I'll just leave this here....

[AFK]

I dunno, there's no shortage of drug addicts in rural Maine. Of course, the vast majority of them are addicted to opiate-based painkillers. And a large number of them became addicted after being legally prescribed the drugs for pain management, since a large percentage of the rural population there works physically demanding jobs that frequently lead to back problems.

You'd think the magic of atropine would have a more noticeable preventative effect there.

I never said it was effective.  I've only been stating WHY it was added.  Most measures to prevent addiction to painkillers don't work.  They probably are effective for some people, but for many others they don't work and people become addicted anyway.  But that doesn't mean, short of documented evidence, that all of these measures are efforts by the government to poison people. 

[AFK]

So we should destroy people's futures by keeping weed illegal because it could hurt children, BUT we should add dangerous things to opiates that increase their lethality towards children because it may help deter addiction and overdose in adults?

Jesus, again, I've not been making any "should" arguments, only "why" explanations.  Pharmaceutical companies should be looking at was to reformulate drugs, safely, to deter addiction wherever possible.  But that is just for preventing abuse amongst those who have been legitimately prescribed drugs.  For your drug abuser seeking out these drugs, it isn't a solution at all.  There you need better controls over access to these drugs.  That means robust prescription monitoring programs, education to parents and grandparents about locking up and safeguarding their medicines and getting rid of medicines that are expired and not being used.  It means working with prescribers to see if there are ways to change their methods to reduce access to drugs, etc., etc.,

It really looks like you want it both ways. "For the children" with severe costs to adults and addicts on one hand, "for the adults" with severe costs to children and addicts on the other.  The guiding principle in your position appears to be in favor of artificially increasing harm to people, to prevent an intrinsically lesser harm.

Uh, no.  You aren't paying attention to my arguments.  I've never said anywhere that I agreed with purposefully trying to harm drug addicts.  Indeed I've been saying there is no evidence that anyone has purposefully been trying to do that.  I've been explaining that I think the purpose of adding atropine was likely to deter the person legitimately taking a drug from taking larger doses than prescribed.  I have also stated, which is true, just about any drug that is taken outside of a doctor's prescription and in high doses is going to be dangerous, additives or not.  You and ECH are doing some horrible shorthand there somehow conflating these and coming up with an argument that I support intentionally trying to harm drug abusers.  Anyone who is paying attention will realize that is completely incorrect.  

If you were in charge of automobile laws, would you require the installation of spikes on people's steering wheels as a way to deter unsafe driving?

Yes of course!  No, we should go even further.  Airbags full of sulfuric acid!  Snakes in the glove compartment!!!!!

C'mon, use your head here!

[AFK]

In my opinion, that last bit is where you and many of us seem to diverge. We all seem to agree that education is good, that treatment is good... you, however, seem willing to defend even the most absurd anti-abuse positions. It seems kind of dogmatic, like a wall in your BiP... or maybe some shrapnel...

Where have I said I support it?  Where have I said it has been working like gangbusters and we should continue?  No, what you've seen is an explanation as to WHY I THINK companies added atropine to their drugs.  People are accusing pharmaceutical companies and the government tag teaming to intentionally kill drug abusers, as opposed to an earnest attempt to dissuade legitimate users from abusing their drugs. 

All I've been doing is pushing back against what is still an unfounded assertion that this was a concerted effort to harm drug abusers.  Nowhever have I said it is a good idea to intentionally poison drug abusers.  What I have said is that you don't have to add anything because just taking prescription drugs outside of a doctors prescription and in high doses is poisonous by itself.  I mean, look at your local Poison Center.  Many of the calls it handles are in the area of prescription drugs, whether it is ID'ng drugs or dealing with someone who took too much of a drug and is expeirencing problems.  These drugs, while helpful, are poisons when not taken according to a Dr's script. 

This is the usual PD.COM dogpile where you all stop using your head and stop reading what a person is actually posting.  C'mon, you guys are smarter than this. 

[AFK]

Just to change things up a bit I want to share this Op-Ed from Dr. Mark Publicker concerning Medical Marijuana:

"It is wrong to claim for it a harmlessness which belongs to no active remedy yet discovered."



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Mark Publicker is an addiction medicine specialist at the Mercy Recovery Center in Westbrook. He is also president of the Northern New England Society of Addiction Medicine.


– Physician, 1870



WESTBROOK - All medications carry risks as well as benefits. This truism applies to medical marijuana as well.

