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Opioid commission's anti-marijuana argument stirs anger
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, head of the presidential commission on opioids, warned of the dangers of marijuana in a letter to President Donald Trump earlier this month about the panel's findings, saying the current push for marijuana legalization could further fuel the opioid epidemic.
"There is a lack of sophisticated outcome data on dose, potency, and abuse potential for marijuana. This mirrors the lack of data in the 1990s and early 2000s when opioid prescribing multiplied across health care settings and led to the current epidemic of abuse, misuse and addiction," Christie wrote in the letter, which was released with the commission's final report.
"The Commission urges that the same mistake is not made with the uninformed rush to put another drug legally on the market in the midst of an overdose epidemic."
[...] But some experts say the commission's fixation on marijuana was bizarre and troubling, lending credence to outdated views of marijuana as a gateway drug. And these experts want to nip such thinking in the bud.
They emphasized that they support efforts to curb the nation's opioid epidemic, but not the demonization of marijuana in the process.
"I was surprised to see negative language about marijuana in the opioid report," said Dr. Chinazo Cunningham, a professor of medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "Research that examines pain and marijuana shows that marijuana use significantly reduces pain. In addition, the majority of studies examining marijuana and opioids show that marijuana use is associated with less opioid use and less opioid-related deaths."
You had one job.
Previously:
Study Finds That Legalized Medical Cannabis Led to a Decline in Medicare Prescriptions
New Attorney General Claims Legal Weed Drives Violent Crime; Statistics be Damned
4/20: The Third Time's Not the Charm
Jeff Sessions Reboots the Drug War
President Trump Declares the Opioid Crisis a National Emergency
According to Gallup, American Support for Cannabis Legalization is at an All-Time High
Opioid Crisis Official; Insys Therapeutics Billionaire Founder Charged; Walgreens Stocks Narcan
FDA Blocks More Imports of Kratom, Warns Against Use as a Treatment for Opioid Withdrawal
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 16 2017, @01:38PM (2 children)
That fat fuck is a self dick sucking pig. Has anyone ever been able to overdose on a joint no matter what potency the weed is? No, you get too high to take another puff. Abuse what? It reduces my pain better than fentanyl without the fentanyl side effects like... severe constipation then diarrhea, loss of memory, depression of the senses, terrible addiction and withdrawals, etc. The medical marijuana is also safer because you never know what the street drugs are laced with. It took almost a year for the doctor to ween me off the fentanyl, never again.
(Score: 3, Informative) by PinkyGigglebrain on Thursday November 16 2017, @08:47PM (1 child)
To the best of my knowledge there has only been one death that was claimed to be from an overdose of Cannabis, Bob Marley. And that claim has been challenged by other doctors. In the entire history of Cannabis use there have been no other deaths attributed to the use/over use of the substance. Deaths caused by operating machinery, etc. are of course another matter. But alcohol is still responsible for more deaths each year just from it's toxicity than from people driving while under the influence of Cannabis.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 17 2017, @07:46PM
didn't bob marley go to austria or some shit to be cured of cancer but it didn't work and he died? never heard this smoked himself to death bullshit (besides lung disease from smoking too damn much plant matter) before.