MARIJUANA MYTHS
In his crusade against medical marijuana, Dr. Eric Voth ("Puff and Stuff", Reader Response, September) grossly misrepresents the scientific evidence. Every study he cites showing marijuana-related harm is contradicted by dozens of other studies.
In our recent book Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts (Lindesmith Center), we review 30 years of scientific evidence based on marijuana research. We conclude that marijuana does not adversely affect sex hormones in humans; does not cause birth defects, lasting memory impairment or cancer; does not impair immune function and is not highly addictive.
The only clear health risk associated with marijuana use is lung damage from smoking, and this risk appears primarily among long-term, high-dose smokers, particularly those who also smoke tobacco cigarettes. Daily marijuana smokers experience slightly more respiratory symptoms than do nonsmokers. However, two recent studies, one conducted in the U.S. and the other in Australia, indicate no evidence of the lung disease emphysema among those who smoke only marijuana.
All effective medications produce unwanted side effects. Marijuana is no exception. Some people find marijuana's psychoactivity to be extremely unpleasant. But contrary to Dr. Voth's assertion, this adverse effect is less common with smoked marijuana than with the oral THC capsule, which has been approved by the FDA and is available by prescription. True, crude marijuana is sometimes contaminated with fungal spores, which is a problem for people with suppressed immune systems However, this problem could be eliminated with proper quality control, under a system of legal distribution.
Both smoked marijuana and oral THC have the potential to produce psychomotor impairment. But a recent driving study, funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, shows that impairment from marijuana is less substantial than that caused by many widely used medications. Even if driving impairment from marijuana were more substantial, that would hardly be a reason to forbid marijuana's use as a medicine-unless we are also prepared to forbid, on similar grounds, the use of many painkillers, antihistamines, tranquilizers, sleeping pills and overthe-counter cough syrups.
Voth's assertion that the availability of other "safe and effective medications precludes the need for marijuana or pure THC" is contrary to the principles of good medical practice. His own survey of oncologists indicates that 12 percent have recommended marijuana to patients undergoing chemotherapy. Other surveys of oncologists show even greater support for marijuana's use as an antinauseant. Physicians and patients need the maximum number of effective medications-not just those that work best in the majority of patients. The fact that marijuana is effective in some patients for whom other medications have failed makes it a valuable addition to the pharmacopoeia.
In a 1982 letter to the Journal of the American Medical Association, Congressman Newt Gingrich wrote that "thc outdated federal prohibition" of medical marijuana was "corrupting the intent of state laws and depriving thousands of glaucoma and cancer patients of the medicaal care promised them by their state legislatures." According to Gingrich, "the hysteria over marijuana's social abuse" has prevented a "factual and balanced assessment of marijuana's use as a medicant." Voth seems committed to perpetuating the hysteria, regardless of the suffering it causes.
Lynn Zimmer- Associate Professor of Sociology - Queens College - New York, New York
John Morgan- Professor of Pharmacology - CUNY Medical School - New York, New York