The unique manner in which the state has legalized its medical use, through voting consensus rather than evidence-based evaluation, has resulted in the minimization of its harmful effects. As an addiction medicine specialist with many years of experience and study, I am concerned that these potentially harmful effects, especially in vulnerable populations, have not been adequately brought to the public's attention.

The Maine Medical Marijuana Act was drafted to increase the access to medical marijuana for patients suffering from chronic, debilitating conditions. It does not address the potential harm that marijuana, as with any other psychoactive substance, can cause.

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of early exposure to cannabis.

We know that adolescent brains have different biological responses than adults do to exposure to all drugs of abuse, including marijuana. These include a significantly greater risk of lifelong dependence and changes in cognition and motivation that affect learning and behavior. Teen cannabis use also greatly increases the risk of major mental illness, including major depression, anxiety disorders and psychosis.

The rates of teen abuse of cannabis are directly correlated to teens' perception of its harm. The perception of harm is decreased by the promotion of marijuana as a benign herb with pro-health medicinal properties and by its use by trusted parents and other care-givers.

Rates of use are also correlated with drug access. Both direct and passive diversion of medical marijuana will increase access. We should also be very concerned about passive breathing of cannabis fumes by children and teens.

Because of the risk of harm to the fetus, it is unethical to test medications on pregnant women. Receptors for cannabis are found throughout the brain, and we have yet to understand all of their functions.

Smoking cannabis during pregnancy carries unknown risks to the fetus. The act is silent about the use of medical marijuana by pregnant women. Protection of the developing baby's brain demands caution. Pregnant women should be advised to stop medical marijuana.

Addiction is characterized by an intense compulsion to use a drug with a decreased ability to resist the urge to use, despite escalating negative consequences. The drug use is pursued at the expense of naturally rewarding behaviors needed for health.

Cannabis addiction is real. Just as pain patients prescribed opioids may develop an addiction to their medication, medical marijuana patients may as well. It is important to remember that cannabis is a drug of abuse and addiction. I have many patients in good recovery from alcohol or opiate addiction who are unable to stop marijuana and who experience withdrawal symptoms.

Most people who drink don't develop drinking problems, and the same may be true with marijuana. However, no alcoholic would remain sober if they were prescribed alcohol as a medicine. The same can be said for medical marijuana. And what is the risk of relapse for patients in stable recovery from other addictions who use medical marijuana? How would a recovering patient be counseled about the risk of relapse if treated with medical marijuana?

The act does not require that addiction screening be part of the initial assessment by the qualifying physician. Would active addiction to cannabis or other drugs be exclusions for medical marijuana?

Regarding impairment: Are we prepared for an increase in drivers using medical marijuana? Alcohol and cannabis together increase each others' impairment of judgment, reaction time and coordination. Should medical marijuana patients be advised not to smoke before driving?

Finally, and perhaps most disturbingly, the act is silent on the use of medical marijuana in safety-sensitive professions, including emergency and medical personnel.

Let's understand that all medications produce risks as well as benefits. The risks of medical marijuana have not been adequately considered. These include potential harm to children, adolescents and pregnant women, the real risk of addiction, impaired driving and impaired emergency and medical professionals.

Patients and qualifying physicians must assume their responsibility to protect others, and new legislation will be needed to deal with the issue of the safety-sensitive professionals.

[The Rev]

Just to change things up a bit I want to share this Op-Ed from Dr. Mark Publicker concerning Medical Marijuana:

"It is wrong to claim for it a harmlessness which belongs to no active remedy yet discovered."



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Mark Publicker is an addiction medicine specialist at the Mercy Recovery Center in Westbrook. He is also president of the Northern New England Society of Addiction Medicine.


– Physician, 1870



WESTBROOK - All medications carry risks as well as benefits. This truism applies to medical marijuana as well.

The unique manner in which the state has legalized its medical use, through voting consensus rather than evidence-based evaluation, has resulted in the minimization of its harmful effects. As an addiction medicine specialist with many years of experience and study, I am concerned that these potentially harmful effects, especially in vulnerable populations, have not been adequately brought to the public's attention.

The Maine Medical Marijuana Act was drafted to increase the access to medical marijuana for patients suffering from chronic, debilitating conditions. It does not address the potential harm that marijuana, as with any other psychoactive substance, can cause.

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of early exposure to cannabis.

We know that adolescent brains have different biological responses than adults do to exposure to all drugs of abuse, including marijuana. These include a significantly greater risk of lifelong dependence and changes in cognition and motivation that affect learning and behavior. Teen cannabis use also greatly increases the risk of major mental illness, including major depression, anxiety disorders and psychosis.

