Pot shot, anyone? Drug promises relief for cancer patients

Some things about human society I'll never understand. One is the huge debate over the value and legality of medicinal marijuana. You know the stuff, all you humans out there. Don't play dumb. It's kind of like catnip, except more expensive and illegal.

I read in an editorial at Medscape (you have to register to log in and read the articles, but it's free), that "Politics trumps science" in the FDA's recent statement against medical marijuana. The authors of the editorial, Dr. Gregory Carter and Bruce Mirken, say:

"The FDA has announced that 'no sound scientific studies' support the medical use of marijuana, contradicting an increasingly large body of scientific literature. To those of us who do research in this area, this is a personal affront."

I've also read that some polls have shown that most physicians, when responding anonymously, support medical use of marijuana. Some doctors have even let patients know that marijuana might help them, but they can't prescribe it because it's illegal.

Morphine, Demerol, Valium, Oxycontin, codeine...these drugs have a high risk and rate of abuse, myriad side effects and can kill you with one overdose. Yet they are legal for medicinal use, as well they should be.

But smoke a joint after your chemotherapy session, and in most states you're a criminal.

Please tell me why. Why, why, why? Is it the association with hippies and counterculture? The resemblance to smoking tobacco? Or the fact that no one's paying sales tax and no pharmaceutical company holds the patent?

Don't talk to me about the potential for abuse and don't use the term "gateway drug." Nowadays, most kids are getting their pharmaceutical kicks from their parents' medicine cabinets -- not from the local street dealer. That makes the "war on drugs" a little more complicated and a lot less fun. No one to blame but ourselves. No "pusherman" with "tombstones in his eyes."

And don't start spouting statistics and referring to clinical studies. That doesn't work on me. The benefits may not have been scientifically proven but they certainly haven't been disproven. The body of evidence just isn't large enough for that. My favorite human works in health care communication and reads those journal articles all the time. She says the devil quotes scripture, statistics and clinical studies.

She's also talked to a whole lot of cancer patients -- real human beings who had never abused drugs before their diagnosis. Some of them have said that a couple of illegal tokes did more to get them through the rough spots of their treatment than anything else they tried -- and didn't turn them into anti-social brain-dead burnouts.

Well, a couple of pharmaceutical companies are working to figure out how to provide the benefits of marijuana without the risks, stigma and necessity of breaking the law -- and more important for the venture's success, how to make money in the process. Score one for common sense.

Marijuana may not be quite as addictive and potentially deadly as morphine. It isn't as readily available as alcohol or Ritalin. It's not as much fun as catnip. But it is a powerful drug. In the wrong hands, powerful drugs can ruin lives. But used appropriately, powerful and potentially dangerous drugs have made many lives more bearable and many deaths more peaceful.

To all the self-righteous drug warriors who would deny comfort to law-abiding citizens and make criminals out of cancer patients, I say, get over yourselves. And to all you cancer and glaucoma patients, Cruxley says, smoke 'em if you got 'em.

I'd like to thank the academy...

and post a link in return. Check in with those clever folks at Catnabbit when you're in need of a chuckle.

Cats breaking barriers dept.: Feline crime-fighter changing careers

I'm just a humble cat. I have to admit, I consider myself pretty clever, as well as commonsensical. But my specialized talents tend to fall into a couple of narrow categories.

Not so for Fred, a multi-faceted feline from New York. He's already helped bust a phony veterinarian, and now he's going into therapy -- providing it, not receiving it. He's also educating young humans, teaching them that cats are intelligent creatures to be valued and respected, and that cat-human interactions can be positive for both parties and should not involve tail-pulling or pyrotechnic pranks.

This is Cruxley, sending kudos to all you well-rounded kitties and folks who don't mind stepping outside your comfort zone to learn something new and spread a good word. Now put away that medicinal catnip and do something constructive.