Tread carefully on medical marijuana

The Jones County Safe and Healthy Youth Coalition held a forum on Sept. 22 on substance abuse and mental health. The questions to the panelists addressed alcohol, marijuana, prescription drugs/opiates, and their relation to mental health.

The Coalition is very concerned about the prescription drug and opioid epidemic. We have implemented safe disposal methods and encouraged proper monitoring of medicines. We are promoting more use of, and improvements to, the prescription monitoring programs, and we are for increasing access to effective treatment for those with opioid disorders.

The Coalition remains concerned about all substance abuse, and feels that marijuana policy is worthy of scrutiny as well. 'Medical marijuana” is a phrase that means different things to different people. For some, it means whole plant cannabis, for some, artisanal CBD Oil, and yet others are referring to pharmaceutical grade CBD oil approved as other medicines are in our country. Whole plant cannabis hybrids are now up to 32 percent THC. This is not the marijuana of the 60s and 70s that grew naturally with 1-3% THC.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a component of marijuana. Unlike THC, it is not addictive and doesn't produce a 'high”. Fortunately there will likely be medicines with CBD derived from marijuana on the shelves of regular pharmacies across the nation by early 2018. This is bound to happen without any 'medical” marijuana laws because the researched drug is showing efficacy. There may also be medicines coming to pharmacies with THC derived from marijuana, if the medicines are proven to work better than placebos and do more good than harm. Then doctors can prescribe the dosage and strength for patients and know the drug interactions. This information is unknown when 'medical” marijuana dispensaries with budtenders dispense pot instead of trained pharmacists dispensing proven medicine.

The research now beginning to happen is long overdue. This movement should continue. Further reduction of unnecessary barriers is needed for FDA approved research of cannabis to produce pharmaceutical grade medicines for people with serious medical conditions. On August 10th the Feds approved new rules to expand research by increasing the number of legal grow sites for research-grade marijuana. There is more to be done to increase research, without moving toward legalization that is potentially ill-informed.

In 2014, as more information came in, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy recommended only rescheduling CBD, not whole plant marijuana. The new rules announced by the Feds recently will likely expand research of CBD and other components of marijuana. That same ruling, however, kept whole plant marijuana in Schedule I after extensive research, meaning there is no recognized medicinal use for whole plant marijuana.

We feel it's important in order for potential medicines to go through the proper channels like any other medication. What may get lost in the conversation regarding legislation for CBD Oil at the State level, is that it can easily become an avenue to wholesale medical marijuana which, as other states have experienced, more easily becomes 'recreational” marijuana. The growing marijuana industry knows this is an effective means to gradually introduce marijuana products, with potentially high THC concentrations.

' John Klein is president of the Jones County Safe and Healthy Youth Coalition. More information: www.JonesCountyCoalition.org