The rates of teen abuse of cannabis are directly correlated to teens' perception of its harm. The perception of harm is decreased by the promotion of marijuana as a benign herb with pro-health medicinal properties and by its use by trusted parents and other care-givers.

Rates of use are also correlated with drug access. Both direct and passive diversion of medical marijuana will increase access. We should also be very concerned about passive breathing of cannabis fumes by children and teens.

Because of the risk of harm to the fetus, it is unethical to test medications on pregnant women. Receptors for cannabis are found throughout the brain, and we have yet to understand all of their functions.

Smoking cannabis during pregnancy carries unknown risks to the fetus. The act is silent about the use of medical marijuana by pregnant women. Protection of the developing baby's brain demands caution. Pregnant women should be advised to stop medical marijuana.

Addiction is characterized by an intense compulsion to use a drug with a decreased ability to resist the urge to use, despite escalating negative consequences. The drug use is pursued at the expense of naturally rewarding behaviors needed for health.

Cannabis addiction is real. Just as pain patients prescribed opioids may develop an addiction to their medication, medical marijuana patients may as well. It is important to remember that cannabis is a drug of abuse and addiction. I have many patients in good recovery from alcohol or opiate addiction who are unable to stop marijuana and who experience withdrawal symptoms.

Most people who drink don't develop drinking problems, and the same may be true with marijuana. However, no alcoholic would remain sober if they were prescribed alcohol as a medicine. The same can be said for medical marijuana. And what is the risk of relapse for patients in stable recovery from other addictions who use medical marijuana? How would a recovering patient be counseled about the risk of relapse if treated with medical marijuana?

The act does not require that addiction screening be part of the initial assessment by the qualifying physician. Would active addiction to cannabis or other drugs be exclusions for medical marijuana?

Regarding impairment: Are we prepared for an increase in drivers using medical marijuana? Alcohol and cannabis together increase each others' impairment of judgment, reaction time and coordination. Should medical marijuana patients be advised not to smoke before driving?

Finally, and perhaps most disturbingly, the act is silent on the use of medical marijuana in safety-sensitive professions, including emergency and medical personnel.

Let's understand that all medications produce risks as well as benefits. The risks of medical marijuana have not been adequately considered. These include potential harm to children, adolescents and pregnant women, the real risk of addiction, impaired driving and impaired emergency and medical professionals.

Patients and qualifying physicians must assume their responsibility to protect others, and new legislation will be needed to deal with the issue of the safety-sensitive professionals.

As you mentioned it is only an op-ed. The author cites no research nor sources and overall it reeks of creating fear while ignoring some critical factors.

I drive while taking hydrocodone as do many other people. In so many cases the known side effects of pot are much less than a great many prescription meds.

In short, it is an opinion of someone who is obviously against medical marijuana.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

In my opinion, that last bit is where you and many of us seem to diverge. We all seem to agree that education is good, that treatment is good... you, however, seem willing to defend even the most absurd anti-abuse positions. It seems kind of dogmatic, like a wall in your BiP... or maybe some shrapnel...

Where have I said I support it?  Where have I said it has been working like gangbusters and we should continue?  No, what you've seen is an explanation as to WHY I THINK companies added atropine to their drugs.  People are accusing pharmaceutical companies and the government tag teaming to intentionally kill drug abusers, as opposed to an earnest attempt to dissuade legitimate users from abusing their drugs. 

All I've been doing is pushing back against what is still an unfounded assertion that this was a concerted effort to harm drug abusers.  Nowhever have I said it is a good idea to intentionally poison drug abusers.  What I have said is that you don't have to add anything because just taking prescription drugs outside of a doctors prescription and in high doses is poisonous by itself.  I mean, look at your local Poison Center.  Many of the calls it handles are in the area of prescription drugs, whether it is ID'ng drugs or dealing with someone who took too much of a drug and is expeirencing problems.  These drugs, while helpful, are poisons when not taken according to a Dr's script. 

This is the usual PD.COM dogpile where you all stop using your head and stop reading what a person is actually posting.  C'mon, you guys are smarter than this. 

Yeah, you're right. I run into the same problem when I try to explain a perspective on magic and its assumed that I support the belief...

I agree that prescription drugs, by themselves can be dangerous... it still seems absurd to me that anyone would think its a good idea to add more, unnecessary danger.

[Placid Dingo]

Just to change things up a bit I want to share this Op-Ed from Dr. Mark Publicker concerning Medical Marijuana:

"It is wrong to claim for it a harmlessness which belongs to no active remedy yet discovered."



