Using Medical Marijuana Can Get You Fired
You may live in a state where medical marijuana is legal and have a
prescription to use the drug for a legitimate medical purpose, but that
doesn't mean you can't be fired by your employer if you fail a drug
test. A federal judge has ruled medical marijuana laws do not regulate
private employment.
The ruling came in the case of a Michigan man who sued WalMart after he was fired for testing positive for marijuana.
Joseph Casias, a former associate of the year at a Battle Creek WalMart store, was prescribed medical marijuana for pain associated with an inoperable brain tumor and cancer. He did not smoke marijuana at work, but failed a random drug test.
Legislature Answers Questions About Medical Marijuana
1) Do you support allowing marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes in Iowa? Why or why not?
2) If you support medical marijuana in Iowa, what do you believe is the best mechanism to supply patients with the drug?
3) If you support medical marijuana in Iowa, what do you believe is the correct narcotic classification for it? (The Iowa Board of Pharmacy has recommended reclassifying marijuana as Schedule II.)
4) What role, if any, should the Iowa legislature play in establishing a program and/or guidelines for medical marijuana?
5) Do you believe that the Iowa Board of Pharmacy has the statutory authority, regulatory authority, and administrative capacity to establish and administer a program and/or guidelines for medical marijuana absent further legislative action?
Shawn Hamerlinck, Republican state senator, District 42
I do not support marijuana use in a medicinal form. Shortly after finishing graduate school I was employed locally by a substance abuse treatment facility. I watched youth justify their own use of this gateway drug with the rationale of their parents and grandparents self-medicating for ailments. Each time I questioned if similar relief could be offered in an alternative pill form, users denied. For these families, the potential beneficial affects of use outweighed the long-term affects on the youth I worked with. This lasting impression greatly weighs on my opinion today.
The legislature must be involved in order to have a full and honest debate on the issue.
According to current Iowa Code and rules adopted by the Board it appears they have the authority, however, this type of change is something that should be debated by the legislature. Politicians should not hide from the issue by passing responsibility onto a board which is reluctant to fully take on the issue.
Mark J. Riley, Republican candidate for state senator, District 43
1) No The California law has proven disastrous and is a underhanded attempt to legalize use through the charade of medical purposes. This also has the unintended consequence of corrupting state institutions such as state pharmaceutical boards. These institutions are charged with regulating and keeping safe our system of dispensing pharmaceuticals to Iowans. To task them with recreation drug dispensing under the guise of medical use is corrupting.
4) I believe the role of the Iowa legislature is to decide whether the use of marijuana should be legal or not. To entertain medical marijuana use is to subvert the will of the people by giving it legal status with out consent from the legislature. (this does not address the legal challenge to marijuana use by the courts as an individual right)
5) They do not have the capacity. They do not have the regulatory authority or statutory authority. Would we ask them to to regulate Jack Daniels or Black velvet use for medical purposes?
Ray Ambrose, Republican candidate for state representative, District 86
1) Yes, if the pharmacy board supports it.
2) Through a doctor's recommendation (prescription).
3) I agree.
4) The legislators will politicize any action taken by the pharmacy board.
5) We are told they do by the State.
Cindy Winckler, Democratic state representative, District 86
This is a complex issue crossing both state and federal jurisdictions. This is a topic with much to debate. It is still a Schedule I substance regulated by the federal government. As I've read and listened to both sides of this issue, much more research is necessary.
2) If you support medical marijuana in Iowa, what do you believe is the best mechanism to supply patients with the drug?
3) If you support medical marijuana in Iowa, what do you believe is the correct narcotic classification for it? (The Iowa Board of Pharmacy has recommended reclassifying marijuana as Schedule II.)
4) What role, if any, should the Iowa legislature play in establishing a program and/or guidelines for medical marijuana?
5) Do you believe that the Iowa Board of Pharmacy has the statutory authority, regulatory authority, and administrative capacity to establish and administer a program and/or guidelines for medical marijuana absent further legislative action?
Shawn Hamerlinck, Republican state senator, District 42
I do not support marijuana use in a medicinal form. Shortly after finishing graduate school I was employed locally by a substance abuse treatment facility. I watched youth justify their own use of this gateway drug with the rationale of their parents and grandparents self-medicating for ailments. Each time I questioned if similar relief could be offered in an alternative pill form, users denied. For these families, the potential beneficial affects of use outweighed the long-term affects on the youth I worked with. This lasting impression greatly weighs on my opinion today.
The legislature must be involved in order to have a full and honest debate on the issue.
According to current Iowa Code and rules adopted by the Board it appears they have the authority, however, this type of change is something that should be debated by the legislature. Politicians should not hide from the issue by passing responsibility onto a board which is reluctant to fully take on the issue.
