Pubdate: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 Source: Florida Today (Melbourne, FL) Copyright: 2014 Frank Filiberto Contact: http://www.floridatoday.com/content/forms/services/letters.shtml Website: http://www.floridatoday.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/532 Author: Frank Filiberto DOCTOR'S LETTER ABOUT MARIJUANA MISLEADING The recent letter, "Where's the scientific proof of pot's benefits?" by a local physician was extremely informative but misleading. The writer, Dr. John C. Lozito, is a well-respected physician whose integrity is beyond reproach. However, there are times when one's objectivity is clouded by trying to maintain the status quo. Dr. Lozito argues against medical marijuana because of the lack of scientific evidence. My response is that for more than 2,000 years, no drug has withstood the scrutiny that cannabis has. The scientific conclusions of the overwhelmingly majority of modern research directly conflict with the federal government's stance that cannabis is a highly dangerous substance. For example, in February 2010, investigators at the University of California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research announced the finding of a series of randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials on the medical utility of inhaled cannabis. These studies, which utilized the so-called gold standard FDA clinical trial design, concluded that marijuana ought to be a "first-line treatment" for patients with neuropathy and other serious illnesses. What strikes me is Dr. Lozito, being a neurologist, may have hinted to literature in his gold standard study but has ignored the study that truly would help his patients. With cannabis' safety record, why would any doctor throw the baby out with the bath water? Regarding his claim there is no such thing as medical marijuana, Dr. Lozito fails to recognize different strains for different maladies and quality control that goes into securing the proper ratio of THC/CBD. Dr. Frank Filiberto, Melbourne - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D