Marijuana Blog

It’s likely you have never heard of Barrett Duke. Most people haven’t. But his ideas are incredibly dangerous for medical marijuana patients. He recently wrote an op-ed for the Baptist Press, full of more non-sourced and non-linked assertions than I have ever seen in an opinion article.

“Most people who use marijuana to relieve severe pain combine it with stronger pain relievers because marijuana is not effective enough by itself,” he writes. “Furthermore, marijuana's pain-relieving ingredient has been available by prescription for years. A person can purchase Marinol -- right now -- with a doctor's prescription.

“The use of marijuana as a means to improve one's mental health also is not justifiable. People dealing with depression need the regular care of a trained professional. If they require drugs, there are plenty of proven mood-altering ones available that do not introduce as many potential and likely problems as marijuana.

“Smoking marijuana medicinally threatens to make bad situations worse for many users. Marijuana introduces multiple toxic chemicals into the systems of people whose bodies are already weakened from their ailments.

“Not only might these toxic chemicals interfere with the healing process, but users also risk developing additional problems. Medical marijuana puts the user at higher risk for cancer, psychosis, strokes, respiratory damage and heart attack.”

None of these assertions are linked because there is nothing to link to. They come from the head of Barrett Duke. Marijuana is non-toxic and has never been linked to any of the things he says it causes. Furthermore, many who use Marinol have asserted its ineffectiveness while one has to wonder where all these people piling pills on top of marijuana are that Mr. Duke talks about.

People like Barrett Duke masquerade as wanting to help people when in fact he will destroy anyone he can with his incredible ignorance. If you know nothing of a subject, it is better to keep your mouth shut than to make things up.

Source: http://www.opposingviews.com

http://norml.org