tailieunhanh - Sách: Marijuana and Medicine - Assessing the Science Base

Maybe you got your new prescription a while ago. Now, you vaguely recall hearing something about harmful interactions. It’s never too late to drop in at your pharmacy or to call your doctor’s office. In fact, asking for a check-up of everything you take is the most effective action to help avoid dangerous interactions. You may need to ask for this medicine interaction check-up, but it’s your right to get one. You can also begin an interaction search on your own. Read about cau- tions for your drugs. Use an online interaction checker. Take the results to your pharmacist or. | Marijuana and Medicine Assessing the Science Base Janet E. Joy Stanley J. Watson Jr. and John A. Benson Jr. Editors Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Health INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS Washington . Executive Summary I Public opinion on the medical value of marijuana has been sharply I divided. Some dismiss medical marijuana as a hoax that exploits our I natural compassion for the sick others claim it is a uniquely soothing ------------ medicine that has been withheld from patients through regulations based on false claims. Proponents of both views cite scientific evidence to support their views and have expressed those views at the ballot box in recent state elections. In January 1997 the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy ONDCP asked the Institute of Medicine IOM to conduct a review of the scientific evidence to assess the potential health benefits and risks of marijuana and its constituent cannabinoids see the Statement of Task on page 9 . That review began in August 1997 and culminates with this report. The ONDCP request came in the wake of state medical marijuana initiatives. In November 1996 voters in California and Arizona passed referenda designed to permit the use of marijuana as medicine. Although Arizona s referendum was invalidated five months later the referenda galvanized a national response. In November 1998 voters in six states Alaska Arizona Colorado Nevada Oregon and Washington passed ballot initiatives in support of medical marijuana. The Colorado vote will not count however because after the vote was taken a court ruling determined there had not been enough valid signatures to place the initiative on the ballot. Can marijuana relieve health problems Is it safe for medical use Those straightforward questions are embedded in a web of social concerns most of which lie outside the scope of this report. Controversies concerning the nonmedical use of marijuana spill over into the medical marijuana debate and .