A very nice interview with Dr. Lester Grinspoon at Mother Jones today.
He talks about Marinol, Sativex, medical marijuana and the contrary pressures from pharmaceutical companies and patients regarding the legalization of marijuana.
One of the most interesting parts: he often talks with medical marijuana patients who are concerned about flunking work drug tests — he tries to get their doctor to prescribe Marinol. Even though Marinol doesn’t work as well as marijuana, the patient can continue to use marijuana and not worry about the drug test. The same will be true to a greater degree with Sativex, which will lead to a practical solution of legalization countered by the financial pressure of the pharmaceutical companies to push prohibition harder.
Also interesting — even though he’s an ardent proponent of medical marijuana, he sees no way long term to legalize medical marijuana without legalizing it for recreational purposes.
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