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May 14, 2007
Adding to the Indictment (Political)
The lead editorial in this morning’s SF Chronicle just happened to be written about the side effects of antidepressant therapy, a subject that’s been much on my mind recently. I was tempted to write a letter to the editor pointing out that pot is safer and does a much better job at treating emotional symptoms for (at least) the population of chronic users I’ve been seeing for five years. While I have no way of knowing how accurately they represent the total population of pot smokers in California; nor can I extrapolate how asccurately California pot smokers represent the general population of the US, nor the degree to which Americans reflect the rest of humanity, the evidence from my sample is simply overwhelming: pot, in its inhaled form, is a very safe and predictable short acting anxiolytic which is clinically effective at treating PTSD, ADD, bipolar disorder, and chronic insomnia— all quite predictably and over prolonged intervals.
However, I resisted the impulse to send such a letter; for one thing, I don’t think the Chron has printed a letter from me since they were bought by the Hearst Corporation. For another, I have reason to believe I’ll eventually reach more readers by posting my opinions right here.
However, the most telling reason I didn’t write to the Chronicle is that such a statement would be seen by the majority of Americans as ‘heresy.’ The vexing question beyond that is how many think the heresy may be true but is simply too dangerous to assert as opposed to those who firmly believe in the need to punish all abusers of illegal drugs, as opposed to those— probably a majority— who always tune out drug war items in the news because they are so ‘boring and predictable.’
As for the drug warriors, all they need for continued ‘success’ is that their policy be accepted as a necessary evil by the bored/frightened majority of Americans.
Doctor Tom
Posted by tjeffo at May 14, 2007 04:45 PM