Cannabis In Kansas: A Dubious Debate On Marijuana

One tingle sends Dave Mulford rushing to his refrigerator.

Cracking the cap off an unopened bottle of G2, he quickly slams down 20 ounces. Then comes the water. He said re-hydration is key in moments like this.

Next, Mulford fumbles toward the basement where he employs a series of relaxation techniques he has learned over the years. He has had plenty of practice.

If none of these methods work to subdue his spasm – if it persists or intensifies – Mulford said he resorts to an herbal remedy on which he has relied for the better part of two decades: marijuana.

“It doesn’t stop them, but it slows them down enough to where I can either massage them or relax them. Or, in some cases, even drink pickle juice,” he said.

Mulford, a Hutchinson, Kan., resident, said he began experiencing severe muscle spasms in the early 1990s. Since then, he has had his aorta replaced and has developed “very, very massive” hernias – each resulting in intense pain. He said his ailments have baffled doctors.

“Every time I’ve been taken to the hospital, including those times by ambulance, the local hospital doesn’t know how to treat me,” Mulford said. “I’ve come very close to having a real problem at that hospital.”

Mulford has tried other medications to help control his spasms and alleviate his severe pain, but he said their side effects are simply too dangerous. Some, he said, are heavy opiates, which turn patients into “zombies,” while others are potentially psychoactive.

“I was driving home one night and I had a hallucination that just about put me in a ditch,” Mulford said. “I had to stop that one immediately.”

Mulford said smoking marijuana is the only remedy that relieves his pain while allowing him to function normally. However, he was quick to point out he doesn’t use the drug recreationally; it is simply too important to him.

“I have to have it to live,” he said. “I can’t think of what life would be like if there were no marijuana.”

And yet, each time Mulford lights up to combat his pain he must watch his back. Not for signs of another spasm, but because he’s breaking the law.

GRAPPLING WITH THE LAW

On Dec. 20, 1996, Mulford was arrested for possessing an ounce of marijuana. He said it was noted throughout the proceedings that he was medicating himself, but because of the way it was packaged — one half-ounce and two quarter-ounces — he was also charged with intent to sell. Mulford spent nearly two years in prison as a result of his conviction.

In Kansas, possession of any amount of marijuana is a misdemeanor and may result in a sentence of one year in prison and a fine of up to $2,500. Fines and penalties increase with subsequent offenses. A charge of intent to sell is considered a felony and is punishable by up to 51 months in jail.

Mulford said each time he turns to marijuana, he is torn between what he knows he should do — follow the law — and what he knows he wants to do — ease his pain.

“That’s something that just ... it eats me up,” he said. “You’re never fully at peace because of that.”

A Kansas lawmaker is attempting to make a change.

Rep. Gail Finney, D-Wichita, introduced the 2010 KS Medical Marijuana Act to the Kansas House on Feb. 4. Finney’s bill now sits in the Health and Human Services Committee.

If passed, the law would allow patients with “debilitating medical conditions,” such as cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, among others, to register for a medical marijuana identification card. Possession of the card would protect qualifying patients from prosecution. The bill would also protect medical providers.

Fourteen states have similar medical marijuana laws on the books already, and bills allowing marijuana use for medicinal purposes are proposed in several others, including Missouri.

Although Finney said she has never personally used marijuana, she became sympathetic to individuals like Mulford as a result of her own debilitating disease, systemic lupus. She said she has met several people who use the drug to treat a variety of ailments.

Finney described one man who began smoking marijuana to ease nausea and pain related to his pancreatic cancer. She said he was caught with marijuana and now faces legal battles in addition to fighting for his life, even though he was merely trying to alleviate his symptoms.

“To me, I think we’re making criminals out of a lot of our citizens,” Finney said. “And those people are in some of the most vulnerable positions now. I just don’t think we need to penalize or criminalize our illest citizens.”

An informational hearing was held March 17 in Topeka during which 13 presenters spoke on the benefits of legalizing medicinal marijuana. Finney said some groups, such as the Cancer Center of Kansas, submitted written testimonies in support of the act.

Mulford also attended the hearing and spoke on behalf of the bill. He said he would testify again if given the opportunity.

“Fact is, I’ll probably be making quite a few appearances throughout the summer and the fall,” Mulford said. “We’re really going to be pushing this issue this year, hard.”