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Mark Publicker is an addiction medicine specialist at the Mercy Recovery Center in Westbrook. He is also president of the Northern New England Society of Addiction Medicine.


– Physician, 1870



WESTBROOK - All medications carry risks as well as benefits. This truism applies to medical marijuana as well.

The unique manner in which the state has legalized its medical use, through voting consensus rather than evidence-based evaluation, has resulted in the minimization of its harmful effects. As an addiction medicine specialist with many years of experience and study, I am concerned that these potentially harmful effects, especially in vulnerable populations, have not been adequately brought to the public's attention.

The Maine Medical Marijuana Act was drafted to increase the access to medical marijuana for patients suffering from chronic, debilitating conditions. It does not address the potential harm that marijuana, as with any other psychoactive substance, can cause.

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of early exposure to cannabis.

We know that adolescent brains have different biological responses than adults do to exposure to all drugs of abuse, including marijuana. These include a significantly greater risk of lifelong dependence and changes in cognition and motivation that affect learning and behavior. Teen cannabis use also greatly increases the risk of major mental illness, including major depression, anxiety disorders and psychosis.

The rates of teen abuse of cannabis are directly correlated to teens' perception of its harm. The perception of harm is decreased by the promotion of marijuana as a benign herb with pro-health medicinal properties and by its use by trusted parents and other care-givers.

Rates of use are also correlated with drug access. Both direct and passive diversion of medical marijuana will increase access. We should also be very concerned about passive breathing of cannabis fumes by children and teens.

Because of the risk of harm to the fetus, it is unethical to test medications on pregnant women. Receptors for cannabis are found throughout the brain, and we have yet to understand all of their functions.

Smoking cannabis during pregnancy carries unknown risks to the fetus. The act is silent about the use of medical marijuana by pregnant women. Protection of the developing baby's brain demands caution. Pregnant women should be advised to stop medical marijuana.

Addiction is characterized by an intense compulsion to use a drug with a decreased ability to resist the urge to use, despite escalating negative consequences. The drug use is pursued at the expense of naturally rewarding behaviors needed for health.

Cannabis addiction is real. Just as pain patients prescribed opioids may develop an addiction to their medication, medical marijuana patients may as well. It is important to remember that cannabis is a drug of abuse and addiction. I have many patients in good recovery from alcohol or opiate addiction who are unable to stop marijuana and who experience withdrawal symptoms.

Most people who drink don't develop drinking problems, and the same may be true with marijuana. However, no alcoholic would remain sober if they were prescribed alcohol as a medicine. The same can be said for medical marijuana. And what is the risk of relapse for patients in stable recovery from other addictions who use medical marijuana? How would a recovering patient be counseled about the risk of relapse if treated with medical marijuana?

The act does not require that addiction screening be part of the initial assessment by the qualifying physician. Would active addiction to cannabis or other drugs be exclusions for medical marijuana?

Regarding impairment: Are we prepared for an increase in drivers using medical marijuana? Alcohol and cannabis together increase each others' impairment of judgment, reaction time and coordination. Should medical marijuana patients be advised not to smoke before driving?

Finally, and perhaps most disturbingly, the act is silent on the use of medical marijuana in safety-sensitive professions, including emergency and medical personnel.

Let's understand that all medications produce risks as well as benefits. The risks of medical marijuana have not been adequately considered. These include potential harm to children, adolescents and pregnant women, the real risk of addiction, impaired driving and impaired emergency and medical professionals.

Patients and qualifying physicians must assume their responsibility to protect others, and new legislation will be needed to deal with the issue of the safety-sensitive professionals.

As you mentioned it is only an op-ed. The author cites no research nor sources and overall it reeks of creating fear while ignoring some critical factors.

I drive while taking hydrocodone as do many other people. In so many cases the known side effects of pot are much less than a great many prescription meds.

In short, it is an opinion of someone who is obviously against medical marijuana.

Erm... It's an article opposing medical marijuana so I'm not sure why the author being against medical marijuana is going to take away any credibility. It's like refusing to listen to an argument for legalization because the author is pro legalization.

It is an op Ed but the pOint being made so far as I can tell is that there are rational professional voices out there in opposition to MM, other than RWHNs.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

 

WESTBROOK - All medications carry risks as well as benefits. This truism applies to medical marijuana as well.

The unique manner in which the state has legalized its medical use, through voting consensus rather than evidence-based evaluation, has resulted in the minimization of its harmful effects. As an addiction medicine specialist with many years of experience and study, I am concerned that these potentially harmful effects, especially in vulnerable populations, have not been adequately brought to the public's attention.

