24 years
France is now debating the legalisation of marijuana for medical purposes. What do you think and should the same be applied to the Arab World?
Jun 11, 2013
According to a group of addiction medicine physicians , marijuana or cannabis should not get legalized, and physicians should not write recommendations for patients to use marijuana for medical purposes, because it is a dangerous, addictive drug and is not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Stuart Gitlow, president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, said that for cannabis to be medication, it would need proper consideration by the FDA as to its risks and benefits, dosage, and timing of the drug. He also stated that "there is no such thing as medical marijuana."
Andrea Barthwell, MD, an addiction medicine specialist, called cannabis "unstable and unpredictable" and said that the drug should be subject to the same standards that apply to other medications.
There are also opposing views: Christopher Fichtner, MD, a member of the Marijuana Policy Project, which lobbies to legalize marijuana for seriously ill patients, said that "The idea that marijuana is very dangerous is pure fiction. Just like anything, there can be abuse. It's up to the individual to use it responsibly." Another physician considers the considers the number of eligible conditions listed "very restrictive."
In my opinion, legalization of cannabis in the Arab world would be a definite catastrophe, because our laws are ancient, and even the new laws are not taken seriously, and any attempt to regulate cannabis use will be doomed to fail, so all it'll be is introducing another addictive substance to a population who is already burdened with a lot of stressful factors and will not be able to control the use of this substance- abuse and addiction will prevail in no time.
Andrea Barthwell, MD, an addiction medicine specialist, called cannabis "unstable and unpredictable" and said that the drug should be subject to the same standards that apply to other medications.
There are also opposing views: Christopher Fichtner, MD, a member of the Marijuana Policy Project, which lobbies to legalize marijuana for seriously ill patients, said that "The idea that marijuana is very dangerous is pure fiction. Just like anything, there can be abuse. It's up to the individual to use it responsibly." Another physician considers the considers the number of eligible conditions listed "very restrictive."
In my opinion, legalization of cannabis in the Arab world would be a definite catastrophe, because our laws are ancient, and even the new laws are not taken seriously, and any attempt to regulate cannabis use will be doomed to fail, so all it'll be is introducing another addictive substance to a population who is already burdened with a lot of stressful factors and will not be able to control the use of this substance- abuse and addiction will prevail in no time.
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