We haven’t determined the benefits of this.
By Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
Florida’s medical marijuana program is the biggest in the nation, with nearly 900,000. Last year, while campaigning to defeat a constitutional amendment that could have legalized cannabis for recreational use, Gov. Ron DeSantis(R) has praised the medical program. He boasts that he legalized smokeable marijuana in the state of Florida in 2019.
The Florida GOP controlled legislature does not support medical marijuana. On Tuesday, a House member asked the state doctor who is tasked with studying the efficacy of cannabis in medicine whether its use by Floridians presents more risk than benefit.
Dean Black, Northeast Florida Republican, said to Dr. Almut Winterstein, professor at the College of Pharmacy of the University of Florida, and director of Consortium for Medical Marijuana Outcomes Research, “You have made it quite clear that more research is needed in this field, but also that the majority of your research shows that this program has questionable medicinal value.”
Is it true that you are concerned about the harm we may be doing?
Winterstein said that Winterstein’s question highlighted the “conundrum,” which has existed when it comes the medical efficacy and effectiveness of cannabis. Because it was listed by the federal authorities as Schedule I controlled substances, research on it had always been limited. (The Biden administration proposed last year to reclassify the substance as a Schedule III controlled substance).
In response to Black, she replied: “That is worrying.” This doesn’t mean there won’t be patients who will benefit massively from it, but the benefits have not been defined.
In her presentation to the House Professions & Programs Subcommittee, Winterstein reported rapid growth among young adults up to age 25 in Florida in listing anxiety as the medical condition motivating them to seek a medical marijuana prescription. She said that was “fairly strong evidence that marijuana attacks the developing brain negatively—specifically, cognitively.”
However, she argued that this was very distinct from the way patients who suffer chronic pain or any other condition are treated.
‘Hip or cool’
She added that she believed in certain cases, young adults were motivated to become patients because they wanted to appear “hip” or “cool.”
Those comments prompted Broward County Democratic Rep. Christine Hunschofsky to speak out—first asking if there had been any survey conducted to back the statement about patients getting a medical card to be “cool.”
Winterstein said, “I don’t know if the growing trend we’ve seen amongst young adults was a trendy thing to do or a real health concern.” It would be important to deal with that issue.
Hunschofsky: “I want to make sure I’m talking about data, not opinions on why people act the way they do.”
South Florida Democrat responded to Winterstein’s statement that marijuana could impede the development of brain. The South Florida Democrat asked the doctor if she was also considering the impact of depression or post-traumatic disorder on the development of the brain when doing research.
Hunschofsky spoke specifically about the effect on a child’s mind of watching their classmate “bleed” after they were shot. Hunschofsky served as mayor of Parkland, Florida in 2018, when the Marjory-Stoneman Douglas shooting occurred.
The question was, “Which has a greater negative impact on brain development?” Is it medical marijuana, or the fact that their friends were shot and bleeding in front of them?
Winterstein said, “There’s no drug in the world that isn’t associated with side effects.”
‘Emergency basis’
Rep. Black then asked if Winterstein was prepared to act “in an emergency” in the event that studies showed harms from using medical marijuana and would not have to wait for lawmakers to convene to discuss this issue.
Winterstein stated that she could be before lawmakers “within months” of the publication of health reports that required immediate actions.
There was also information presented on “adverse reactions” suffered by medical marijuana users. These patients represented less than 1% (0.08%), with 96 % of these reports being deemed medically unimportant and 56 % mild. The 95 percent were reported by only five doctors in the entire state. Winterstein speculated that this variation of reporting indicated a likelihood of underreporting.
The Consortium for Medical Marijuana Outcomes Research was created by the Florida Legislature in 2019. Its mission is to conduct “rigorous scientific research” on clinical outcomes for the use of medical marijuana. The Consortium is located on the University of Florida Campus and comprises researchers from ten universities across Florida.
Florida Phoenix published this article first.
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