Mark J. Riley, Republican candidate for state senator, District 43
1) No The California law has proven disastrous and is a underhanded attempt to legalize use through the charade of medical purposes. This also has the unintended consequence of corrupting state institutions such as state pharmaceutical boards. These institutions are charged with regulating and keeping safe our system of dispensing pharmaceuticals to Iowans. To task them with recreation drug dispensing under the guise of medical use is corrupting.
4) I believe the role of the Iowa legislature is to decide whether the use of marijuana should be legal or not. To entertain medical marijuana use is to subvert the will of the people by giving it legal status with out consent from the legislature. (this does not address the legal challenge to marijuana use by the courts as an individual right)
5) They do not have the capacity. They do not have the regulatory authority or statutory authority. Would we ask them to to regulate Jack Daniels or Black velvet use for medical purposes?
Ray Ambrose, Republican candidate for state representative, District 86
1) Yes, if the pharmacy board supports it.
2) Through a doctor's recommendation (prescription).
3) I agree.
4) The legislators will politicize any action taken by the pharmacy board.
5) We are told they do by the State.
Cindy Winckler, Democratic state representative, District 86
This is a complex issue crossing both state and federal jurisdictions. This is a topic with much to debate. It is still a Schedule I substance regulated by the federal government. As I've read and listened to both sides of this issue, much more research is necessary.
Marijuana Compound Relieves Pain
Led by Daniele Piomelli, the Louise Turner Arnold Chair in Neurosciences and director of the Center for Drug Discovery at UC Irvine, the study suggests that such compounds could form the basis of pain medications that don't produce sedation, addiction or other central nervous system side effects common with existing painkillers, such as opiates.
"These findings raise hope that the analgesic properties of marijuana can be harnessed to curb pain," Piomelli said. "Marijuana itself is sometimes used in clinical settings for pain relief but causes many unwanted effects. However, specific drugs that amplify the actions of natural, marijuana-like chemicals are showing great promise."
For the study, which appears in the Sept. 19 online version of Nature Neuroscience, rats and mice were given a drug created by Piomelli and colleagues at the Italian universities of Urbino and Parma. The researchers discovered that the compound, URB937, did not enter the central nervous system but simply boosted the levels of anandamide in peripheral tissues. Still, it produced a profound analgesic effect for both acute and chronic pain. This was surprising, since anandamide had been thought to only work in the brain.
The synthetic drug inhibits FAAH, an enzyme in the body that breaks down anandamide, dubbed "the bliss molecule" for its similarities to the active ingredient in marijuana. A neurotransmitter that's part of the endocannabinoid system, anandamide has been shown in studies by Piomelli and others to play analgesic, antianxiety and antidepressant roles. It's also important in regulating food consumption. Blocking FAAH activity enhances the effects of anandamide without generating the "high" seen with marijuana.
Piomelli and his team are now collaborating with drug discovery specialists at the Italian Institute of Technology, in Genoa, to develop the new compound - which is protected by a patent application - into a clinically useful medication
"These findings raise hope that the analgesic properties of marijuana can be harnessed to curb pain," Piomelli said. "Marijuana itself is sometimes used in clinical settings for pain relief but causes many unwanted effects. However, specific drugs that amplify the actions of natural, marijuana-like chemicals are showing great promise."
For the study, which appears in the Sept. 19 online version of Nature Neuroscience, rats and mice were given a drug created by Piomelli and colleagues at the Italian universities of Urbino and Parma. The researchers discovered that the compound, URB937, did not enter the central nervous system but simply boosted the levels of anandamide in peripheral tissues. Still, it produced a profound analgesic effect for both acute and chronic pain. This was surprising, since anandamide had been thought to only work in the brain.
The synthetic drug inhibits FAAH, an enzyme in the body that breaks down anandamide, dubbed "the bliss molecule" for its similarities to the active ingredient in marijuana. A neurotransmitter that's part of the endocannabinoid system, anandamide has been shown in studies by Piomelli and others to play analgesic, antianxiety and antidepressant roles. It's also important in regulating food consumption. Blocking FAAH activity enhances the effects of anandamide without generating the "high" seen with marijuana.
Piomelli and his team are now collaborating with drug discovery specialists at the Italian Institute of Technology, in Genoa, to develop the new compound - which is protected by a patent application - into a clinically useful medication
Marinol
A pharmaceutical product, Marinol, is widely available through prescription. It comes in the form of a pill and is also being studied by researchers for suitability via other delivery methods, such as an inhaler or patch. The active ingredient of Marinol is synthetic THC, which has been found to relieve the nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy for cancer patients and to assist with loss of appetite with AIDS patients.
