While medical marijuana undoubtedly holds promise as a means to treat a number of legitimate medical conditions, that alone is not a sufficient standard to merit its usage as a medicine. Such a decision should not be made by politicians whether they serve here in Madison or in Washington, D.C. Rather, it ought to be made through the appropriate regulatory processes within the Food and Drug Administration, as all other decisions regarding medicinal approval are made.
In the case of medical marijuana this has not been done. Why? Because there is absolutely no way marijuana could withstand the scrutiny needed to pass the FDA’s approval process. In order to ensure the safety of medicinal users, for a drug to meet the standards, it must be shown safe and having benefits that outweigh the risks of its use at least comparable to current medicinal alternatives available. It must also be produced in such a way as to ensure a consistent dosage and purity.
Marijuana is unlikely to meet the first standard under rigorous scientific testing because it is a grown plant containing hundreds of different chemicals with unknown and untested effects.
Even if it were to reach this standard, each plant is different such that a consistent dosage from one sample to another is close to impossible to achieve. Imagine taking a powerful prescription drug without knowing whether you were actually receiving one dose or four? No, the FDA would not allow such a medicine to pass its new drug application. Instead, it would ask the drug producers to identify the active ingredients in the prospective drug, isolate them, and use them as a medicine, as has already been done with THC in marijuana. In the future there may be additional medications derived from the plant as our base of research grows.
I urge the readers of The Daily Cardinal not to set the dangerous precedent of usurping our drug approval process for political reasons. If you believe recreational marijuana usage should be legal, then advocate on behalf of that position, but please do not cheapen our drug safety standards in the process. Americans deserve high medicinal drug safety standards that are established on the basis of rigorous testing done in accordance with scientific standards rather than a popular vote or legislative action.
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