12/03/2008 00:00:00
Cannabis less dangerous, less addictive than Starbucks lattes
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Dr. Phillip Leveque has spent his life as a Combat Infantryman,
Physician, Toxicologist and Pharmacologist.
The argument for the use of raw cannabis as a medical drug has been
rumbling on for literally decades, but successive governments have stuck
by their guns, preferring to arrest and incarcerate legitimate cannabis
using patients who may be suffering from a multitude of illnesses.
Ailments which doctors in other countries such as Holland, the US,
Germany, Belgium and Portugal to name only 5, are only to happy to sign
a prescription allowing the patient to use cannabis to relieve their
condition and symptoms.
According to a practicing physician based in Oregon in the US, a state
which legalised cannabis use for medicinal purposes over 9 years ago,
"marijuana is less dangerous and addictive than a latte from Starbucks".
Which flies in the face of so called "medical experts" and their
opinions here in the UK. So who's right and who's telling lies?
Home Office
According to an e-mail the Canna Zine received from the Home Office,
""The Government has no intention of legalising the use of cannabis in
its raw form for medicinal purposes. However, it recognises that there
are people with chronic pain and debilitating illnesses, such as
multiple sclerosis, who are looking to alleviate their symptoms and who
may not find adequate relief from existing medication.
That is why the Government has said that it would seek Parliament’s
agreement to make any necessary changes to the law to enable the
prescription of cannabis-based medicine for the purposes of relieving
pain. But this could not happen without product approval being granted
by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
In order to protect public health, the Government faces difficulty in
making any changes to the law unless, and until, it is satisfied that
the benefits have been formally established by the statutorily
recognised means. Doctors must be confident about the products they
prescribe. This position is supported by the British Medical Association.""
Yet Dr Philip Leveque, a long term proponent of cannabis for medical use
says, "It has been nine years since medical marijuana was legalized and
as of January 1st 2008 we have NOW 16,000 medical permit holders with
7.700 caregiver and growers and 1,700 more pending issuance permit cards."
"The Oregon Department of Human Services estimated that only about 500
patients would be eligible for the marijuana permits. (they are not
prescriptions) If I remember correctly in the first year we registered
one thousand marijuana patients and about 500 were mine. This was my
only practice as I have a spinal cord injury which prevents me from
running around a regular office.
The DHS State Medical Board, the powers that be couldn't figure out
where all these patients were coming from but subsequent investigations
by the U.S. government estimated that Oregon had about 300 thousand
regular users. Most are self-treating for a variety of medical conditions."
The worst adverse side effect from a high dose of the pure medicinal
agent hashish is maybe sleeping for 24 hours although the pure synthetic
THC as prescription Marinol causes severe panic attacks in many people
and they avoid it and often use the natural plant instead.
There are many disbelievers that marijuana is truly a good medicine
through its been used beneficially for at least 5,000 years and never
killed anyone.
So what do you think? Should cannabis be allowed for medical purposes
here in the UK? If so why do you think its not allowed? Is it as the
government says? A question of public health? Or is there perhaps
another, hidden agenda which the government are working to?
http://pr.cannazine.co.uk/content/view/191/1/
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=13337
Author:
Canna Zine via UKCIA
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