'Heads vs. Feds' brings legalization debate to campus
Noelle Lynn Blood
Issue date: 10/30/09 Section: News
He went on to say the health care system is "broken" because of increased cost and decreased quality of care.
"It shows the problem with our health care system that they will not even consider natural plants as part of the pharmacopia," Hager said. "There is no doubt in my mind that marijuana is the gold standard of medicine and the refusal to accept this medicine is based on profiteering by the pharmaceutical companies who only want synthetic drugs that they control patents on."
Hager also said scientific research on medicinal benefits of marijuana is stifled. He referenced a 1974 study conducted by the University of Virginia in which rats were given brain cancer and then injected with THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. According to the study results, the rats given THC lived longer than the control rats that were not given cancer. The THC shrank or entirely eradicated the tumors in the rats.
However, in 1976, President Gerald Ford stopped all public marijuana research and granted exclusive research rights to major pharmaceutical companies. Since then, companies have been working to develop synthetic forms of THC to produce the medicinal effects without getting the user "high."
"Steve [Hager] said marijuana is the greatest medicine in the world. It will cure everything from AIDS to whatever Z begins with," Stutman said. "If Steve were honest with you, he and I would completely agree. There are 435 chemicals in the cannabis plant. Two of them, Delta 9-THC and cannabinoids, will be good medicine."
Stutman said $28 million has been put into researching these two chemicals, but two of 435 is not a high enough ratio to generalize marijuana as "good medicine."
Hager also addressed the issue of incarceration related to growing, selling and possessing marijuana. In America, more than 2 million people are behind bars, and 40 to 50 percent of them are serving time for drug-related offenses.
"Having your biggest population behind bars is not exactly a hallmark of a free society," he said. "When I was in high school, this country was famous for building schools, hospitals, interstate highways. Over the last 15 years, we've just been building prisons. Now the prison system is being privatized, turned over to corporations to be run for profit."
"It shows the problem with our health care system that they will not even consider natural plants as part of the pharmacopia," Hager said. "There is no doubt in my mind that marijuana is the gold standard of medicine and the refusal to accept this medicine is based on profiteering by the pharmaceutical companies who only want synthetic drugs that they control patents on."
Hager also said scientific research on medicinal benefits of marijuana is stifled. He referenced a 1974 study conducted by the University of Virginia in which rats were given brain cancer and then injected with THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. According to the study results, the rats given THC lived longer than the control rats that were not given cancer. The THC shrank or entirely eradicated the tumors in the rats.
However, in 1976, President Gerald Ford stopped all public marijuana research and granted exclusive research rights to major pharmaceutical companies. Since then, companies have been working to develop synthetic forms of THC to produce the medicinal effects without getting the user "high."
"Steve [Hager] said marijuana is the greatest medicine in the world. It will cure everything from AIDS to whatever Z begins with," Stutman said. "If Steve were honest with you, he and I would completely agree. There are 435 chemicals in the cannabis plant. Two of them, Delta 9-THC and cannabinoids, will be good medicine."
Stutman said $28 million has been put into researching these two chemicals, but two of 435 is not a high enough ratio to generalize marijuana as "good medicine."
Hager also addressed the issue of incarceration related to growing, selling and possessing marijuana. In America, more than 2 million people are behind bars, and 40 to 50 percent of them are serving time for drug-related offenses.
"Having your biggest population behind bars is not exactly a hallmark of a free society," he said. "When I was in high school, this country was famous for building schools, hospitals, interstate highways. Over the last 15 years, we've just been building prisons. Now the prison system is being privatized, turned over to corporations to be run for profit."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
RFWoodstock
posted 10/30/09 @ 9:51 AM CST
Valid medicinal value, it?s a victimless crime, the War on Drugs WAY too costly, too many arrests for simple possession, tax it and use the money to pay for health insurance and to reduce the deficit?Need I say more?
Woodstock Universe supports legalization of Marijuana for a variety of reasons. (Continued…)
RFWoodstock
posted 10/30/09 @ 10:08 AM CST
Valid medicinal value, it?s a victimless crime, the War on Drugs WAY too costly, too many arrests for simple possession, tax it and use the money to pay for health insurance and to reduce the deficit?Need I say more?
Woodstock Universe supports legalization of Marijuana. (Continued…)
Post a Comment