State: No Marijuana Relief Any Time Soon

BOSTON – Proponents of making medical marijuana use legal suffered a setback Tuesday when Beacon Hill pushed a bill to “further study.” That means the earliest it could see any action taken is next year.

“Don,” 37, has been smoking three to four puffs of marijuana every night for eight years.”

As soon as I smoke, the nausea just dissipates,” said Don. “It just goes away. I don’t throw up. I don’t get sick.”

Don said it’s the only thing that helps the symptoms of his cyclic vomiting syndrome.

“I have severe bouts of nausea, vomiting, sweating, where you can’t hold anything down,” he said. “I’ve taken anti-nausea pills and nothing’s worked for me.”

His doctors had no problem with Don using marijuana to help ease his discomfort.

“I have three doctors and they agree with me,” said Don. “They say, off the record, if the pharmaceuticals don’t work, and this does, so be it.

“Fourteen states have already passed medical marijuana laws, allowing plants to be grown and used for medicinal purposes.

Five states have actual pot dispensaries. Nearly 20 years ago, the Massachusetts legislature passed a research act to examine the medical value of marijuana.

“There was a consensus up on Beacon Hill that there is a legitimate use for medical marijuana and some patients need access to the medicine,” said Matt Allen, of Massachusetts Patients Advocacy Alliance.

But it never materialized. To this day, bills have been tabled time after time, even though recent local and national polls indicate 81 percent support for allowing seriously ill patients access to the leafy plant for medicinal purposes. But is marijuana medicine or not?

Opponents said it’s not FDA-approved, it’s highly addictive, and there are no serious controlled studies to see if it’s safe.

“There’s heavy science that says this is not the mechanism, to approve a smoked leaf that has multiple components,” said Dr. Bertha Madras of Harvard Medical School. “It sends the wrong message to young people and to adults that smoking is a fine delivery system for whatever product you want delivered to the brain.”

“This is a different issue from recreational use,” said Allen. “So for certain patients who may not be responding to traditional medication, medicinal marijuana should be a treatment option that is available. And the decision should be made by doctors and patients, not by criminal justice policies.”

“It’s still illegal,” said Don. “I could lose my job, lose my apartment, not be able to pay for my new car because I use marijuana, which makes me a more productive member of society.

“Proponents said Massachusetts will eventually catch up with a growing movement across the country making medical marijuana legal. But for now, the fight is on hold until next year.