The federal government continues to push Marinol+ and other FDA-approved drugs instead of marijuana. Federal agencies push Torecan+ and Zofran+, both of which physicians agree are not adequate substitutes for marijuana in controlling Nausea and vomiting. Torecan+ renders the patient almost comatose and Zofran+ is very expensive at $600 per dose per day. In contrast, marijuana costs just pennies a day (Marijuana as Medicine, 1996).
While no one is advocating that all patients with conditions that respond favorably to marijuana be forced to use marijuana. Ultimately, the decision on which medication to prescribe is between the patient and the physician. But that patient should have the ability to choose from all medications that could help his or her condition. The American people and their physicians know that marijuana has important medical benefits. What is now needed is a rationale plan to make marijuana legally available for medical use, under medical supervision, to those with legitimate medical needs.
“Prohibition…goes beyond the bounds of reasons in that it attempts to
control a man’s appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things
that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow
at the very principles upon which our government was founded”
- Abraham Lincoln, 1840
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