The Maine Medical Marijuana Act was drafted to increase the access to medical marijuana for patients suffering from chronic, debilitating conditions. It does not address the potential harm that marijuana, as with any other psychoactive substance, can cause.

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of early exposure to cannabis.

We know that adolescent brains have different biological responses than adults do to exposure to all drugs of abuse, including marijuana. These include a significantly greater risk of lifelong dependence and changes in cognition and motivation that affect learning and behavior. Teen cannabis use also greatly increases the risk of major mental illness, including major depression, anxiety disorders and psychosis.

Yep, teens probably shouldn't smoke pot. Doctors shouldn't prescribe it to them. They also shouldn't drink alcohol or smoke tobacco or take any number of anti-depressants that tend to cause suicidal thoughts.

The rates of teen abuse of cannabis are directly correlated to teens' perception of its harm. The perception of harm is decreased by the promotion of marijuana as a benign herb with pro-health medicinal properties and by its use by trusted parents and other care-givers.

Because keeping it illegal is totally keeping kids from trying it...

Rates of use are also correlated with drug access. Both direct and passive diversion of medical marijuana will increase access. We should also be very concerned about passive breathing of cannabis fumes by children and teens.

Pot is easier for kids to get than alcohol. I know underage teens that could get good kine bud, when I as an adult was having a hard time finding any pot. Parents maybe shouldn't smoke in the same room as their kids. However, if they (like many patients) are using vaporizers and/or eating it in food... well there's not really an issue.

Because of the risk of harm to the fetus, it is unethical to test medications on pregnant women. Receptors for cannabis are found throughout the brain, and we have yet to understand all of their functions.

Smoking cannabis during pregnancy carries unknown risks to the fetus. The act is silent about the use of medical marijuana by pregnant women. Protection of the developing baby's brain demands caution. Pregnant women should be advised to stop medical marijuana.

This is a true statement of any drug. Except with cannabis we have thousands of years of use which has yet to provide any strong evidence of serious physical or mental harm. Somehow if a new anti-morning sickness drug was about to hit the market, I doubt that this Doctor would be making the same argument... and then we get thalidomide babies.

Addiction is characterized by an intense compulsion to use a drug with a decreased ability to resist the urge to use, despite escalating negative consequences. The drug use is pursued at the expense of naturally rewarding behaviors needed for health.

Cannabis addiction is real. Just as pain patients prescribed opioids may develop an addiction to their medication, medical marijuana patients may as well. It is important to remember that cannabis is a drug of abuse and addiction. I have many patients in good recovery from alcohol or opiate addiction who are unable to stop marijuana and who experience withdrawal symptoms.

Most people who drink don't develop drinking problems, and the same may be true with marijuana. However, no alcoholic would remain sober if they were prescribed alcohol as a medicine. The same can be said for medical marijuana. And what is the risk of relapse for patients in stable recovery from other addictions who use medical marijuana? How would a recovering patient be counseled about the risk of relapse if treated with medical marijuana?

I keep hearing about people being addicted to pot... I have yet to ever meet someone addicted to pot (and I've met a lot of people that smoke pot).

Regarding impairment: Are we prepared for an increase in drivers using medical marijuana? Alcohol and cannabis together increase each others' impairment of judgment, reaction time and coordination. Should medical marijuana patients be advised not to smoke before driving?

Finally, and perhaps most disturbingly, the act is silent on the use of medical marijuana in safety-sensitive professions, including emergency and medical personnel.

I see no reason not to recommend that people don't drive/do some kinds of work when they are on drugs. Plenty of drugs clearly say that you shouldn't drive/dop some kinds of work when you are on them. Why is this a realistic argument against pot specifically?

All of these arguments seem to apply to any drug, not just to marijuana. Moreover, many legal drugs have much higher risks than pot in these same areas (anti-depressants that make kids suicidal, opiates that have serious addiction issues for the patient, drugs that cause birth defects, drugs that impair the ability to drive or do some kinds of work). In short, this reads like a big pile of anti-pot propaganda to me. I think that there are some risks with pot, just like with any drug. I also think that there are some benefits.

I find it difficult to entertain the thought that pot is as dangerous/more dangerous than any number of drugs that this Doctor probably prescribes regularly. That, for me, is a key point in considering if its propaganda or not.

And lets be honest here. If the federal government allowed the scientific study of marijuana in the US, medical marijuana would have followed the standard rules for medical scheduling. However, the Federal government not only says "its illegal" it also tells doctors and scientists "you can't study it, you can't test it" so the federal government is entirely responsible for the perceived lack of scientific rigor in the medical application of the drug. IE, this guy should be pissed at the feds, not the voters. The voters simply know that pot helps some sick people and they have empathy on the subject. Many voters have also smoked pot at some point in their lives and find the governments position idiotic.

