying judges, not medical experts, 鈥渉ave decided something is medicine.鈥�
She should channel her outrage into working toward more sensible laws that decriminalize the use of marijuana. Too many police resources, too much court time and too much public money have gone into enforcing marijuana laws that make criminals out of people who are usually doing no harm, at least not to anyone but themselves.
But Ambrose is right in noting that marijuana has never faced a regulatory approval process through Health sa国际传媒.
鈥淭his is not a medicine,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 very harmful effects of marijuana, especially on our youth.鈥�
It鈥檚 true that marijuana produces harmful effects, but far more harm is caused by alcohol and tobacco, substances that are legal but regulated. No death has ever been reported from an overdose of marijuana; death by alcohol poisoning is far too common.
That doesn鈥檛 mean marijuana is an innocuous substance. Raphael Mechoulam, one of the world鈥檚 most renowned marijuana researchers, cautions that prolonged use of high-potency marijuana can change the way teenagers鈥� brains grow. He told National Geographic magazine that cannabis can provoke severe anxiety attacks in some people, and that it might trigger the onset of schizophrenia in people genetically disposed to the disease.
But Mechoulam鈥檚 research has done much to advance marijuana as medicine, aiding in treatment of an array of diseases. And certainly, many medical marijuana users have found relief from pain and other symptoms.
Still, more research is needed.
鈥淔or it to work in the medical world, it has to be quantitative,鈥� said Mechoulam. 鈥淚f you can鈥檛 count it, it鈥檚 not science.鈥�
Before a drug is made available, it usually goes through a process where dosages are determined on the basis of safety and efficacy. In the wild-west world of marijuana, the user has no guarantee of the product鈥檚 potency or quality 鈥� it can vary from grower to grower, from one crop to the next.
Let鈥檚 not be blind to either the hazards or benefits of marijuana, but decide the issue through vigorous scientific study, not on paranoid myths or wishful thinking.