Unlike smoked marijuana--which contains more than 400 different chemicals, including most of the hazardous chemicals found in tobacco smoke-Marinol has been studied and approved by the medical community and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the nation's watchdog over unsafe and harmful food and drug products. Since the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act, any drug that is marketed in the United States must undergo rigorous scientific testing. The approval process mandated by this act ensures that claims of safety and therapeutic value are supported by clinical evidence and keeps unsafe, ineffective and dangerous drugs off the market.
There are no FDA-approved medications that are smoked. For one thing, smoking is generally a poor way to deliver medicine. It is difficult to administer safe, regulated dosages of medicines in smoked form. Secondly, the harmful chemicals and carcinogens that are byproducts of smoking create entirely new health problems. There are four times the level of tar in a marijuana cigarette, for example, than in a tobacco cigarette
Morphine, for example, has proven to be a medically valuable drug, but the FDA does not endorse the smoking of opium or heroin. Instead, scientists have extracted active ingredients from opium, which are sold as pharmaceutical products like morphine, codeine, hydrocodone or oxycodone. In a similar vein, the FDA has not approved smoking marijuana for medicinal purposes, but has approved the active ingredient-THC-in the form of scientifically regulated Marinol.
The DEA helped facilitate the research on Marinol. The National Cancer Institute approached the DEA in the early 1980s regarding their study of THC's in relieving nausea and vomiting. As a result, the DEA facilitated the registration and provided regulatory support and guidance for the study.
The DEA recognizes the importance of listening to science. That's why the DEA has registered seven research initiatives to continue researching the effects of smoked marijuana as medicine. For example, under one program established by the State of California, researchers are studying the potential use of marijuana and its ingredients on conditions such as multiple sclerosis and pain. At this time, however, neither the medical community nor the scientific community has found sufficient data to conclude that smoked marijuana is the best approach to dealing with these important medical issues.
The most comprehensive, scientifically rigorous review of studies of smoked marijuana was conducted by the Institute of Medicine, an organization chartered by the National Academy of Sciences. In a report released in 1999, the Institute did not recommend the use of smoked marijuana, but did conclude that active ingredients in marijuana could be isolated and developed into a variety of pharmaceuticals, such as Marinol.
In the meantime, the DEA is working with pain management groups, such as Last Acts, to make sure that those who need access to safe, effective pain medication can get the best medication available.
Unlike smoked marijuana--which contains more than 400 different chemicals, including most of the hazardous chemicals found in tobacco smoke-Marinol has been studied and approved by the medical community and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the nation's watchdog over unsafe and harmful food and drug products. Since the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act, any drug that is marketed in the United States must undergo rigorous scientific testing. The approval process mandated by this act ensures that claims of safety and therapeutic value are supported by clinical evidence and keeps unsafe, ineffective and dangerous drugs off the market.
There are no FDA-approved medications that are smoked. For one thing, smoking is generally a poor way to deliver medicine. It is difficult to administer safe, regulated dosages of medicines in smoked form. Secondly, the harmful chemicals and carcinogens that are byproducts of smoking create entirely new health problems. There are four times the level of tar in a marijuana cigarette, for example, than in a tobacco cigarette
Morphine, for example, has proven to be a medically valuable drug, but the FDA does not endorse the smoking of opium or heroin. Instead, scientists have extracted active ingredients from opium, which are sold as pharmaceutical products like morphine, codeine, hydrocodone or oxycodone. In a similar vein, the FDA has not approved smoking marijuana for medicinal purposes, but has approved the active ingredient-THC-in the form of scientifically regulated Marinol.
The DEA helped facilitate the research on Marinol. The National Cancer Institute approached the DEA in the early 1980s regarding their study of THC's in relieving nausea and vomiting. As a result, the DEA facilitated the registration and provided regulatory support and guidance for the study.
The DEA recognizes the importance of listening to science. That's why the DEA has registered seven research initiatives to continue researching the effects of smoked marijuana as medicine. For example, under one program established by the State of California, researchers are studying the potential use of marijuana and its ingredients on conditions such as multiple sclerosis and pain. At this time, however, neither the medical community nor the scientific community has found sufficient data to conclude that smoked marijuana is the best approach to dealing with these important medical issues.
The most comprehensive, scientifically rigorous review of studies of smoked marijuana was conducted by the Institute of Medicine, an organization chartered by the National Academy of Sciences. In a report released in 1999, the Institute did not recommend the use of smoked marijuana, but did conclude that active ingredients in marijuana could be isolated and developed into a variety of pharmaceuticals, such as Marinol.
In the meantime, the DEA is working with pain management groups, such as Last Acts, to make sure that those who need access to safe, effective pain medication can get the best medication available.
