There are better options to legalizing pot

I find it very puzzling that the Iowa Board of Pharmacy is preparing a recommendation to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II drug.

First, should not a drug be tested for efficacy and safety? Marijuana has 50 percent to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than cigarette smoke. Since plant-to-plant variation is great, both the dosage administered and chemicals contained vary greatly.

If Phizer Pharmaceutical recommended a drug with no effective dosage control, that impairs judgment and contains known carcinogens, it would be sued out of existence. So why are we even considering this?

Obviously, this is a step toward legalizing pot. There is no reason to smoke marijuana to get the pharmacological action the ingredients provide.

Both dronabinol (Marinol) and nabilone (Cesamet) are FDA-approved drugs for nausea without the need to expose others to secondhand smoke. If you want the full tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) experience, Sativex is approved in many countries and is in late-stage trials in the United States. A patient can get the same effects without the need for smoking a “joint.”

Could it be that baby boomers want to be able to relive their youth and smoke pot legally? It certainly is not a medical issue driving this. If we want to legalize pot, then let's do it with our eyes open, not cloaked in some fake appeal for compassion. There are safer, more effective options.

Richard Percifield

Norway