Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Dr. Sanjay Gupta Not Only Apologizing For Previous Stance on Marijuana
Marijuana patients and activists have been disappointed regarding the across the country known Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s sights on Cannabis. For a long time he appeared to dismiss the numerous patient recommendations and lots of studies carried out highlighting the advantages of medicinal marijuana. Dr. Gupta has considerable affect on established medical community, and federal policy (he’s a detailed ally of Leader Obama and it was offered a situation within the Whitened House).
Marijuana Enters New Age, While Propaganda Remains Stuck in Last Century
Research into marijuana was almost non existent for the 20th century. In the 21st century, clinical trials are finally being commissioned, trying to make up for decades of lost research time. Blatant propaganda had previously been a staple for the criminalization crowd, those who wish to see our jails overcrowded with non violent criminals. However, as positive patient testimonials, the realization that the war on drugs is a colossal failure, and a desire to regain some individual choices take hold on the American public, wreck less propaganda has begun to fade away.
The self righteous criminalization crowd now realizes they have to be more covert when trying to mislead. They may troll the internet for vulnerable comment sections on blogs, or share exaggerated or factually incorrect articles on social media. It came as a huge surprise to us to see vintage propaganda prominently featured on the Kansas City Star’s webpage. Proving that so much deception could not be successfully crafted by one person, both Ravikumar Chockalingam and Dragan Svrakic needed to collaborate to complete a recent article titled “The risks of marijuana are many”.
The article starts with the following:
Imagine the public outrage if a toxic drug was approved without any regulation for “recreational” use in adults and children that suppresses the immune system, causes schizophrenia, mental illness, brain and lung disease including cancer and death. Also, many long-term and frequent users of this toxic drug have lowered IQs, impaired memory, poor judgment and diminished driving ability.
It does not exactly improve from there. The authors go on to cite marijuana as a “toxic drug” while ignoring obvious comparisons to legal opiates and alcohol’s “toxic” effect. Even stranger, they try and scare readers regarding a fictional “nightmare health scenario” that other states outside of Kansas and Missouri are experiencing. Driving and marijuana is actually a discussion that needs to occur, but there is conflicting evidence to suggest that it causes more accidents. In fact, in certain states where medical marijuana is legal, DWIs and fatal crashes have actually gone down. The authors also claim there is no medical evidence to support marijuana’s medical efficacy. That is incorrect as even the U.S. government has commissioned studies that highlight marijuana’s wide array of medical uses, including the potential to fight cancer.
Of course the article also uses the standard condescension, where patient testimonials are irrelevant and we should not trust people when they tell us about their improved quality of life and reduction in pain, nausea, PTSD, seizures… the list goes on. Patients from different walks of life, politically, financially, and ethnically, all have gotten together during times where their health has deteriorated, to fake marijuana’s benefits. At least this is what the article in the Kansas City Star implying.
While (psychiatry resident) and Dragan Svrakic (associate professor) are both part of the Washington University School of Medicine, they seem to be lagging behind the medical leaders in our country. Even Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN contributor and President Obama’s choice for Surgeon General (Dr. Gupta turned down the offer) has reversed his opposition to medical marijuana, and admitted he was wrong. When leading physicians, clinical trials, and patients all report the benefits of medical marijuana, we can only hope the two authors of the article will take notice. We at marijuana.net noticed an unusual amount of blanket statements and a lack of evidence provided for these outrageous claims. The American public does not seem to be buying the scare tactics of last century as the vast majority (85% according to a Fox News Poll) of residents here support medical marijuana. It may be time for Ravikumar Chockalingam and Dragan Svrakic to abandon the propaganda, or at least utilize more subtle and modern techniques.
Marijuana Industry News August 23, 2013
White House Trying to Create Distance from Dr. Sanjay Gupta Marijuana
Reversal…
CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has created many
headlines and conversation since recently announcing he his previous
anti-marijuana stance was incorrect. Dr. Gupta . President Obama had
considered Gupta for Surgeon General in 2008. Dr. Gupta, however did
not want to walk away from his surgical career and did not want to
lose time with his family. Many have been wondering if Gupta’s
reversal will have policy impact. So far it has not, but the White
House is answering questions it would rather not. Deputy Press
Secretary, Josh Earnest was asked if a position flip by a well known
White House ally would have any impact on President Obama’s marijuana
policy. Earnest said that President Obama ‘does not, at this point,
advocate a change in the law” and “The administration’s position on
this has been clear and consistent for some time now” There are two
curious phrases in Josh Earnest’s quotes. For one, they make sure to
say nothing will change “at this point”, perhaps opening the door to
future changes. Additionally, many would disagree very much so
that President Obama has been “consistent” on his marijuana views.
The administration signaled a much different view on the 2008 campaign
trail and the early days of his first term. However, a major change
appears to be on the horizon as it is becoming more difficult to
locate someone who will actually defend the current Schedule 1 status
of marijuana.
For more on this story click here
City of Washington D.C. May Create Program to Subsidize Poor Medical
Marijuana Patients…
Fiscal conservatives will likely have a field day criticizing a new
proposal by city government officials in D.C. Others will praise a
proposal aimed at helping struggling patients who may not be able to
afford their medication. D.C. city officials are considering a
program that would require dispensary operators to put aside 2% of
profits in order to subsidize lower income patients who may not be
able to afford their medication. While there have been calls in many
municipalities across the nation to address access to the poor, there
has not been any initiative such as this one from any government
entity.. Arizona allows for a reduced registration fee for low income
patients and many dispensaries have taken it upon themselves to offer
discounted meds but there have yet to be significant laws requiring
this. One issue in the medical marijuana world is that medicine is
often priced at the prohibition street prices. Allen St. Pierre, of
NORML, said “The rule is totally unprecedented in the medical
marijuana community.”
