Pharmacy ‘marijuana’ doesn’t get job done

A recent letter writer argued that since “medical marijuana is available from legitimate pharmacies, why should Arkansas” start growing marijuana under the voter-approved 2016 Medical Marijuana Act.

He’s got it all wrong. Medical marijuana is not available from pharmacies. What is available from pharmacies is a synthetic form of one ingredient of natural marijuana sold under the brand name Marinol. This one ingredient, THC, is responsible for the intoxicating effects of natural cannabis as well as pain relief and other benefits, but it is by far NOT the only active ingredient. For example, another important active ingredient, CBD, is the substance responsible for relieving spasms and convulsions. There are several medically important ingredients in this natural plant, some of which science is only beginning to discover.

Swallowing a pill when you’re already puking up your guts from chemotherapy isn’t going to work. That’s why a puff or two of natural marijuana works so well. Dosage titration is another important benefit of smoking natural marijuana, since the active ingredients immediately enter the bloodstream, allowing patients to know right away when they’ve had enough. Oral ingestion (as with Marinol) takes two to four hours to go into effect, often resulting in a patient who is too drugged. DENELE CAMPBELL West Fork