What is all the hype over medical marijuana?

Cannabis has always been a medicine, found in China at 4,000 B.C. and in Turkestan in 3,000 B.C., and also by Chinese Emperor Chen Nung over 5,000 years ago. It was recommended for malaria, constipation, rheumatic pains, “absentmindedness” and “female disorders.”

In the West, cannabis did not come into its own as a medicine until the mid-nineteenth century. From 1840 to 1900, over 100 papers were written recommending it for various illness and discomfort. In 1985, the Food And Drug Administration (FDA) approved dronabinol (Marinol) for the treatment of the nausea and vomiting from cancer chemotherapy. Dronabinol is a solution of synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol in sesame oil (the sesame oil is meant to protect against the possibility that the contents of the capsule could be smoked).

We now know another fortuitous property of marijuana is that there is a temperature window which is below the ignition point of cannabis, but within a range in which the cannabinoids will vaporize. There is now generally available a device known as a vaporizer which takes advantage of this property. It holds herbal marijuana at a temperature of between 284°F and 392°F, thus allowing the patient to inhale the therapeutic cannabinoids free of any of the products of the burning plant material, including putative carcinogens.

Today we know cannabis sativa and cannabis indica (the two types of cannabis) both respectfully have medicinal properties. Cannabinoid receptors are often more common in the brain than are opiate receptors. This tells us our brain is hardwired to ingest this age-old plant as a medicine rather than synthetic and highly addictive opiates and other synthetics.

In a doctor's eyes this is not often true, as the unknown origin of a plant and raw combustion of plant material is often too dangerous and too hard to manipulate doses and because of other unknown organic matter that may be ingested (I often believe it to be true in some health problems).

There has never been reported a case of lung cancer or emphysema attributable to the smoking of cannabis, nor an overdose. This leads me to think — what is the hype over medical marijuana or cannabis?

Casey O'Halloran

New Castle

I think we need to vote the bums out

We are being touted with ads on TV claiming that Governor Ritter has put Colorado on the map as being an outstanding State that brings in new manufacturing companies.

This ad claims that our governor has brought in three clean energy companies in making those wind turbines. All of these companies are on the Eastern Slope and still has not put our state back on the right track as far as getting out of debt. Ritter was elected and we had a state budget that looked pretty good. Since Ritter has been in office, everything that Colorado citizens have worked for has gone down the tubes.

Our state is in big time debt. Ritter has raised taxes, gotten rid of the Homestead Exemption, refuses to admit that he has done all this since he took office. Must be getting close to election time for his PR person to tell us how much he has done for us in this state.

Are you buying these lies? We are also hearing how much Bennet and Udall have done for Colorado.

They voted for the new health care plan — really! I know for sure that Bennet has voted against Colorado citizens a majority of the time, now he wants us to call and thank him for voting for the health care plan. Don't waste your time calling, look at his record since he has been in Congress — pretty bad.

Hope he doesn't get back in there either. Udall needs to come up with some really good things between now and election — his promises are pretty much just that.

I think we need to vote the bums out.

Jane Spaulding

Carbondale