The nonpartisan research group Behavior Research Center says most Arizona residents support the legalization of recreational marijuana, as well as favor university research on the medical benefits of weed for conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder and epilepsy.
Of about 700 adults interviewed for the Rocky Mountain Poll between the end of April and mid-May, 83 percent said they backed up former UA researcher Sue Sisley’s study looking into the effects medical marijuana has on PTSD symptoms. They argued similar studies should be allowed at the three universities.
Sisley’s study was in its final stages of approval, when the UA killed her contract last summer. She wanted the university to house the trials there. Sisley argues Republican state legislators pressured UA officials to oust her, but they deny the allegations.
(Added after publication) UA spokesman Chris Sigurdson says the universities actively tried to continue the research with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, the group partnered with Sisley, but that they declined. Arizona State University didn’t respond, and Northern Arizona University said no to the study.
She now has a $2 million grant from Colorado’s Medical Marijuana Scientific Advisory Council and a partnership with Johns Hopkins University. She hopes to carry on the study in the Phoenix-area, but Sisley recently said the Department of Veterans Affairs won’t let her recruit veterans for her study’s trials.
The University of Colorado is considering staging the trials there.
The VA sent Sisley this statement early June:
As you know, we’ve had changes in leadership here over the past several years. While a previous Medical Center Director may have approved a Grand Round by Dr. Sisely – or delegated this to a member of the staff – the current Medical Center Director did not.
VA health care providers are prohibited from offering opinions or recommendations on the use of medical marijuana. It would be inconsistent with the law or our values for us to conduct a grand round on medical marijuana.
In the case of recreational weed, more than 50 percent are good with allowing possession of small amounts. The support is stronger in rural Arizona (58 percent) and in Maricopa County (53 percent). The poll said less than half of people in Pima County back up legalization.
In April, the Marijuana Policy Project filed Arizona’s weed ballot measure with the Secretary of State’s Office, after mending ties with weed activists demanding for home cultivation rights, and dispensary representatives who wanted a better licensing structure.
This article appears in Jun 4-10, 2015.
“According to cutting-edge research, ingesting cannabis is one of the best things you can do for the health of your brain. This is bad news for the ideologically-blinded prohibitionists, but the majority of current scientific data clearly demonstrates that using marijuana is good for your brain. Xia Zhang, Associate Professor with the Neuropsychiatry Research Unit at the University of Saskatoon, admitted that the results of his research on cannabinoids and brain function were ‘quite a surprise.’ He discovered that the chronic use of marijuana could actually improve learning and memory. It does this by promoting the growth of neurons in the hippocampus, an area of the brain important for learning and memory. Research shows that ‘cannabinoids are the only illicit drug that can promote adult hippocampal neurogenesis following chronic administration.’ This activity creates antidepressant-like effects. Marijuana is truly a unique substance. It helps the brain generate new brain cells while simultaneously protecting the older ones.”
Werner, Clint (2012-02-11). Marijuana Gateway to Health: How Cannabis Protects Us from Cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease (Kindle Locations 511-519). Dachstar Press. Kindle Edition.
A study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests medical marijuana may be an antidote for the scourge of fatal overdoses caused by prescription pain medication. Medical marijuana patients have reported for many years that they use fewer prescribed pain medications when medical marijuana is available. Research, reported in the JAMA Internal Medicine (Aug 2014), finds that deaths associated with the use of opiate drugs fell in 13 states after they legalized medical marijuana. Compared to states with no formal access to marijuana, those that allowed patients legal access to cannabis saw a steady drop in opiate-related overdoses that reached 33%, on average, six years after the state’s medical marijuana laws took effect.
“From a pharmacological perspective, cannabinoids are considerably safer than opioids and have broad applicability in palliative care. Had cannabis not been removed from our pharmacopoeia 7 decades ago and remained available to treat chronic pain, potentially thousands of lives that have been lost to opioid toxicity could have been prevented.” (Carter, et. al., 2011)
Although our Right Wing Nut Jobs focus on what they perceive will be costs associated with marijuana few or none focus on the positive aspects or public health benefits of ending prohibition. Prescription drug overdoses have surpassed traffic accidents as a cause of death in Arizona. The legalization and regulation of cannabis will have long term benefits and improve the health of Arizonans who would otherwise die of opiate drugs. Legalize and regulate this effective natural herbal medicine like alcohol in 2016.
[Carter et al. Cannabis in palliative medicine: improving care and reducing opioid-related morbidity. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2011.]