Medical Marijuana Affirmation: Congratulations to Oregonian Newspaper

It is very comforting to me that after 10 years of the Oregonian dragging my patients and I through the mud that they have finally become enlightened and crawled out of the closet.

Courtesy: Syracuse University

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - I have been hoping for this day for 10 years. As I was the Number One Medical Marijuana Doctor in Oregon for the first 5 years and an erstwhile target/victim of that paper who seemed to delight in making snide remarks about me and worse remarks about my desperate, usually destitute, disabled patients. This is indeed a new positive era.

On Tuesday, October 20, 2009, they published an editorial WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA FEDS TO QUIT BEING A PAIN. I exalt in their change of distressful tone. They previously published that Dr. Leveque was a danger to all his patients and the public in general. They KNEW this was false but the ignorant, idiotic Oregon Medical Board gave them the story providing they would publish it. This resulted in 4000 of my Medical Marijuana patients having to find a new doctor though I was the ONLY doctor who would help them.

On Friday, October 23, 2009, they published a further affirming OPED article by David Sirota comparing the outstanding benefits of marijuana with the severe lethal hazards of alcohol. What really depresses me is that I could have written a like article at anytime during the past 10 years but my advocacy of marijuana as medicine was poo-pooed as a reason to JUST GET HIGH which is farthest from medical patients minds. MARIJUANA IS MEDICINE and a very good one at that.

Finally on October 28, 2009, they published a very positive interview with Professor Daniele Piomelli of the University of California at Irvine citing the benefits and risks of medical marijuana. Dr. Daniele Piomelli had to be very careful in his positive remarks because he is funded by the U.S. Government through the National Institutes of Health and NIDA (National Institute of Drug Abuse). The U.S. Government does not want any grantee to say ANYTHING GOOD about marijuana. The Doctor was VERY careful in extolling the virtues of medical marijuana obviously hedging his bets.

Dr. Piomelli has a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Columbia University in New York and a Dr. of Pharmacy from the University of Naples, Italy.

I will say as a Physician/Pharmacologist/Toxicologist that his research work is 24 carat. However he never saw or treated a marijuana patient in his career. I didn’t either until I got my Dr. of Osteopathy Degree.

Dr. Piomelli was asked many questions about the medical use of marijuana on patients. I must say he has no such experience and there are several hundred marijuana doctors who could have been asked these questions based on REAL experience but somehow being a “marijuana Doctor” precludes us from being asked, “What diseases is marijuana good for?”.

Dr. Piomelli states that marijuana is good for Multiple Sclerosis, Chronic Neuropathic pain, Nausea of Chemo and AIDS, Tourettes, etc (there are at least 50 more diseases for which marijuana is excellent).

When asked about the risks he stated the dependence (which is very mild and rare), brain damage in adolescence (which is probably rare also). He does state that marijuana is NOT a “gateway drug” though it is used in critical periods of adolescence.

He acknowledges that there is NO STANDARD DOSE (every batch is different). He does state that Marinol, the synthetic form which does have severe problems and smoking is preferable (best to use a vaporizer).

It is very comforting to me that after 10 years of the Oregonian dragging my patients and I through the mud that they have finally become enlightened and crawled out of the closet.

I was greatly distressed but now I’m exalted that the Oregonian finally has caught on and is being supportive of Medical Marijuana. I see the Oregonian also reports on the front page two new Marijuana Cafes.

HOORAH!!