The politicians afraid to offend the public has deferred an important issue (medicinal marijuana) to the bureaucrats at Health Canada in Ottawa. The result can only be described as comical. The 2000 legitimate users need photo IDs which sounds reasonable but doesn't this smack of State control. Growers are just lining up in droves to grow the stuff but legitimate users can have up to 7 plants. One wonders what happens if one of their friends drops by and wants to sample their stock??
Today we are not as naive about marijuana use as portrayed in the 1938 film Reefer Madness (starring Dave O'Brien and Dorothy Short) in which teenagers become addicts and turn into psycho killers and brazen hussies. The "War on Drugs" is not working : Why do people use drugs - to escape poverty, the boredom of a depressing job, every day stressors? In humans the active ingredient of marijuana (THC) is known to produce euphoria, enhancement of sensory perception increased heart rate. It also produces difficulties in concentration and memory impairment. THC has estrogenic effects and may produce impotence in men and breast enlargement. Recent studies indicate that THC selectively concentrates in the brain and can cause irreversible brain cell death - i.e. memory impairment in heavy pot smokers may be permanent.
Marijuana is addictive. People who stop smoking marijuana become anxious and irritable; as well as less socially interactive. Tolerance may develop after ongoing use requiring that more marijuana be smoked. The cannaboids share a common pathway of action with other major drugs of abuse such as pain killers, alcohol and cigarettes.
Clearly marijuana may have a role in treating a minority of individuals with intractable pain syndromes that have not responded to conventional treatments. It works well with people receiving chemotherapy and who experience extreme nausea.
I have never smoked marijuana but I have several friends who do. I am constantly telling them as well as the teens I see in my medical practice the evils of marijuana use, as already described. So why would I want to legalize marijuana. First of all by legalizing marijuana the criminal element would be removed (i.e. growing and distribution) Secondly quality control could be maintained - the purchaser would know they are getting pure marijuana not grass clippings. Thirdly the government could actually make some money by taxing it (like alcohol and tobacco) hence lowering the deficit and putting money into things like education and our ailing health system.
Fourthly it would free up the police and the justice system to deal with real crime.
Now I am not delusional but maybe the government wants to put this issue to a referendum. Recent polls would indicate an overwhelming support for legalization of marijuana, even the Canadian Medical Association supports this. All I hope is that they replace the proposed law as soon as possible.
