"MEDICAL" MARIJUANA: AN OXYMORON!
Marijuana is not medicine. Let me say that again. Marijuana is not medicine. Marijuana is a DEA schedule 1 drug because of its potential for abuse and the associated health risks that include brain damage, birth defects, mental illness, cancer and addiction. Other schedule 1 drugs include LSD, quaaludes, heroin, ecstasy and bath salts.
In order for marijuana to be considered medicine it would have to go through the same strict FDA approval process that every prescription drug goes through and that hasn't happened.
With all the hype and misinformation marketed to our youth-and yes to parents-by pro marijuana advocacy groups and the millionaires backing them there is a growing perception that marijuana is safe. After all marijuana is “natural” because it grows in the earth. Well, so does arsenic and I don’t see that being marketed and smoked. Marijuana contains carcinogens. In other words poisons. People are smoking poison and innocent little kids who are accidentally eating brownies, or cookies or candy laced with marijuana are being poisoned.
The age of initiation among youth in our nation is declining while the THC levels which determine the drugs strength are 3 to 5 times more powerful than ever before. So adolescents who begin smoking marijuana at 14 or younger are 6 times more likely to become addicted.
Consequently, one in 6 weed smoking youth have slipped into addiction because the marijuana successfully rewires the brain by hi-jacking the communication network that is responsible for normal brain development and function. The drug interferes with the brain’s pleasure center triggering an unnatural dependency on this brain poison and the fuzzy feelings fueled by the THC.
Inevitably, the brain begins craving a stronger high and so addiction to marijuana opens the door to other illicit drugs like heroin, crystal meth, cocaine and Oxycontin. I can tell you from personal experience that’s when a parent’s worst nightmare begins.
Marijuana is dumbing down America. The National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIDA says one study shows early persistent marijuana users who had an ongoing cannabis use disorder lost an average of 8 IQ points between 13 and 38. That’s a big hit since the average IQ is around 100. In addition getting stoned impairs cognitive functions which makes learning more difficult. It also messes up motor skills which dilutes an athlete’s performance.
I’m writing this blog because my beloved adopted state of Louisiana has just passed a “medical” marijuana bill that ignores the science, side steps medical safeguards and places the patient and the public at risk. For me, the scariest part is that the lawmakers I spoke with really didn’t understand the science, the long term consequences-and they didn’t seem to care.
In states where medical marijuana is now legal there’s been an increase in marijuana use across the board and less than 3 % of people using “medical” marijuana have the diseases marijuana is being touted for. Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows that the number of teens who smoked pot increased by 33 percent in “medical” marijuana states vs 6 percent in the rest of the country.
Colorado is just one state where “medical” marijuana is being diverted to youth use and now 74% of kids in treatment in Denver admitted they used someone else’s “medical” marijuana card. In California there are now more “medical” marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Society of Addiction Medicine are both against “medical” marijuana laws as is the American Medical Association. The American Cancer Society isn’t demanding the passage of these laws and the Glaucoma Foundation warns against using so called “medical” marijuana.
Addiction psychiatrist Dr. Ed Gogek is quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Not only are these laws harmful, but they're completely unnecessary. While some seriously ill patients are helped by marijuana, there are four prescription cannabinoid medications that are just as helpful. So there's no reason to use marijuana itself as medicine.”
He explained, “Two of these medicines, Marinol and Cesamet, are available by prescription in the United States. A third, Epidiolex, or pure cannabidiol, is available for children with seizures through a special Food and Drug Administration program. The fourth, Sativex, is in the last stages of approval.
Dr. Gogek says, “Some of these medicines have fewer side effects than marijuana and are longer-acting, which means they are better for genuine patients who don't want to be stoned all the time. However, the biggest advantage of prescription cannabinoids is that they're much less likely to be abused or diverted to teenage use than medical marijuana is.”
So what’s really going on? Follow the dollar! Marijuana is lucrative and lots of people are cashing in on other people’s misery. And believe me when I say this, legalization will trigger more misery-in families, businesses, hospitals and jail cells.
So on this Feast Day of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, please pray that the dark veil covering the eyes of lawmakers, governors and the public will be lifted!
Sacred Heart of Jesus I trust in you!
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