With a dearth of in-depth, scientific studies on the benefits of medical marijuana, it was wise for the state Board of Health to reject a request to expand the list of conditions that people can cite for getting a medical marijuana card.
Board members said there wasn’t sufficient medical research to support the request, and we concur.
In general, there have not been enough studies to determine whether marijuana is beneficial in treating health conditions, a situation that ought to change.
Legislators and voters around the country would make better decisions about how, and whether, marijuana ought to be used to treat medical problems if there were more solid scientific studies to rely on.
In Colorado, those who proposed expanding the list of conditions to legally obtain marijuana wanted to include Tourette’s syndrome, asthma, high blood pressure and rheumatoid arthritis to the list.
The request involving Tourette’s got the most consideration. Two small studies by German researchers showed some benefits to sufferers who used THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. But members of the board of health expressed concerns about the health effects of smoking marijuana and the lack of advanced medical research.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency contends prescription Marinol, which contains THC, can be an appropriate substitute for medical marijuana. However, medical marijuana advocates say Marinol doesn’t provide relief to all patients and some find alleviation of symptoms only from the fuller range of compounds contained in natural marijuana.
It remains an argument without a definitive answer.
Ned Calonge, the state’s chief medical officer, denied requests to include other conditions on the list without bringing those requests to the board of health.
Medical marijuana advocates are crying foul over these denials, saying state officials are biased against any expansion of the medical marijuana list of approved conditions, which includes chronic severe pain, cancer, glaucoma and HIV/AIDS.
Who can blame the health department for being cautious given the mess that has unfolded in Colorado where medical marijuana is concerned? We certainly don’t.
The number of people who are claiming serious health conditions in order to get a get-out-of-jail-free card to use marijuana has been astounding. The medical marijuana regulations that state lawmakers passed in the last session have the potential to curb some of the worst abuses, but it’s going to take some years to work through the system.
Some of those medical marijuana advocates who are accusing the state of being biased have only themselves to blame. They’ve defended the obvious exploitation of the system as a way to attain de facto legalization of marijuana. That’s not what voters approved in 2000, and we think the state board of health is acting appropriately in looking closely for good scientific studies before opening the door any wider on use in Colorado.