QUESTIONS ABOUT MEDICINAL VALUE

In a Feb. 3 interview with the Kansas City Star, Rep. Scott Schwab, R–Olathe, said he opposes Finney’s plan.

“Let’s be honest – this would be an attempt to legalize marijuana,” Schwab said. “It has no benefit for pain management. All it does is make you crave another bag of chips.”

Results of a recent study performed by the Center for Medical Cannabis Research, however, indicate otherwise.

The CMCR was founded at the University of California, following passage of that state’s Compassionate Use Act of 1996 and the Medicinal Marijuana Research Act of 1999. The center sought to answer the question: Does marijuana have therapeutic value?

After completing the first clinical trials of smoked marijuana in the U.S. in more than two decades, the CMCR concluded: “As a result of this program of systematic research, we now have reasonable evidence that cannabis is a promising treatment in selected pain syndromes caused by injury or diseases of the nervous system ... and possibly for painful muscle spasticity due to multiple sclerosis.” The CMCR presented its findings to the California state legislature on Feb. 17, 2010.

For Mulford, the CMCR report is like vindication. He said it provides scientific evidence, supporting what he has tried to tell doubters and skeptics for the past 20 years -- marijuana possesses medicinal qualities.

“Finally, to have a real, blue-chip panel of people telling the rest of the world that, ‘Hey, you know, he’s right. He’s not lying to you; he’s telling you the truth,’” Mulford said. “It was a huge burden that got lifted off me.”

For Matthew Palmatier, who teaches a course called Drugs and Behavior at K-State, the CMCR findings back up what he tells his students.

“One of the things I try to teach in my courses is that there are medicinal benefits to marijuana,” Palmatier said. “It does reduce inflammation, it does stimulate appetite, it increases fat storage.”

Currently in Kansas, the legal form of marijuana use is in a delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) pill called Marinol.

Palmatier said Marinol is not an effective medcinal treatment because THC, which is the active chemical in marijuana, is fat-soluble. What ends up happening, according to Palmatier, is the THC from the pill will distribute itself into all tissues and into adipose tissue.

“So whether or not it actually gets into the blood and makes it all the way to the target site – whether that’s the brain, if you’re trying to stimulate appetite; or to the eyes, if you’re trying to treat inflammation associated with glaucoma – then you may have worse effects,” Palmatier said.

With inhalation, however, he said patients are able to tightly regulate how much THC they ingest by titrating their smoking.

Mulford has a prescription for Marinol and he said he uses the pill so he does not have to smoke as much marijuana when the need arises. Mulford said he is thankful for Marinol, but the pill by itself is not enough.

COUNTING THE NUMBERS

While the number of medical marijuana bills across the country continues to grow, no states have opted to legalize the drug for personal use, an option some supporters say could produce substantial benefits.

“I’m for legalization because criminalization makes no sense and hasn’t worked,” said Joe Klein, a syndicated columnist for Time Magazine. “Legalization will relieve strain on the justice system and, if it is controlled and appropriately taxed, could raise significant amounts of revenue at a time when we need it.

“And there is a lot of potential revenue-producing cropland (in Kansas),” he said.Kansas faces a budget deficit next fiscal year of nearly a half-billion dollars according to an April 16 Topeka Capital-Journal article titled “Kansas deficit to top $450M.” A number of states face similar budget crises.

Erin Schwartz, a 21-year-old Kansas City, Kan., resident, said she believes regulation of marijuana, specifically through taxation, could help states like Kansas to begin paying off massive deficits.

“The economy would most likely surplus if pot were to be legally grown domestically and taxed,” Schwartz said. “It is, after all, the nation’s number one cash crop.”

Finney also said she thinks there is opportunity to make some revenue for the state.
“I think Kansas is smart enough to figure out how to regulate this herb to where it could be to our benefit,” Finney said.

With regard to the justice system, Schwartz also cited the high cost to imprison individuals for marijuana-related charges. She said if marijuana were legal, “it would take thousands of perfectly harmless and innocent human beings out of incarceration.”

According to “Marijuana in Kansas,” a report by Dr. Jon Gettman released on Oct. 19, 2009, the state could benefit economically from fewer marijuana-related arrests. The report said marijuana arrests cost Kansas about $69.41 million in 2006.

