Views » May 19, 2006

Science: The Drug Wars Latest Victim

By Salim Muwakkil

The war on drugs is an attack on rationality. Reason lost yet another skirmish recently when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on April 20 that “no sound scientific studies” supported the medical use of marijuana.

The announcement flatly contradicts the conclusion of virtually every major study on the efficacy of medical marijuana, including two performed by the government. In a New York Times article the following day, Dr. Jerry Avorn of Harvard Medical School said “this is yet another example of the FDA making pronouncements that seems to be driven more by ideology than science.”

Avorn’s criticism is one regularly leveled at the Bush administration, namely, that it is using politics to trump science. Last year, for example, the ACLU released a report titled “Science Under Siege” that detailed efforts by the Bush administration to hamper scientific inquiry in the name of ideology and national security.

The report found the administration has censored and prescreened scientific articles before publication, suppressed environmental and public health information, and increased restrictions on materials commonly used in basic scientific research.

For two years the Union of Concerned Scientists has circulated a petition statement which now contains the signatures of 9,000 U.S. scientists, including 49 Nobel Prize winners and 63 National Medal of Science recipients. The statement complains that the Bush administration advocates “policies that are not scientifically sound,” and sometimes has “misrepresented scientific knowledge and misled the public about the implication of its politics.” This comes on the heels of a host of other accusations against the administration—charges of censoring a NASA scientist on issues of global warming and burying data on the morning-after Plan B contraceptive.

But the FDA announcement on marijuana is perhaps the most blatant effort to ignore scientific reality. Critics charge that the statement was issued to bolster opponents of various medical marijuana initiatives that have passed in 11 states.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and John P. Walters, the director of national drug control policy (the Drug Czar) oppose the use of medical marijuana. The Times quoted Walters’ spokesman Tom Riley, who said the FDA’s statement would put to rest what he called “the bizarre public discussion” that has helped legalize medical marijuana. But Riley failed to note that some of that discussion was sparked by an exhaustive DEA investigation into cannabis (the scientific name for marijuana) from 1986 to 1988. The comprehensive study examined evidence from doctors, patients and thousands of documents regarding marijuana’s medical utility.

Following a hearing on the study’s findings, the DEA’s administrative judge Francis L. Young released a ruling on Sept. 6, 1988, that noted, “Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal effects. But marijuana is not such a substance …” Marijuana in its natural form, he said, “is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis, marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care.”

He recommended that “(The) provisions of the (Controlled Substances) Act permit and require the transfer of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for the DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance.”

The New England Journal of Medicine, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Public Health Association, AIDS Action Council and dozens of other medical groups have endorsed medical marijuana. Anecdotal evidence from Oregon, one of the states that legalized marijuana’s medical uses,”adds to the mountain of data supporting the medicinal value of pot,” according to a May 1 editorial in the Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard.

Despite this and a growing wealth of new information (particularly new research on cannabanoid medicine by Dr. Raphael Mechoulam out of Hebrew University in Jerusalem) regarding the therapeutic potential of marijuana and its various analogues, the U.S. government refuses to alter its prohibitionist restrictions on marijuana use or research.

Although the Bushites’ rejection of scientific reality is particularly egregious, governmental irrationality about marijuana has been bipartisan. Indeed, more people suffered pot arrests during the Clinton administration than in any other before or since. Washington, in general, seems particularly susceptible to distorted reasoning or magical thinking when considering this ancient herb.

Isn’t it a sign of mental disorder when distorted reasoning is unchanged by empirical evidence? What is it about marijuana that drives our politicians insane?

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• Reader Comments

  While i am in favor of legalized cannabis, i think it is a bit naive to think that there will not be deleterious consequences of such a policy. Increased rates of cancer for smokers (eat it!), increased auto accident rates, etc. But one has to compare this to the cost of enforcing an unpopular law - increased incarceration rates, decreased freedom, etc.

  If nothing else, adding a new drug to the litany of legalized ones could benefit from our history. This can be done by clearly labeling cannabis as a carcinogen (something tobacco fought far too long!)  and a public ad campaign against driving high.

  We can use the Netherlands as an example. They have rather nice Cafes there. . .

  Posted by wolf on May 18, 2006 at 3:23 PM

  —wolf

  While many find it logical to assume marijuana smoke causes cancer, the fact is, it does not.  Out of the 25 million people who smoke pot on the planet, NO ONE has developed cancer from it.  The worst effect is a mild throat and lung irritation, and for heavy smokers, perhaps bronchitis.  As you pointed out, even these minor irritations can be avoided by consuming it in other ways, the best probably being vaporization.