[East Coast Hustle]

I'm guessing there's some personal history that's turned him into a TRUE BELIEVER. Crackhead stabbed his grandma, bus driver got him stoned and touched his wee-wee, high school girlfriend dumped him for a pot dealer....something.

I know that sounds like I'm just trying to get personal, but I honestly can't think of any other logical explanation for someone who otherwise seems to be mostly rational and non-evil to have so completely internalized such a disgustingly regressive and calvinist way of thinking about a group of people with a disease. I'm actually hoping that I'm right because the alternative is pretty shitty.

Except that what you think is my "way of thinking" about a group of people with a disease is completely wrong.  You are assuming, incorrectly, that I am cheering drug abusers being poisoned by abusing prescription drugs.  I'm not.  I've been very clear.  All I'm doing is pushing back against the assertion that this was a concerted effort by the government to punish drug abusers.  None of you have been able to provide any evidence of this yet.  There have been a lot of belief statements, but no evidence. 

Indeed I understand fully the disease that is substance abuse.  It's why I do what I do.  To prevent more kids from becoming addicted to prescription drugs and other substances.  But I also fully support and work side by side with the provider community who help treat those who are addicted.  Drug abusers are good people who fell into a destructive path.  Our societies should do whatever is possible to help them get back on a healthy path. 

Yep. And denying them any financial aid for the rest of their lives, putting poison in prescription drugs, and fining and/or incarcerating them for non-violent offenses seems like an excellent way to go about that, doesn't it?

Mind you, those are all things you've expressed approval for.

[East Coast Hustle]

Just to change things up a bit I want to share this Op-Ed from Dr. Mark Publicker concerning Medical Marijuana:

"It is wrong to claim for it a harmlessness which belongs to no active remedy yet discovered."



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Mark Publicker is an addiction medicine specialist at the Mercy Recovery Center in Westbrook. He is also president of the Northern New England Society of Addiction Medicine.


– Physician, 1870



WESTBROOK - All medications carry risks as well as benefits. This truism applies to medical marijuana as well.

The unique manner in which the state has legalized its medical use, through voting consensus rather than evidence-based evaluation, has resulted in the minimization of its harmful effects. As an addiction medicine specialist with many years of experience and study, I am concerned that these potentially harmful effects, especially in vulnerable populations, have not been adequately brought to the public's attention.

The Maine Medical Marijuana Act was drafted to increase the access to medical marijuana for patients suffering from chronic, debilitating conditions. It does not address the potential harm that marijuana, as with any other psychoactive substance, can cause.

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of early exposure to cannabis.

We know that adolescent brains have different biological responses than adults do to exposure to all drugs of abuse, including marijuana. These include a significantly greater risk of lifelong dependence and changes in cognition and motivation that affect learning and behavior. Teen cannabis use also greatly increases the risk of major mental illness, including major depression, anxiety disorders and psychosis.

The rates of teen abuse of cannabis are directly correlated to teens' perception of its harm. The perception of harm is decreased by the promotion of marijuana as a benign herb with pro-health medicinal properties and by its use by trusted parents and other care-givers.

Rates of use are also correlated with drug access. Both direct and passive diversion of medical marijuana will increase access. We should also be very concerned about passive breathing of cannabis fumes by children and teens.

Because of the risk of harm to the fetus, it is unethical to test medications on pregnant women. Receptors for cannabis are found throughout the brain, and we have yet to understand all of their functions.

Smoking cannabis during pregnancy carries unknown risks to the fetus. The act is silent about the use of medical marijuana by pregnant women. Protection of the developing baby's brain demands caution. Pregnant women should be advised to stop medical marijuana.

Addiction is characterized by an intense compulsion to use a drug with a decreased ability to resist the urge to use, despite escalating negative consequences. The drug use is pursued at the expense of naturally rewarding behaviors needed for health.

Cannabis addiction is real. Just as pain patients prescribed opioids may develop an addiction to their medication, medical marijuana patients may as well. It is important to remember that cannabis is a drug of abuse and addiction. I have many patients in good recovery from alcohol or opiate addiction who are unable to stop marijuana and who experience withdrawal symptoms.

Most people who drink don't develop drinking problems, and the same may be true with marijuana. However, no alcoholic would remain sober if they were prescribed alcohol as a medicine. The same can be said for medical marijuana. And what is the risk of relapse for patients in stable recovery from other addictions who use medical marijuana? How would a recovering patient be counseled about the risk of relapse if treated with medical marijuana?

