Pubdate: Mon, 22 Aug 2016
Source: Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette (Fayetteville, AR)
Copyright: 2016 Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC.
Contact: http://www.nwaonline.com/submit/letter/
Website: http://www.nwaonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/828
Author: Mike Tripp

NOTHING OFF THE TABLE

While spending endless hours in a waiting room at UAMS I've now read 
multiple anti-medical marijuana editorials printed in the course of a 
couple of weeks. It must be nice to have your own bully pulpit. 
Please excuse my tardiness in responding. I volunteer as a cancer 
patient advocate and I've been kind of busy.

You seem to be under the impression that cannabis is only used for 
nausea. You mention the synthetic cannabis anti-nausea drug, Marinol, 
that makes money for a big drug company. I've worked with cancer 
patients who take it by the handful with no effect in stopping 
nausea. Smoking real cannabis does. It also stimulates their 
appetite, improves mental attitude and relieves pain better than 
constipation-causing addictive opiates. Cannabis contains a 
component, CBD (cannibidiol), that's been shown effective for the 
treatment of childhood epileptic seizure syndromes. An CBD/THC oral 
spray drug called Sativex is currently on fast-track status with the 
FDA for the treatment of multiple sclerosis tremors. CBD also shows 
efficacy against colon cancer. Sativex might also prove effective 
against my patient's colon cancer, but until medical cannabis is 
legalized, research is stymied.

Cannabis has never killed anyone, unlike our sacred poisons tobacco, 
alcohol, and pharmaceutical drugs. When you're as ill as my current 
patient, yours is the only opinion that matters and nothing should be 
off the table.

Vote for medical cannabis via the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act 
(AMCA). The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment (AMMA) proposal will 
create a monopoly for eight people and put medical cannabis under the 
supervision of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board instead of the 
Health Department. Readers, please educate yourselves beyond reading 
hysterical editorials from this newspaper.

MIKE TRIPP Crystal Springs
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom