On Aug. 2, 2009, The Bulletin published High Desert Pulse with the main article titled “Pot in a Pill — It’s here. It’s legal. So why does Oregon still have medical marijuana?” Unfortunately, this article, by Lily Raff, demonstrated a clear bias against medical marijuana by using selective data, ignoring relevant science and history, and quoting those who oppose medical marijuana. The article does great injustice to the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) and to the community.

The article notes that marijuana is a Schedule I drug along with heroin and LSD.

There is no discussion about how this came about or if this classification is justified. Had the writer done any meaningful research on the subject, she would have found that marijuana was classified as a Schedule I drug in 1970 by the Assistant Secretary of Health, Roger O. Egeberg, and was to be only temporary until a study was completed in 1972 by the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse.

That study concluded, in part, “The actual and potential harm of use of the drug is not great enough to justify intrusion by the criminal law into private behavior.” Medical benefits, particularly with glaucoma, were also noted. Then President Nixon made it very clear that marijuana would not be reclassified. This was a political call not based upon any science or reported benefits. Some states and numerous organizations have petitioned to get marijuana reclassified, based on known medical benefits which are still being discovered (www.cmcr.ucsd.edu). So far, these efforts are unsuccessful due primarily to inadequate political support.

Marinol is a Schedule III drug which can be prescribed by a physician. The article does not discuss the fact that 95 percent (placebo effect for 5 percent?) of those who get Marinol do not get any medicinal benefit from it and that patients generally cannot afford the cost ($12 to $24 cost per pill). I have discussed this issue with 12 patients in the OMMP and all of them said Marinol did not work for them. Simply put, is that there are hundreds of active ingredients (cannibinoids) in marijuana which are not in Marinol.

The article extensively quotes Dr. David Stewart, a rehabilitation specialist at The Center. Dr. Stewart insidiously makes his position clear with such statements as his patients found that marijuana made their pain worse, its appeal is as a recreational drug, and he does not want to be a ‘pot doctor.’ In summary, Dr. Stewart says he “is always careful to tell patients that he does not condone their use of marijuana.”

The article furthers this position by stating, “All of the doctors interviewed for this article said they are comfortable denying a patient’s medical marijuana request,” and “Some doctor’s interviewed for this article said they would refuse to sign, even for patients with certain approved conditions.” The article does not identify how many doctors were interviewed.

OMMP Web site statistics show that over 3,000 different doctors in Oregon have signed medical marijuana applications for their patients. I have discussed this issue with five doctors in Bend and Redmond, and four of them stated that not supporting medical marijuana was the position of their employer, particularly the larger health providers.

The Deschutes County District Attorney Mike Dugan clearly demonstrated his bias by stating that the program is for recreational marijuana users to get a “virtual get-out-of-jail-or-prosecution-free card. Granted there are a few of those in the OMMP, however, screening by doctors and the OMMP does ferret out most of these types and numerous applications are rejected.

Over 18,000 patients are licensed for pain relief under the OMMP. I have found that many have had spinal trauma, severe arthritis, or cancer for which they receive the usual percocet, oxycontin, or vicodin. The majority have no medical insurance. I have discussed this with over 100 OMMP patients and a majority state that they take much less narcotics when they use medical marijuana. My own mother, who is 86, has severe osteoarthritis with crumbling vertebrae, knees and hips. She has replaced her opiates with medical marijuana and reports that she feels much better physically and mentally.

Any current medical reference (Merck Manual) will show that marijuana has no physical dependence effect, minor potential for psychological dependence and is well tolerated — exactly the opposite of opioids and synthetic narcotics.

Contrary to the article, smoking is not the preferred method. Most patients make their own tincture (liquid derivative) for ingestion (e.g. cookies, candy, salad dressing, etc.) which works better than smoking.

Had the article been objective, the conclusion would have been that suffering patients need the OMMP as an alternative health option and Marinol is not a viable option.