The act does not require that addiction screening be part of the initial assessment by the qualifying physician. Would active addiction to cannabis or other drugs be exclusions for medical marijuana?

Regarding impairment: Are we prepared for an increase in drivers using medical marijuana? Alcohol and cannabis together increase each others' impairment of judgment, reaction time and coordination. Should medical marijuana patients be advised not to smoke before driving?

Finally, and perhaps most disturbingly, the act is silent on the use of medical marijuana in safety-sensitive professions, including emergency and medical personnel.

Let's understand that all medications produce risks as well as benefits. The risks of medical marijuana have not been adequately considered. These include potential harm to children, adolescents and pregnant women, the real risk of addiction, impaired driving and impaired emergency and medical professionals.

Patients and qualifying physicians must assume their responsibility to protect others, and new legislation will be needed to deal with the issue of the safety-sensitive professionals.

Mercy is a religious organization, as you well know. Nice try.

Actually, no. Pretty pathetic try.

[Triple Zero]

And I've said numerous times now that that I'm not defending the atropine additive.  I'm simply explaining what was likely the thinking behind it (as I don't work for the pharmaceutical companies that first added it).

Really? That's the first time I heard you explicitly say that, because for the rest you really sound like you're defending it.

You might have started with that statement, and have saved yourself some trouble.

And when you're trying to explain the thinking of some other entity such as Big Pharma, it really helps if you prefix it "While I disagree with the additive, I think their reasoning must have been ..." because if you don't, it really sounds like you're defending them.

I really get the feeling that you're just very reluctant to explicitly admit you disagree with any sort of measure that might be considered drug abuse prevention, no matter if the cure is worse than the disease. Even now you were cushioning it in "I'm not defending" instead of flat out saying you disagree.

Do you disagree with the addition of atropine to these medications, RWHN?

Because if not, people are going to ask you why, and when you explain, you will be defending the addition, like you said you wouldn't.

But if you do disagree with the addition of atropine to those medications, then a large part of this rather heated discussion would probably not have been necessary.

So which is it?



I'm not trying to "get you" with this, okay? But I'm watching from the sidelines, and I'm just trying to clear up some fog or something, the above confusion is a big reason why people ITT won't let it go.

[BabylonHoruv]

Can't you get high from atropine too?

yes, if you are exceptionally stupid.

You can even get high on it again if you have really weird taste in highs.

[BabylonHoruv]

Cannabis addiction is real. Just as pain patients prescribed opioids may develop an addiction to their medication, medical marijuana patients may as well. It is important to remember that cannabis is a drug of abuse and addiction. I have many patients in good recovery from alcohol or opiate addiction who are unable to stop marijuana and who experience withdrawal symptoms.

Bolded section is blatantly false and is a common tactic used in anti-legalization arguements.  Marijuana, unlike opiates, is not physically addictive, there is no physical dependency.  There certainly is a psychological dependency, but as has been shown this is chemically more similar to addiction to gambling or World of Warcraft than it is to opiate addiction.

That doesn't mean it isn't a dangerous and damaging addiction, but equating it to the physical dependency that typifies opiate addiction is false, and can be dangerous, after all,  there is no compelling reason for someone coming off weed not to go cold turkey, there are no dangerous withdrawal symptoms, for someone coming off an opiate addiction there are and going cold turkey can potentially kill the addict.

[AFK]

I'm guessing there's some personal history that's turned him into a TRUE BELIEVER. Crackhead stabbed his grandma, bus driver got him stoned and touched his wee-wee, high school girlfriend dumped him for a pot dealer....something.

I know that sounds like I'm just trying to get personal, but I honestly can't think of any other logical explanation for someone who otherwise seems to be mostly rational and non-evil to have so completely internalized such a disgustingly regressive and calvinist way of thinking about a group of people with a disease. I'm actually hoping that I'm right because the alternative is pretty shitty.

Except that what you think is my "way of thinking" about a group of people with a disease is completely wrong.  You are assuming, incorrectly, that I am cheering drug abusers being poisoned by abusing prescription drugs.  I'm not.  I've been very clear.  All I'm doing is pushing back against the assertion that this was a concerted effort by the government to punish drug abusers.  None of you have been able to provide any evidence of this yet.  There have been a lot of belief statements, but no evidence. 

