This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Proponents of medical marijuana have highlighted heart-wrenching stories of Utahns with serious medical conditions who could benefit from marijuana. While these cases are genuinely compelling, Senate Bill 73 is the wrong choice for Utah because of scientific shortcomings, increased youth marijuana usage and valid medical opposition.
The Food and Drug Administration has not approved marijuana for medical use. This fact cannot be ignored. Proponents say federal obstacles prevent testing, but under President Obama the official FDA position has become: "The FDA supports those in the medical research community who intend to study marijuana." The reality is clinical tests have been conducted and to-date these have simply failed to find high-quality scientific evidence of marijuana's medical effectiveness.
A comprehensive review of 79 clinical trials published in the world-renowned Journal of the American Medical Association found "moderate-quality evidence" that marijuana benefited some medical conditions, but found little or low-quality evidence that marijuana treated most other conditions it is said to benefit.
The FDA was created in the early 1900s after outrageous cases of toxic food and ineffective or dangerous medicines being marketed to the public. While the process is time consuming and rigorous, FDA testing and approval requirements have increased our quality of life and average lifespan. We have a scientifically based medicine approval process, and we should not bypass it in favor of a political approval process — especially when the potential medicine in question is also the most widely used recreational drug in America with obvious potential for abuse.
SB73 introduces the unintended consequence of more Utah youth using marijuana — negatively affecting their cognitive development. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health finds that the 20 states with the highest rate of youth marijuana use are all states which have approved medical marijuana, while the 20 states with the lowest rate of youth usage are all states which have not.
This powerful contrast goes beyond coincidence and underscores a connection between medical marijuana and higher youth usage, because youth rationalize the drug is "safe" since "it's a medicine," and because some legal marijuana finds its way into the hands of youth. Marijuana is dangerous to a developing brain. A 2014 American Psychological Association release warned: "Frequent marijuana use can have a significant negative effect on the brains of teenagers and young adults."
While we consider the patients who could benefit, we must also consider the youth who will inevitably be negatively affected by increased availability of marijuana in Utah.
In 2013, the highly respected American Medical Association debunked arguments that marijuana is not harmful, powerfully stating: "Cannabis is a dangerous drug and as such is a public health concern."
They also called for additional testing for possible medical uses and re-affirmed their opposition to legalization.
In 2015 the American Academy of Pediatrics reaffirmed its opposition to legalizing marijuana for recreational or medical use. The American Psychiatric Association also reaffirmed its opposition to medical marijuana in 2013 because of inadequate scientific evidence and called that any future medical use "be subject to the approval process of the FDA."
While some individual doctors may support medical marijuana, the opposition by the nation's premier medical associations — representing hundreds of thousands of health professionals — plus near-universal opposition by law enforcement organizations, speaks volumes. In response, some proponents make the unsatisfying argument that marijuana is "less dangerous" than alternatives or accuse the many organizations aligned against medical marijuana of supposedly acting to protect the interests of pharmaceutical companies and/or law enforcement drug-seizure "profits."
It is time for rational thought to cut through the smoke and emotion to dismiss the incredulous argument that hundreds of thousands of doctors, scientists, FDA officials and law enforcement professionals are all engaged in a nationwide conspiracy to stop medical marijuana for nefarious reasons and to accept the only reasonable conclusion from the overwhelming opposition of so many professionals and organizations: that their experience and education tells them medical marijuana without adequate science and FDA approval is the wrong choice.
While there are some very powerful cases of good people who could benefit from medical marijuana and many people with the best of intentions supporting them, the inadequate science, the lack of FDA approval, the unintended consequences to our youth, and the knowledgeable opposition from respected and relevant medical groups all combine to plead for the Utah Legislature to reject Senate Bill 73, and to let the scientific, medical and FDA professionals continue the testing and approval process for the possible medical benefits of marijuana, and to let Congress modify national law accordingly.
Brent Taylor serves as mayor of North Ogden City and also as a member of the Weber-Morgan Board of Health.