  While marijuana does alter consciousness, it may have some effect on driving, but the big difference from alcohol is that marijuana consumers are AWARE of their altered state and drive more slowly and cautiously to compensate for it.  Some studies have shown marijuana consumers are safer drivers (with less accidents) than straight drivers. Plus, there are many prescription drugs which cause far more impairment.

  A General Response To The Article:

  A MODERN DAY WITCH HUNT

  Why not regulate marijuana like alcohol? Every major study has shown marijuana is non-addictive and less harmful than alcohol or tobacco.

  See:  http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/studies.htm

  In fact, deaths from alcohol are around 400,000 per year with tobacco more than that. Add the carnage alcohol causes in traffic accidents and alcohol fueled violence and the numbers are staggering.

  Now, deaths from marijuana - ZERO. That’s right. No recorded deaths from marijuana in its entire history.

  To treat marijuana consumption more strictly than alcohol is one of the greatest travesties of justice that exists. In fact, it is a monstrously destructive fraud that brands over 700,000 U.S. citizens with a criminal record EACH YEAR!

  Why do we still have this barbaric persecution? Because police and politicians build their careers and empires on it. Because industries like alcohol and pharmaceuticals don’t want the competition. Because other interests like the drug treatment/testing industry and the prison industries depend on it for their life’s blood. And because government uses marijuana prohibition as a means of controlling minorities and the poor.

  There NEVER was a good reason for marijuana prohibition.

  See:  http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/whiteb1.htm

  We must end this horrible travesty of justice in order to save millions of innocent people and restore respect for law enforcement who we have made the Inquisitors in this disastrous witch hunt.

  Posted by john.thomas on May 18, 2006 at 4:42 PM

  I suspect that Marinol and Cesamet have more to do with this “finding” than any actual scientific investigation.

  Posted by ob1quixote on May 18, 2006 at 9:48 PM

  “Isn’t it a sign of mental disorder when distorted reasoning is unchanged by empirical evidence? What is it about marijuana that drives our politicians insane?”

  Nope. It’s neither mental derangement nor political insanity. It is simply business.

  Connect the dots.  Since when has distorted
  reasoning stopped any political initiative? In
  fact, most political initiatives are characterized
  by a passionate state of mind,  and more or less
  distorted reasoning.  Precisely because political discourse is about Power, not Rationality.  Eric
  Hoffer had some interesting things to say
  about this ‘passionate’ mind state in his works.

  This is easy: The vast prison-oriented society
  that the united States has devolved into is
  motivated by all the money to be made servicing
  this ‘war on drugs’...to legalize pot would vastly
  cut into the BUSINESS. If you connect all the dots of the legal and illegal agencies/mafias/
  gangs that have a vested interest in keeping
  pot consumption illegal then it starts to make
  perfect sense. The prison industry is a growth
  industry. Legalized pot would impact that
  growth curve severely.

  Politicians, after they are elected, cease to
  behave like elected representatives of their
  constituents.  They behave like members of a privileged club. Club members often behave
  in erractic and inconsistent ways which appear
  to rational beings like insanity.  It isn’t. They
  are behaving according to their own definition
  of ‘rational self-interest’ .  Also, who elected
  them? It may or may not have been ‘the people’ but some party machine that effectively and
  regularly hoodwinks ‘the people’.  Or rigged
  voting machines. Or a decree from the
  Supreme Court. Think bout it. This is easy.

  Connect the dots. There are a LOT of vested
  interests that will keep pot (and some other
  useful drugs) illegal because of the money.
  These people are not irrational or insane. They
  are, well, how do I put it politely? They are scum.

  Posted by sequ0yah on May 18, 2006 at 10:46 PM

  A simple two step solution to multiple problems…

  1. Use pro-choice logic — “An individual’s body is NOT a government responsibility.”

  2. “We are a nation of laws.”

  Legalize all drugs and enforce existing laws against employers of illegal aliens

  Immediate national benefits would include:
  • $ Billions saved as War on Drugs funding can be spent on education and treatment.  Make info available as to known and suspected effects and let the user decide. 
  • End of smuggling — no profit
  • Release thousands of prisoners into the workforce
  • No jobs at slave wages — no reason to be here

  Congress would be able to address the problems of U.S. citizens such as:
  Social Security/Medicare, universal health care and prescription drugs,  realistic homeland security, genuine campaign reform… and plenty more.

  Posted by whattheheck on May 19, 2006 at 4:59 PM

• extended discussion >>>Continued...

  Discussions with more than 5 comments are continued on our special discussion page to encourage continuity and ease of use. There are currently 12 posts.

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