Indeed I understand fully the disease that is substance abuse.  It's why I do what I do.  To prevent more kids from becoming addicted to prescription drugs and other substances.  But I also fully support and work side by side with the provider community who help treat those who are addicted.  Drug abusers are good people who fell into a destructive path.  Our societies should do whatever is possible to help them get back on a healthy path. 

Yep. And denying them any financial aid for the rest of their lives, putting poison in prescription drugs, and fining and/or incarcerating them for non-violent offenses seems like an excellent way to go about that, doesn't it?

Mind you, those are all things you've expressed approval for.

Three strikes, you're out!

[AFK]

Just to change things up a bit I want to share this Op-Ed from Dr. Mark Publicker concerning Medical Marijuana:

"It is wrong to claim for it a harmlessness which belongs to no active remedy yet discovered."



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Mark Publicker is an addiction medicine specialist at the Mercy Recovery Center in Westbrook. He is also president of the Northern New England Society of Addiction Medicine.


– Physician, 1870



WESTBROOK - All medications carry risks as well as benefits. This truism applies to medical marijuana as well.

The unique manner in which the state has legalized its medical use, through voting consensus rather than evidence-based evaluation, has resulted in the minimization of its harmful effects. As an addiction medicine specialist with many years of experience and study, I am concerned that these potentially harmful effects, especially in vulnerable populations, have not been adequately brought to the public's attention.

The Maine Medical Marijuana Act was drafted to increase the access to medical marijuana for patients suffering from chronic, debilitating conditions. It does not address the potential harm that marijuana, as with any other psychoactive substance, can cause.

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of early exposure to cannabis.

We know that adolescent brains have different biological responses than adults do to exposure to all drugs of abuse, including marijuana. These include a significantly greater risk of lifelong dependence and changes in cognition and motivation that affect learning and behavior. Teen cannabis use also greatly increases the risk of major mental illness, including major depression, anxiety disorders and psychosis.

The rates of teen abuse of cannabis are directly correlated to teens' perception of its harm. The perception of harm is decreased by the promotion of marijuana as a benign herb with pro-health medicinal properties and by its use by trusted parents and other care-givers.

Rates of use are also correlated with drug access. Both direct and passive diversion of medical marijuana will increase access. We should also be very concerned about passive breathing of cannabis fumes by children and teens.

Because of the risk of harm to the fetus, it is unethical to test medications on pregnant women. Receptors for cannabis are found throughout the brain, and we have yet to understand all of their functions.

Smoking cannabis during pregnancy carries unknown risks to the fetus. The act is silent about the use of medical marijuana by pregnant women. Protection of the developing baby's brain demands caution. Pregnant women should be advised to stop medical marijuana.

Addiction is characterized by an intense compulsion to use a drug with a decreased ability to resist the urge to use, despite escalating negative consequences. The drug use is pursued at the expense of naturally rewarding behaviors needed for health.

Cannabis addiction is real. Just as pain patients prescribed opioids may develop an addiction to their medication, medical marijuana patients may as well. It is important to remember that cannabis is a drug of abuse and addiction. I have many patients in good recovery from alcohol or opiate addiction who are unable to stop marijuana and who experience withdrawal symptoms.

Most people who drink don't develop drinking problems, and the same may be true with marijuana. However, no alcoholic would remain sober if they were prescribed alcohol as a medicine. The same can be said for medical marijuana. And what is the risk of relapse for patients in stable recovery from other addictions who use medical marijuana? How would a recovering patient be counseled about the risk of relapse if treated with medical marijuana?

The act does not require that addiction screening be part of the initial assessment by the qualifying physician. Would active addiction to cannabis or other drugs be exclusions for medical marijuana?

Regarding impairment: Are we prepared for an increase in drivers using medical marijuana? Alcohol and cannabis together increase each others' impairment of judgment, reaction time and coordination. Should medical marijuana patients be advised not to smoke before driving?

Finally, and perhaps most disturbingly, the act is silent on the use of medical marijuana in safety-sensitive professions, including emergency and medical personnel.

Let's understand that all medications produce risks as well as benefits. The risks of medical marijuana have not been adequately considered. These include potential harm to children, adolescents and pregnant women, the real risk of addiction, impaired driving and impaired emergency and medical professionals.

Patients and qualifying physicians must assume their responsibility to protect others, and new legislation will be needed to deal with the issue of the safety-sensitive professionals.

Mercy is a religious organization, as you well know. Nice try.

Actually, no. Pretty pathetic try.

LOL, the New England Society of Addiction Medicine isn't.  And the religious organization you are referring to is a hospital, bound my the same medical ethics as any other hospital.  You are insulting everyone's intelligence here.