Guam - The debate on bill 420 has officially begun. As you may recall bill 420 is a measure introduced by Senator Rory Respicio to legalize medical marijuana. While Respicio is hoping that the medical community will weigh in on and support the measure, there is at least one doctor who isn't convinced that this bill is good for society.
Dr. Thomas Shieh says he asked Senator Rory Respicio to hold off on introducing bill 420 until he and other doctors had time to review it. The measure if made into law would legalize medical marijuana. "Right now I can't support something that the effect of it is socially bad for the community," said Shieh.
So why does the Dr. think it's bad for the community? Well he says that it's a known halucinogen one that if made medically legal would become easier to access for island youth and those without prescriptions. Senator Respicio says this is true of any prescription drug. "All of those concerns are very legitimate. Oh, how are you gonna prevent people from taking their medical marijuana and giving it to someone else? Well, how are you gonna prevent someone with Xanax as a prescription and giving it to someone else? How are you gonna prevent these kinds of things? Well you don't and you can't but what you can do is have penalties for people who misuse this," said the senator.
Respicio also says that he consulted Dr. Shieh prior to introducing the bill and in fact gave him a copy of it three weeks prior to it's introduction. "At some point we just have to file it and continue to get the support of many individuals not just doctors but you're also talking about veterans you're talking about cancer patients who have been appealing for the legislature to do something like this," he explained. Shieh however is concerned about marijuana even if only used medically. "It's not a drug that you can just write and prescribe on a pen and a pad it doesn't have a dosage to it and it's a drug that you inhale there's never been a drug that you inhale and i think it's important to realize that smoking is smoking," said the doctor.
There are other ways to inhale marijuana without smoking it. One method is through using a vaporizer which allows the user to inhale the vapors of the plant in a way that's similar to asthma inhalers. Dr.Shieh however says this hasn't been studied. Instead he'd rather see people usea pill form of marijuana available called marinol. Senator Respicio on the other hand says marinol is expensive especially when those prescribed marijuana can simply grow the plant at home. "Nationwide accross the board doctors overwhelmingly support marijuana for medical purposes and all our research and data will speak to that those are the things that are contained in the bill," he explained.
On Guam however, Dr. Shieh believes the majority of doctors are not in support of the bill right now, but senator Respicio hopes that they'll keep an open mind and help perfect the bill. Dr. Shieh says he will keep an open mind.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Pacific News Center
Author: Clynt Ridgell
Contact: Pacific News Center
Copyright: 2010 Pacific News Center
Website: Dr. Shieh Not Sure About Medical Marijuana
* Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
Dr. Thomas Shieh says he asked Senator Rory Respicio to hold off on introducing bill 420 until he and other doctors had time to review it. The measure if made into law would legalize medical marijuana. "Right now I can't support something that the effect of it is socially bad for the community," said Shieh.
So why does the Dr. think it's bad for the community? Well he says that it's a known halucinogen one that if made medically legal would become easier to access for island youth and those without prescriptions. Senator Respicio says this is true of any prescription drug. "All of those concerns are very legitimate. Oh, how are you gonna prevent people from taking their medical marijuana and giving it to someone else? Well, how are you gonna prevent someone with Xanax as a prescription and giving it to someone else? How are you gonna prevent these kinds of things? Well you don't and you can't but what you can do is have penalties for people who misuse this," said the senator.
Respicio also says that he consulted Dr. Shieh prior to introducing the bill and in fact gave him a copy of it three weeks prior to it's introduction. "At some point we just have to file it and continue to get the support of many individuals not just doctors but you're also talking about veterans you're talking about cancer patients who have been appealing for the legislature to do something like this," he explained. Shieh however is concerned about marijuana even if only used medically. "It's not a drug that you can just write and prescribe on a pen and a pad it doesn't have a dosage to it and it's a drug that you inhale there's never been a drug that you inhale and i think it's important to realize that smoking is smoking," said the doctor.
There are other ways to inhale marijuana without smoking it. One method is through using a vaporizer which allows the user to inhale the vapors of the plant in a way that's similar to asthma inhalers. Dr.Shieh however says this hasn't been studied. Instead he'd rather see people usea pill form of marijuana available called marinol. Senator Respicio on the other hand says marinol is expensive especially when those prescribed marijuana can simply grow the plant at home. "Nationwide accross the board doctors overwhelmingly support marijuana for medical purposes and all our research and data will speak to that those are the things that are contained in the bill," he explained.
On Guam however, Dr. Shieh believes the majority of doctors are not in support of the bill right now, but senator Respicio hopes that they'll keep an open mind and help perfect the bill. Dr. Shieh says he will keep an open mind.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Pacific News Center
Author: Clynt Ridgell
Contact: Pacific News Center
Copyright: 2010 Pacific News Center
Website: Dr. Shieh Not Sure About Medical Marijuana
* Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
