Canada: Medical Pot Not Up To Snuff

The Windsor Star ^ | April 05, 2004 | Donald McArthur

[wingnutx]

It is already legal for a doctor to administer cocaine. They use it all the time when setting broken noses.

If the same doctor prescribed marijuana to a cancer patient, he'd be stripped of his credentials.

Each drug has it's merits and it's pitfalls.

[headsonpikes]

Legalize 'em all - let God sort 'em out!

[philman_36]

BTW...
It's all about the power of the pot lobby.
How droll and expected!
Let's not forget the pharmaceutical lobby either!
Lots of desire for marketable, synthetic drugs, like THC (Search MARINOL!), and there are even ongoing projects with the desire to synthesize cocaine!
National Institute on Drug Abuse
MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY-SYNTHESIS OF POTENTIAL TREATMENT AGENTS FOR COCAINE ADDICTION
The National Institute on Drug Abuse is soliciting proposals from qualified individuals or organizations having the capability to design, synthesize, and scale-up compounds which affect primarily dopaminergic systems and either substitute for cocaine, antagonize its effects, and/or prevent relapse.

[philman_36]

LOOK!
Discovery may aid cocaine treatment
A breakthrough in basic chemistry achieved by UB scientists has the potential to expand dramatically the variety and potency of new pharmaceutical compounds.
So far, the chemistry, which is based on the use of a chiral catalyst, is being applied by the UB team to develop a variety of new chemical structures.
Among them is a compound to treat cocaine addiction that is undergoing toxicological studies at the National Institute of Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health.
Snip...A patent on the method has been filed.

Picture this...Pharmaceutical company purchases patent then produces and markets product.

[Chewbacca]

Why doesn't someone patent a THC patch for the cancer patients, like they have for Nicotine.

Then the cancer patient doesn't have to worry about damaging their lungs, and it can be sold with a medical license and prescription.

[Sweet Land]

A patch has a slow onset, so doseage is hard to adjust to the current severity of symptoms.

[aruanan]

Unlikely. People who grow pot to sell need to please their customers. Governments don't.

You've never heard of pot laced with PCP or other stuff? The reason the good seized pot doesn't show up in this program is perhaps because those administering the program, having no customers to please, are triaging for their own benefit.

[philman_36]

Then the cancer patient doesn't have to worry about damaging their lungs, and it can be sold with a medical license and prescription.
Do you breath? Depending on what you're breathing in you could be damaging your lungs. Sometimes you don't have to breath anything but air to damage your lungs!
Do you exercise? Do you clean? If so you're probably damaging your lungs. You gonna stop doing those things?
Marathon Runners, Swimmers, And Cross-Country Skiers Beware: Intensive Exercise Is Bad For Your Lungs
Mixing Household Cleaners Can Damage Lungs
Don't stop breathing though...
(yet another pitiful, uninformed argument)

[robertpaulsen]

"Why doesn't someone patent a THC patch for the cancer patients"

They're working on it. Check here.

But don't expect support for this product from the people who want to legalize medical marijuana. They want to smoke it. They're not interested in patches, pills, suppositories, oral sprays, injections, etc.

Their intent is to use medical marijuana as a step towards total legalization. Once you accept that fact, then everything else makes sense.