By: Leonard Krivitsky, MD, DD

Leonard Krivitsky, MD, DD — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:58:53 +0000

I am fully in favor of legalizing medical marijuana across the country ASAP. Medical marijuana is highly effective in a wide variety of medical conditions, and one really does not need to be a big-time scientist to know that it strongly stimulates appetite, making it very useful in many forms of malnutrition, and its usefulness in pain control would allow to reduce the doses of strong pain-killer opiates that are REALLY unsafe in terms of overdoses and severe physical dependence. Medical marijuana is a potent reducer of intra-ocular pressure, and can prove to be a vision-saver for some patients with difficult to control glaucoma. At the same time medical marijuana has not had one single instance of fatal overdose, and it does not have a physical withdrawal, so when the “opponents” claim that it is “not safe”, it is not clear to me what they mean. With 81% of Americans in favor of medical marijuana, one is surprised that it is still not legal everywhere in the US. Surely, there will be some abuses, but they will not be any more widespread or any more dangerous than the abuse of current controlled substances such as opiate painkillers and sleeping and nerve pills that is ongoing and quite alarming. I would like to refer the prosecutor who opposes the legalization of medical marijuana to the prestigious Substance Abuse: A Comprehensive Textbook, 4-th Edition that clearly states on page 267 that cannabis use suppresses instead of inciting, a violent crime, and that only the “unsophisticated” think otherwise. On 3-19-10 the CNN reported that many States’ budgets are so stressed that thousands of non-violent criminals are being released early. How about a quick word of advice: Stop arresting patients with serious medical conditions who need medical marijuana to alleviate their suffering, as well as those who, at risk for themselves, provide for this need.

Comments on: City cautious on medical marijuana

By: Leonard Krivitsky, MD, DD