>Sender: >To: >X-Original-Message-ID: <002301bf2668$8b9ed600$9acf69cf@pacbell.net> >From: "Peter McWilliams" >Subject: Drug Czar nullifies need for drug test! >Date: Wed, 3 Nov 1999 18:01:44 -0800 >X-Mozilla-Status: 8001 >X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 > > >Here's a piece I wrote for December Playboy. I couldn't circulate it before >now because I promised not to until it was in print, but now that the >December issue is on the stands, here it is. Please circulate this >information widely. > >By the way, the Playboy Forum (in each issue of Playboy but, alas, not in >the online edition) is an excellent source of information on consensual >crimes. > >Enjoy, > >Peter > >------------- > >Playboy >December 1999 > > >THE GENERAL'S LOOPHOLE > >Drug Czar Cripples Reefer Tests > >In his most recent round of unintended self-immolation, drug czar >Barry McCaffrey effectively nullified drug testing for marijuana users >nationwide. In a move that he hoped would bring the medical marijuana >movement to its knees, the retired general instead gave pot smokers >legal carte blanche to fail every urine test they take. > >Here's how it happened: This past July, the Drug Enforcement >Administration, with a nod from the Food and Drug Administration, >reclassified the prescription drug Marinol, which is synthetic THC, >the most psychoactive of marijuana's many cannabinoids. Marinol was >moved from Schedule II, the most restrictive category of drugs >available by prescription, to Schedule III. The change makes it much >easier for doctors to distribute the drug. Notably, they now can >phone or fax prescriptions to pharmacies and provide for as many as >five automatic refills every six months. They also won't have the DEA >looking over their shoulder each time they write a Marinol >prescription. > >McCaffrey, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control >Policy, used the reclassification to again attack the idea of >marijuana as medicine, calling Marinol the only "safe and proper way" >to make THC available to the public. "This action will make Marinol, >which is scientifically proven to be safe and effective for medical >use, more widely available," McCaffrey said, implying that marijuana >itself is not safe or effective, despite much evidence to the contrary. > >The government's message is clear: Now that "safe and proper" Marinol >is more readily available, we don't need to legalize unsafe and >improper marijuana for medical use. This plan worked once before, >which seems to have given McCaffrey some confidence it will work >again. In the mid- Eighties, when marijuana was on the verge of being >reclassified so it could be legally prescribed, the federal government >funded the development of Marinol and pushed it through the FDA >approval process. It then used the availability of synthetic THC as a >pretext for refusing to remove marijuana from the same forbidden >Schedule I classification it shares with heroin and other narcotics. > >So while they have the same active ingredient, marijuana remains >forbidden while Marinol moves into the polite society of Tylenol with >codeine. How easy is it to get a prescription for Marinol? Very >easy. Doctors are permitted to provide any prescription drug for >"off-label" use. That is, if a doctor determines that a prescription >drug labeled by the manufacturer to treat, say, nausea, would also be >effective for treating pain, the doctor can prescribe it for pain. > >This is going to happen with more frequency. A recent report by the >National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine, which McCaffrey >praises as "the most comprehensive summary and analysis of what is >known about the medical use of marijuana," concluded that THC could be >useful not only to stimulate appetite in AIDS patients and prevent the >nausea that's caused by cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, but >also to relieve chronic pain. (The full report, Marijuana and >Medicine, is available online at books.nap.edu.) The potential for >Marinol to treat chronic pain is enormous. Experts estimate at least >75 million Americans suffer from chronic, debilitating pain. This >includes pain caused by cancer, arthritis, migraine headaches and >severe back injuries. > >Seventy-five million! That means nearly half the adult population of >the U.S. is properly and legally entitled to Marinol and, by >extension, free from the burden of passing clean urine. There is no >legally recognized test that distinguishes between the synthetic THG >of Marinol and the natural THC of marijuana. Once a testee obtains a >prescription for Marinol and shows it to the drug-testing authorities, >THC levels in urine, hair, saliva and sweat no longer indicate a >failed drug test. The test comes up dirty, but the prescription >washes it clean. Employers aren't able to say, "You can't use Marinol >if you work here," because it's a legal and now widely prescribed >drug. Marinol could become as big as Viagra. (Marinol is a great >high, too, rather like eating hash brownies. Don't even think about >driving on it. Marinol's makers suggest you take your first dose only >in the presence of "a responsible adult.") > >So, in his cruel attempt to keep an ancient medicine from modern >sufferers, Contrary Barry has created a loophole that allows all users >to use their drug of choice and keep their jobs. > >McCzar, this bud's for you. > > > >================================================================ > >This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to > the mailing list . >To unsubscribe, E-mail to: