PHOENIX - Arizona's top health official says voters should reject a ballot measure that would allow doctors to recommend marijuana to their patients.
There probably are some people who would benefit by being able to inhale the now-illegal substance, said Will Humble, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services. These include those who have nausea from chemotherapy and individuals who need an appetite stimulant to keep from wasting away.
But Humble said health chiefs from other states with similar laws told him the vast majority of the "medical marijuana" cards they issued were for people with "severe and chronic pain."
Humble said that is subjective, at best.
He added that there is no evidence marijuana actually alleviates pain.
Humble is one of several individuals who wrote statements in opposition to Proposition 203 that will appear in a pamphlet to be mailed to the homes of all registered voters. County prosecutors and law enforcement officers also are urging a "no" vote on the measure, as are officers of an addiction-recovery program.
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There were just a handful of statements in favor, including one from Heather Torgerson, a brain cancer survivor, who used and continues to use marijuana, illegally, during her chemotherapy treatment. She now chairs the campaign for Proposition 203.
The arguments come as legislative budget staffers figure that 39,600 Arizonans are likely to have the medical-marijuana cards by 2013, with another 26,400 people licensed by the state as caregivers.
Humble said his decision has nothing to do with his feelings about marijuana. He even admitted to having smoked it "in my youth" when he was a student at Northern Arizona University in the late 1970s.
But he said the initiative is based on the flawed premise about what marijuana can and cannot do. And the result, he said, is likely to be abuse of the law, both by individuals who want legal access to marijuana and physicians who may, for whatever reason, be less than attentive to what will really help their patients.
The measure, being financed by the national Marijuana Policy Project, would allow patients who get a written "recommendation" from a physician to purchase up to 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana every two weeks from state-regulated nonprofit dispensaries.
The list of conditions that would permit such a recommendation include HIV, AIDS, Crohn's disease and hepatitis C. And the law would permit the legal use of marijuana to treat various symptoms of diseases including nausea, wasting syndrome and muscle spasms.
What worries Humble is the catch-all of "severe and chronic" pain.
Humble said he cleared taking a public position on the measure with the Governor's Office.
"I felt it was kind of my job, in the position I'm currently in, to educate the voters about, in the end, what's most likely going to happen if this passes," he said.
There are studies that show that marijuana can be useful in reducing pain, said Andrew Myers, manager of the Proposition 203 campaign.
Myers said what Humble fails to say is that the alternative for many people would be much more addictive and dangerous drugs, like OxyContin and other opiates.