For more on this story click here
National Marijuana Expert Suggests Fed Government Enter into a
Contract with Washington and Colorado on Medical Marijuana…
In an ideal world, the federal government would respect the laws and
wishes of state residents. For decades many have tried to make this a
reality. Marijuana reform activists have lobbied the federal
government to rethink their outdated position that marijuana is one of
the most dangerous substances on Earth, even more so than cocaine. A
leading expert on marijuana law, and professor of public policy, Mark
Kleiman, is seeking to change this. Mr. Kleinman is the lead
consultant for Washington state on their recently legalized medical
marijuana program. The professor suggested that the Department of
Justice could enter into a contract with Colorado and Washington which
would have the states do everything in their power to prevent
marijuana from flooding other markets while the federal government
would vow not to prosecute the states who would be in violation of
federal law. Earlier this week he told reporters “I think that
authorizes the (attorney general) to essentially enter into treaties
with Colorado and Washington… That’s messy, but I think it’s
workable. It would prevent flooding the country with cheap pot.” It
would also make it easier for businesses and patients to move forward,
as the battle of state vs. federal law has left everyone in limbo.
Federal Authorities Refuse to Admit Marijuana less Dangerous than Alcohol
Last week, we at marijuana.net were pleased to report on Attorney General Holder’s decision to alter the way federal minimum drug sentences would be handled. This week we found out it may have been a case of the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away.
The momentum for marijuana reform has been rising steady so it was right on cue that federal authorities needed to fight back with false and ridiculous propaganda. On Monday, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) released a statement that not only calls into question their grasp of the facts, but also questions whether or not the agency is operating in 2013 and not 1933. On Monday decision makers at the NIDA thought the following statement was a well thought out idea: “Claiming that marijuana is less toxic than alcohol cannot be substantiated since each possess their own unique set of risks and consequences for a given individual.” The statement seems to be a response to the group Marijuana Policy Project’s (MPP) recent ads that describe marijuana as less dangerous than alcohol.
Mason Tvert of MPP commented on the odd NIDA statement by telling Huffington Post “Our federal government has been exaggerating the harms of marijuana for decades, but at this point it has gone off the deep end…NIDA’s statement that marijuana can be just as toxic as alcohol would be on par with the FDA announcing sushi is as fattening as fried chicken.” The Huffington Post article also pointed out that PolitiFact was unable to identify a single marijuana related death in 2010 but found 41,682 linked to alcohol during the same year.
The public trust in federal drug policy has been declining for decades. However, the feds have learned to smile, dress nice, and say little when questioned on these issues. NIDA’s mission statement is “to lead the nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction .” Their actions indicate that perhaps the NIDA does not hold its mission statement in any sort of high regard. As we said last week with Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s reversal on medical marijuana, how do we trust those who have policy making influence when they are the last to be educated?
Celebrity Physician Sanjay Gupta Reverses Position on Medicinal Marijuana
An advanced of medical and scientific understanding, clearly separate physicians the from others, though character traits don’t. Doctors could be persistent, and possibly even much more than an average joe at certain occasions.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is showing is simply how much personality can infiltrate an expert opinion. I personally enjoy a lot of what Dr. Gupta needs to say in the posts and looks as CNN’s chief medical correspondent. However, it have been apparent he had skipped the boat on medicinal marijuana. In 2009, he notoriously authored an item for Time entitled “ Why I’d Election No on Pot“. In in he signifies that marijuana lacks medical effectiveness regardless of the considerable amount of evidence provided by his peers within the health care industry. In another section he states “I’m constantly amazed that in the end these years–and all of the wars on drugs and all sorts of public-service announcements–nearly 15 million People in america still use marijuana at least one time per month.” At that time, many were amazed he experienced no curiosity within an apparent culture change.
Dr. Gupta has become altering his mind. He accepted not to researching enough around the problem and lately told Piers Morgan “I’ve apologized for a few of the earlier confirming since i think, you realize, we have been terribly and methodically fooled within this country for many , and that i did a part of that misleading.” That is really a candid admission and that we at marijuana.internet applaud him. Also, he lately published “Why I transformed my thoughts on weed” on CNN.com However, when one really wants to contain the layer of national television physician, stubbornness and idleness( meaning of not doing the study) is unacceptable. In a shorter period than he likely allocated to this year’s article, Dr. Gupta might have found an abundance of information, research, and recommendations that highlight the medical advantages of marijuana.
Dr. Gupta’s admission may highlight a much deeper problem than simply one man’s misjudgment. Medical doctors frequently appear to achieve the least understanding on medicinal marijuana. How will a physician know they’re against cure with no significant understanding from the problem? It appears our training if doctors is missing and shuts out any remedies that aren’t considered conventional. Administrators managing medical schools might have to consider training doctors to pay attention. All from the levels on the planet don’t disqualify a lot of patient testimonies. Did Dr. Gupta feel numerous patients was together in conspiracy all avenues of life to get hold of marijuana? Hopefully his recent admission may even further accelerate the marijuana reform discussion and influence policy makers.
If our doctors would be the last to become up-to-date on modern remedies then just what performs this say about modern American medicine? Doctors, typically, are highly intelligent people. Using the information age under way they are able to longer hide behind levels along with a fraternity of individuals knowledgable. All people have access to to scientific information. This does not necessarily mean we ought to visit WebMD and self identify, but it will mean doctors might have to leave their safe place and explain their rationale a little more.