Sharing his thoughts on pot, that is…
July 14, 2008
Watch the Marijuana Policy Project’s Profiles in Marijuana Reform interview with author and national radio commentator, Jim Hightower in the video above. This is a project of MPP.tv.
Here’s more from the Marijuana Policy Project:
Marijuana: Myths vs. Reality
Myth: There is no scientific evidence proving marijuana’s therapeutic qualities.
Reality: In a White House-commissioned 1999 report, the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine declared that “nausea, appetite loss, pain, and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting and all can be mitigated by marijuana.”
Myth: Marijuana’s potential health benefits are insignificant compared to the damage caused by smoking the drug.
Reality: Marijuana need not be administered by smoking: It can be taken in food, tea, or through a smokeless vaporizer. Furthermore, a 2006 study by a leading pulmonologist, Dr. Donald Tashkin, found that even regular and heavy smoking of marijuana does not lead to lung cancer.
Myth: Allowing the medical use of marijuana will send the wrong message to children and lead to more youths using the drug.
Reality: In the 10 medical marijuana states that have before-and-after data, studies have unanimously shown that not only has youth use of marijuana not gone up overall, it actually has declined since medical marijuana became legal.
Myth: Marijuana is a gateway drug to harder substances, and therefore medical marijuana use will lead to dangerous drug use.
Reality: In science, the distinction between cause and correlation is a crucial one. A White House-commissioned study by the Institute of Medicine found that marijuana “does not appear to be a gateway drug to the extent that it is the cause or even that it is the most significant predictor of serious drug abuse; that is, care must be taken not to attribute cause to association.” Moreover, claims about marijuana being a gateway make no sense in the context of medical marijuana: Patients often use marijuana instead of highly addictive prescription medicines like morphine and Oxycontin. Medical marijuana is a safe alternative for patients whose other options are not as reliable or effective.
Myth: Supporting medical marijuana is politically risky.
Reality: Across the country and with increasing frequency, public opinion polls show that support for medical marijuana is popular and steadily rising — and cuts across demographic and party lines. A 2004 AARP poll showed that 72% of seniors support medical marijuana, and a 2005 Gallup poll found that 78% of Americans support “making marijuana legally available for doctors to prescribe in order to reduce pain and suffering.” Compassion and relief from suffering are nonpartisan issues that all legislators can — and should — support.
Myth: Marijuana’s potential health benefits are insignificant compared to the damage caused by smoking the drug.
Reality: Marijuana need not be administered by smoking: It can be taken in food, tea, or through a smokeless vaporizer. Furthermore, a 2006 study by a leading pulmonologist, Dr. Donald Tashkin, found that even regular and heavy smoking of marijuana does not lead to lung cancer.
Myth: Allowing the medical use of marijuana will send the wrong message to children and lead to more youths using the drug.
Reality: In the 10 medical marijuana states that have before-and-after data, studies have unanimously shown that not only has youth use of marijuana not gone up overall, it actually has declined since medical marijuana became legal.
Myth: Marijuana is a gateway drug to harder substances, and therefore medical marijuana use will lead to dangerous drug use.
Reality: In science, the distinction between cause and correlation is a crucial one. A White House-commissioned study by the Institute of Medicine found that marijuana “does not appear to be a gateway drug to the extent that it is the cause or even that it is the most significant predictor of serious drug abuse; that is, care must be taken not to attribute cause to association.” Moreover, claims about marijuana being a gateway make no sense in the context of medical marijuana: Patients often use marijuana instead of highly addictive prescription medicines like morphine and Oxycontin. Medical marijuana is a safe alternative for patients whose other options are not as reliable or effective.
Myth: Supporting medical marijuana is politically risky.
Reality: Across the country and with increasing frequency, public opinion polls show that support for medical marijuana is popular and steadily rising — and cuts across demographic and party lines. A 2004 AARP poll showed that 72% of seniors support medical marijuana, and a 2005 Gallup poll found that 78% of Americans support “making marijuana legally available for doctors to prescribe in order to reduce pain and suffering.” Compassion and relief from suffering are nonpartisan issues that all legislators can — and should — support.
Myth: Marijuana’s potential health benefits are insignificant compared to the damage caused by smoking the drug.
Reality: Marijuana need not be administered by smoking: It can be taken in food, tea, or through a smokeless vaporizer. Furthermore, a 2006 study by a leading pulmonologist, Dr. Donald Tashkin, found that even regular and heavy smoking of marijuana does not lead to lung cancer.
Myth: Allowing the medical use of marijuana will send the wrong message to children and lead to more youths using the drug.
Reality: In the 10 medical marijuana states that have before-and-after data, studies have unanimously shown that not only has youth use of marijuana not gone up overall, it actually has declined since medical marijuana became legal.
Myth: Marijuana is a gateway drug to harder substances, and therefore medical marijuana use will lead to dangerous drug use.
Reality: In science, the distinction between cause and correlation is a crucial one. A White House-commissioned study by the Institute of Medicine found that marijuana “does not appear to be a gateway drug to the extent that it is the cause or even that it is the most significant predictor of serious drug abuse; that is, care must be taken not to attribute cause to association.” Moreover, claims about marijuana being a gateway make no sense in the context of medical marijuana: Patients often use marijuana instead of highly addictive prescription medicines like morphine and Oxycontin. Medical marijuana is a safe alternative for patients whose other options are not as reliable or effective.
Myth: Supporting medical marijuana is politically risky.
Reality: Across the country and with increasing frequency, public opinion polls show that support for medical marijuana is popular and steadily rising — and cuts across demographic and party lines. A 2004 AARP poll showed that 72% of seniors support medical marijuana, and a 2005 Gallup poll found that 78% of Americans support “making marijuana legally available for doctors to prescribe in order to reduce pain and suffering.” Compassion and relief from suffering are nonpartisan issues that all legislators can — and should — support.
Source. / AlterNet
Thanks to David Hamilton / The Rag Blog
Why is Texas former Agriculture Commissioner, a personal friend of Willie Nelson’s, spend this whole interview talking about medical marijuana? Good grief, medical m.j. isn’t a bit controversial in the medical community anymore, except perhaps among a few old dinosaurs who haven’t read a journal article since they started their practices!
Seriously. Cannabis is an extremely valuable medicine, yes; has been for THOUSANDS OF YEARS, but — as JH well knows!!! — it is also a valuable FOOD, FUEL, and FIBER/PAPER crop. The reason he isn’t talking about it in this interview is because the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), which funded the video, isn’t interested in going beyong medical marijuana. Just think: if cannabis were actually legalized — as it was before 1937 in these United States, or go on ahead and tax and regulate it like everything else has become taxed and regulated since then — all of the Boys at MPP would be out of a jobbying lob…
Jim, honey, please come on home and help legalize the ONLY crop that can get the world economy out of the crapper, for FOOD, FUEL, FIBER/PAPER & MEDICINE!!