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Studies belie claims of medical marijuana as safe option to pain 
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 05/2/06 
BY TERRENCE P. FARLEY

I have been involved in drug prevention, education and enforcement on the county, state and national levels for about 19 years. I have spent years reviewing research on so-called "medical marijuana." I can state, as a result of that research, that "medical marijuana" and "Compassionate Use" acts are a hoax. 

Ken Wolski said in his April 27 commentary that his group, The Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New Jersey, has as a mission "to bring about safe and legal access to marijuana for New Jersey patients." While I assume this is in part the truth, the real truth is that his group's ultimate goal, as is the case with all organizations supported by George Soros' Drug Policy Alliance, is to legalize marijuana and eventually all drugs.

The mission itself is flawed. The coalition wants to bring about safe and legal access to marijuana. There is no safe access. In our society, we do not approve drugs on mere conjecture or a popular vote. We have an extensive testing program overseen by the Food and Drug Administration. Just recently, the FDA concluded that "no sound scientific studies supported medical use of marijuana for treatment in the United States, and no animal or human data supported the safety or efficacy of marijuana for general medical use. There are alternative FDA-approved medications in existence of treatment of many of the proposed uses of smoked marijuana. Therefore, the FDA has not approved smoked marijuana for any condition or disease indication." 

Also, the U.S. Supreme Court just last year ruled that marijuana is not "medicine" and the federal government could arrest anyone using marijuana, even for medical purposes and even in the states that have legalized its use. 

John Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, noted, "Smoking illegal drugs may make some people "feel better.' However, civilized societies and modern-day medical practices differentiate between inebriation and the safe, supervised delivery of proven medicine by legitimate doctors." 

Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., chairman of the House subcommittee on criminal justice, drug policy and human resources, aptly noted, "smoked marijuana has never been approved for medical use by the FDA. For several years, the FDA allowed a limited number of seriously ill patients to use smoked marijuana. The program was terminated in 1992 when the Public Health Service stated there was no scientific evidence that the drug was assisting patients, and issued a warning that using smoked marijuana as a form of medical therapy may actually be harmful to some patients." 

Perhaps that is because various studies have shown that smoked marijuana is equivalent to smoking tobacco in that it leads to the same (or even worse) health conditions, that it can cause premature cancer, addiction, coordination and perception impairment, a number of mental disorders including depression, hostility and increased aggressiveness; general apathy, memory loss, reproductive disabilities and impairment of the immune system. 

In California, Jeff Stone, a Riverside County supervisor (freeholder) and registered pharmacist, who wants to overturn that state's medical marijuana law, bases his position on the fact that many of the claims of marijuana's benefits are already addressed by better and easier-to-use FDA-approved medications. He has also expressed concerns about the increased availability of today's much more potent marijuana.

New Jersey's congressmen have addressed this topic. 

Rep. Christopher H. Smith, R-N.J., recently pointed out his opposition to "medical marijuana" based on studies published in The New England Journal of Medicine and Science magazine that question the use of marijuana for those suffering from cancer, AIDS or other diseases. He also spoke of the Institute of Medicine report, often misquoted by marijuana advocates, that actually stated, "in no way do we wish to suggest that patients should, under any circumstances, medicate themselves with marijuana . . . there is no future in smoked marijuana as medicine." 

Rep. H. James Saxton, R-N.J., recently noted that "there have been over 10,000 documented studies that confirm the harmful physical and psychological effects of the use of marijuana. The federal government over the past 20 years, through both Republican and Democratic administrations, has determined that marijuana has no redeeming medical or recreational value and is in fact harmful to one's health." 

Saxton noted that the American Medical Association, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, American Cancer Society and, most importantly, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society have all rejected the use of marijuana for positive medical treatment. 

Terrence P. Farley is first Ocean County assistant prosecutor and director of the county Narcotics Strike Force. He is spokesman for the New Jersey Narcotics Enforcement Officers Association and New Jersey Narcotics Task Force Commanders Association.