Another pressing issue looms over the Kansas justice system. In a letter to Gov. Mark Parkinson, dated Feb. 25, the Kansas Sentencing Commission said, “our projections indicate that the State’s inmate population will exceed available prison capacity within two years.”

Finney said she is very concerned about the potential overflow situation in Kansas’s prisons. She said decriminalization would provide a simple solution to this issue.

“There are quite a few people in our penitentiaries for possession of marijuana,” Finney said, “and I just think we need to save our bed space for more violent criminals.”

DANGERS OF THE DRUG

Since the CMCR conducted one of the first clinical trials of smoked marijuana in the U.S., even the drug’s negative effects are not fully understood among the medical community.

According to the website of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, many adverse health effects of marijuana use remain unsubstantiated and speculative. These include its effects on the heart and lungs.

Smoking marijuana can increase heart rates by up to 100 percent, which can in turn increase the risk of heart attacks in the first hour after people use the drug, according to the website. However, the site acknowledged that “this risk may be greater in aging populations or those with cardiac vulnerabilities.”

The website also said marijuana smoke contains a number of carcinogens and is an irritant to the lungs.

“Marijuana smokers can have many of the same respiratory problems as tobacco smokers, such as daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent acute chest illness and a heightened risk of lung infections,” according to the website.

Palmatier, the K-State professor, said he is personally concerned about the motor and cognitive deficits associated with smoking marijuana. He said he envisions a situation in which, if legalized, traffic fatalities would almost certainly increase.

“That’s a number that you never want to go up,” he said. “Even going up by one as a result of a law is potentially a terrible thing.”

He said his fear is that people who are already making poor choices with alcohol and driving would make “really bad choices” with alcohol, marijuana and driving. So, he said, it would compound a problem we already face.

Taking the negative effects into consideration, Mulford said he still believes the pros outweigh the cons.

“The benefits are just too great,” he said.

A FUTILE FIGHT?

For as long as she can remember, Schwartz said she has experienced severe depression and anger issues. In recent years, however, she said she has noticed a significant change in her attitude toward others and life, in general.

“I feel as though marijuana makes me appreciate everything so much more,” Schwartz said. “It can calm you down or pick you up, without having addictive properties that even some over-the-counter drugs can have.”

Mulford said he also supports the full legalization of marijuana – especially in Kansas. He said the state’s academic institutions could play an active role in the cultivation and medical research of marijuana.

“We’ve got one of the greatest agricultural schools in the country at K-State. We’ve got one of the greatest medical schools in the country a short distance up the road at KU,” Mulford said. “Why not get those schools involved in this?”

However, given the recent state ban on K2, a synthetic drug with effects similar to marijuana, supporters acknowledge the chances of legalizing the real thing in Kansas are slim.

“The majority of Kansans are so close-minded and conservative it’s going to be a long time before legalization will even be considered here,” Schwartz said.

Based in New York and Washington, D.C., Klein, the TIME columnist, has a different perspective but a similar conclusion.

“I suspect hell would have to freeze over in Kansas,” Klein said.

MOVING FORWARD

So, for now, Finney said her focus remains on the medical side of the legalization debate and “the needs of our most vulnerable citizens.”

"I’m just hoping that Kansas will at least give this issue an open and honest debate,” she said. “I’m praying that it will at least have the opportunity to be heard.”

Mulford, too, remains hopeful. He said he thinks the bill has a “real good shot next session.”

"It’s the best shot we’ve ever had,” Mulford said. “Hopefully, one year from now, we’ll be waiting for the governor to sign the bill. That would be fantastic.”

In the meantime, Mulford said he has had to make certain changes as a result of being in the public eye on this issue. He said he can no longer store marijuana.

Having marijuana around the house would be like ‘taunting the cops,’ he said. But he guaranteed that he could obtain some quickly the next time he feels a tingle.

And though marijuana slows his spasms and soothes his pain, Mulford said each time he lights up, there’s a possibility of revisiting the past, reliving his arrest.

“To think of having to face that again,” Mulford said, “is nightmarish.”


NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: K-State Collegian
Author: Ben Marshall
Contact: K-State Collegian
Copyright: 2010 K-State Collegian
Website: Cannabis in Kansas: A dubious debate on marijuana

* Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
 
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