{"id":1069,"date":"2019-07-25T08:00:57","date_gmt":"2019-07-25T15:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1069"},"modified":"2019-07-25T07:45:29","modified_gmt":"2019-07-25T14:45:29","slug":"marijuana-is-not-medical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1069","title":{"rendered":"Marijuana is not Medical"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I understand what the proponents for \u201cmedical marijuana\u201d are\ndoing as they file their proposed initiative for medical marijuana in Idaho.\nThey want to bring legitimacy to the demon herb. They want to normalize,\nmedicalize, and eventually legalize a current banned substance. I support their\ngoals. I just can\u2019t support doing it on the back of the medical profession. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We medical prescribers have demonstrated time and again we\nare not capable of appropriately prescribing even formulated narcotics for\nwhich we receive training. We were taught the neurophysiology of narcotic\nreceptors. We were taught the natural response to long term use of narcotics:\nhow the body changes the number of receptors to allow tolerance to the drugs,\nand how the sensitivity of those receptors can change. Despite all this\neducation we physicians were complicit in the greatly expanded use of narcotics\nand the tragic increase in deaths from accidental overdose from these legally\nprescribed substances. My profession carries much blame for this and it burdens\nme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But just because we physicians didn\u2019t prescribe opioids in a\nhealthy manner doesn\u2019t mean we couldn\u2019t do better with marijuana. There is no\ndoubt marijuana is much less lethal than narcotics. Maybe this old dog will\nhave to learn some new tricks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is research supporting the use of marijuana for some\nmedical conditions. It seems to help some folks with chronic pain, nausea,\nweight loss, seizures and a host of others. Many states where medical marijuana\nis legal specify diagnoses that qualify for prescribing. Some states limit the\nstrength of the herb. I guess I shouldn\u2019t whine about the state regulating\nmedical practice when they give me a near monopoly through statute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But really, isn\u2019t this just an attempt to get a population\ncomfortable with legalization? Many states have moved from medical marijuana on\nto recreational, which is, I believe what we should be talking about. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 I guess there\u2019s\nprecedent. During prohibition doctors were authorized to write prescriptions\nfor alcohol for their patients by the US Treasury. It\u2019s widely agreed the\npractice was bogus, since there is little evidence to support any \u201cmedicinal\nspirits\u201d use. But us doctors don\u2019t always need evidence, do we?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Idaho is surrounded by states that have legalized either\nrecreational or medical use. Indeed, Idaho is one of only three states in which\nmarijuana is prohibited. The production, regulation, sale and taxation of the\nsubstance has proved manageable for our neighbors, even if the Federal\ngovernment still deems the substance illegal. Our neighbor states are\ncommitting an act of \u201cnullification\u201d, something Idaho lawmakers embraced when\nhealth insurance was mandated. But Idaho lawmakers don\u2019t feel the need to rebel\non this issue. Isn\u2019t it ironic that Idaho\u2019s conservatives would be willing to\n\u201cnullify\u201d the US Constitution over access to healthcare, but condemn our\nneighbor states for their \u201cnullification\u201d of Federal marijuana laws? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not opposed to the legalization of marijuana. What is\nmost depressing about the situation here in Idaho is that time and again our\nlawmakers can\u2019t have substantive discussions of public policy issues staring\nthem in the face. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I guess that\u2019s what the initiative process is for. Medicaid\nexpansion got the support of the people, though many legislators still gag on\nthe issue. While some saw this last legislative session\u2019s attempt to make\ninitiatives in Idaho impossible was \u201cpayback\u201d for getting Medicaid Expansion\napproved, more likely it was to thwart this medical marijuana initiative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real issue to be discussed is whether we should legalize\nthe use of marijuana. The \u201cbaby step\u201d of medical marijuana instead proposes to regulate\nthe medical profession because we can\u2019t honestly discuss the real issue;\nlegalization of marijuana for individual use at their own discretion. Such weak\ncourage and poor leadership we get from those we elect may just reflect our own\ncowardice. Don\u2019t let it. Let\u2019s light up the discussion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I understand what the proponents for \u201cmedical marijuana\u201d are doing as they file their proposed initiative for medical marijuana in Idaho. They want to bring legitimacy to the demon herb. They want to normalize, medicalize, and eventually legalize a current … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[24,25],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1071,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069\/revisions\/1071"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}