Sir, - I cannot let the statements by Dr Seaghan Ua Conchubhair about the medical use of cannabis (The Irish Times, October 6th) go unanswered. He says that it is a "big lie" that marijuana is useful in the treatment of certain diseases.
I don't intend to give a list of all the medical uses of cannabis, but perhaps the following may be useful:
In the United States, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recommended in 1988 that the federal legal classification of marijuana be changed so that physicians can prescribe it.
As recently as November 1996, voters in California and Arizona approved ballot initiatives which legalised medical access to marijuana.
The British Medical Association, at its annual meeting in June 1997, called on the British Government to legalise of the use of drugs derived from cannabis for the treatment of seriously ill and dying patients.
Dr Ua Conchubhair also used the old chestnut about cannabis being a stepping-stone to addiction to harder drugs: "It has long been recognised that cannabis leads to addiction and stronger drugs."
Again, I will not bore readers with a list of all the serious international research that refutes this suggestion. Instead, I will just point out the following:
A 15-month study conducted by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), and released in 1982, analysed the habits of American marijuana smokers and offered one of the most comprehensive and balanced analyses ever compiled regarding marijuana and its effects. In regards to marijuana's gateway potential, the study concluded that, "there is no evidence to support the belief that the use of one drug will inevitably lead to the use of any other drug."
From the USA, the 1995 guidebook Marijuana Facts for Teens, published by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), states unequivocally: "Most marijuana users do not go on to use other drugs."
Finally, a quote from the Irish Government's 1991 Drug Strategy document: "While cannabis use seems to be on the increase among young people, it is usually not an ongoing regular pattern of misuse."
I suspect that Dr Ua Conchubhair is assuming that the use of marijuana for medical purposes would mean that it would need to be legalised for recreational use. While there may well be valid arguments for legalising the recreational use of the drug, the licensing of it for use by the medical profession has nothing to do with this.
Marijuana, unlike many of the drugs in use these days, has never caused a fatal response in humans. To quote that respected medical journal, The Lancet: "The smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health." - Yours, etc.,
Drumkeerin, Co Leitrim.