Robert Celt
New Member
I believe, as a community, we need the alternative that legal cannabis can provide.
I have worked firsthand, as a licensed clinical social worker in Barre, with individuals in the grips of heroin addiction, some whose addiction began with prescription pain medication. I have seen the devastation. I have seen the sorrow. I have seen a community overwhelmed.
We need an alternative – one that is safe, one that is free of additives and pesticides, and one that is regulated.
Regulating cannabis can help address the opiate problem.
As most, if not all, Vermont communities have experienced firsthand, the opiate abuse and addiction problem has become one of the most challenging and critical issues confronting our state today. In Barre, I have worked with good people who are struggling with opiate abuse.
There are no easy answers to this crisis, but one partial solution may be staring us right in the face: I'm talking about the legalization and regulation of cannabis for adult use.
Some have suggested the opposite – that the opiate problem is a reason to continue prohibiting cannabis – but these objections are shortsighted. One reason is the simple fact that Vermont's estimated 80,000 cannabis consumers currently buy their product from illicit dealers, who may introduce them to more dangerous drugs such as heroin or prescription painkillers.
By contrast, in Colorado and Washington, consumers make their purchases at cannabis-only retail stores that do not sell other drugs (including alcohol). Breaking the link between cannabis and hard drugs is an important reason to support regulation.
Additionally, it has become well established that cannabis is an effective treatment for chronic pain. Many patients say they are able to reduce or even eliminate their use of prescription pain medicines when they have access to cannabis. Increasingly, their doctors agree.
Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Dr. Nora Volkow, published an article in The Huffington Post entitled "Researching Marijuana for Therapeutic Purposes: The Potential Promise of Cannabidiol (CBD)," in which she concluded: "CBD appears to be a safe drug with no addictive effects, and the preliminary data suggest that it may have therapeutic value for a number of medical conditions."
The ability of CBD in cannabis to alleviate pain has been proven, yet the number of prescriptions for opioid painkillers continues to outweigh the number of referrals for medicinal "safer" cannabis.
In large part, this is due to the Vermont medical cannabis law being too restrictive. A patient must have "severe pain" that is "intractable" in order to be certified. Doctors, however, often prescribe opioid painkillers more quickly and for less serious conditions.
Finally, we should remember that taxing and regulating cannabis would give the state a new revenue stream, which could be used to expand drug education and treatment. This would not be a panacea for Vermont's opiate problem, but there's good reason to believe it would help far more than it could possibly hurt.
We need an alternative.
Maria D'Haene is a licensed clinical social worker and member of the Vermont Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Vermont: The Case For Regulating Cannabis
Author: Maria D'Haene
Contact: Times Argus
Photo Credit: None found
Website: Times Argus
I have worked firsthand, as a licensed clinical social worker in Barre, with individuals in the grips of heroin addiction, some whose addiction began with prescription pain medication. I have seen the devastation. I have seen the sorrow. I have seen a community overwhelmed.
We need an alternative – one that is safe, one that is free of additives and pesticides, and one that is regulated.
Regulating cannabis can help address the opiate problem.
As most, if not all, Vermont communities have experienced firsthand, the opiate abuse and addiction problem has become one of the most challenging and critical issues confronting our state today. In Barre, I have worked with good people who are struggling with opiate abuse.
There are no easy answers to this crisis, but one partial solution may be staring us right in the face: I'm talking about the legalization and regulation of cannabis for adult use.
Some have suggested the opposite – that the opiate problem is a reason to continue prohibiting cannabis – but these objections are shortsighted. One reason is the simple fact that Vermont's estimated 80,000 cannabis consumers currently buy their product from illicit dealers, who may introduce them to more dangerous drugs such as heroin or prescription painkillers.
By contrast, in Colorado and Washington, consumers make their purchases at cannabis-only retail stores that do not sell other drugs (including alcohol). Breaking the link between cannabis and hard drugs is an important reason to support regulation.
Additionally, it has become well established that cannabis is an effective treatment for chronic pain. Many patients say they are able to reduce or even eliminate their use of prescription pain medicines when they have access to cannabis. Increasingly, their doctors agree.
Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Dr. Nora Volkow, published an article in The Huffington Post entitled "Researching Marijuana for Therapeutic Purposes: The Potential Promise of Cannabidiol (CBD)," in which she concluded: "CBD appears to be a safe drug with no addictive effects, and the preliminary data suggest that it may have therapeutic value for a number of medical conditions."
The ability of CBD in cannabis to alleviate pain has been proven, yet the number of prescriptions for opioid painkillers continues to outweigh the number of referrals for medicinal "safer" cannabis.
In large part, this is due to the Vermont medical cannabis law being too restrictive. A patient must have "severe pain" that is "intractable" in order to be certified. Doctors, however, often prescribe opioid painkillers more quickly and for less serious conditions.
Finally, we should remember that taxing and regulating cannabis would give the state a new revenue stream, which could be used to expand drug education and treatment. This would not be a panacea for Vermont's opiate problem, but there's good reason to believe it would help far more than it could possibly hurt.
We need an alternative.
Maria D'Haene is a licensed clinical social worker and member of the Vermont Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Vermont: The Case For Regulating Cannabis
Author: Maria D'Haene
Contact: Times Argus
Photo Credit: None found
Website: Times Argus
