The FDA is going to pot

WASHINGTON (April 20) - The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that it does not support the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

The statement contradicts a 1999 finding from the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, which reported that "marijuana's active components are potentially effective in treating pain, nausea, the anorexia of AIDS wasting and other symptoms, and should be tested rigorously in clinical trials."

There is abundant evidence that marijuana can help cancer patients, multiple sclerosis patients and AIDS patients. There is no scientific doubt that marijuana relieves nausea, vomiting, certain kinds of pain and other symptoms that don't respond well to conventional drugs, and does it more safely than other drugs.

The FDA statement noted "There are alternative FDA-approved medications in existence for treatment of many of the proposed uses of smoked marijuana."



Listen to that statement that the FDA is making. Read it once again. They make no mention of the multiple dangerous side effects that come with those FDA approved medications. The FDA is not thinking about the sick people who would benefit from medical marijuana. They are merely protecting the profits of the drug companies. The same drug companies who used to employ most of them. The same companies who still pay into their retirement accounts. I really believe that if Merck or Pfizer could patent marijuana, the FDA's tune might quickly change.

In the interest of full discloser, I am a Pfizer stockholder. There are some days I have second thoughts about my ownership of a drug company. However, by comparison, I think Pfizer is one of the most responsible of the drug companies. Some drugs do save lives and there is a place for medication. However, the FDA and their hypocrisy makes me sick to my stomach. Perhaps I can take an FDA product for that.

My college roommate used to say, “God gave us the cannabis plant … Let no man take it away!”

He was a smart cookie … and he ate a lot of cookies. Now that is a side effect I can live with.