Comments on Apples to Bananas and Pot to Pablum

what is the significance behind the ad saying "smoked marijuana" as opposed to just "marijuana"?

Does anyone know why Marinol isn't an acceptable substitute for weed in a medical context? Or for that matter, why there isn't a pharma-grade THC-based product that would meet people's needs? People with pain don't have to score H from their local dealer, they get a scrip for morphine. Why is THC different? Just wondering...

@2:
http://qu.to/431
(link to long URL of pros/cons of Marinol.)

1) The "smoked marijuana" issue comes primarily from a report from the Institute of Medicine denouncing "smoked marijuana." The DEA has turned that into a talking point because smoking stuff is harmful and it sounds very convincing. But people don't smoke much pot compared to tobacco--a couple puffs and they're done--so the potential danger is minimized. For many patients, the harm of inhaling a few lungfuls of smoke is outweighed by the benefit of curbing violent nausea, managing pain, etc. That's why all those other medical organizations have come out in favor.

2) Marijuana contains lots of different cannabinoids and similar compounds that, in combination, affect the body in various ways. Synthetic drugs, like Marinol, which contains only one of those compounds (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), don't provide most users the same benefits. Another problem with the synthetic pills is that patients have a difficult time controlling the dose--either not getting a strong enough effect or being too stoned to function--whereas smoked marijuana allows patients to take incremental doses.

Worse yet, until cannabis is legally available for medical use, researchers can't work on producing new varieties to treat various illnesses. The drug war is blocking legitimate medical research.

Anyone who thinks pot is harmful should be in a controlled study where they smoke some, sit down on a couch, are given a bowl of popcorn and a large pop, and watch "Airplane!". Then we'll see what they think.

Not to worry, Canada will do the research.