If you have ever purchased a “drug” (maybe a bottle of hand sanitizer) you may have noticed on the label a section called “Drug Facts”. Not wishing to infringe on any laws, I’ll simply modify the name a little.
Most of us use drugs (probably to stay alive, in many cases). Just for the fun of it, here are some things I’ve picked up in 35 years or so with federal agencies (FDA and DEA) you might be interested in.
Drug Potency. To a chemist, it means the amount of the substance you need to ingest to experience the desired effect (pain relief, stimulation, relaxation, whatever). To my mind, there are three categories of potency:
Low: Drugs such as metformin, where one might need about two grams (2,000 milligrams) to achieve the desired effect, namely, reduction of blood glucose. Others would include aspirin (about 650 milligrams for most people), acetaminophen (Tylenol), 1,000 milligrams, ibuprofen, maybe 400-600 milligrams.
Medium: Diazepam (Valium), 5-10 milligrams; Nexium, 40 milligrams, Xarelto, 20 milligrams, carvedilol, 25 milligrams, morphine 10 milligrams.
High: Fentanyl, 100 micrograms; LSD, 75-100 micrograms
Then, there are the naturally occurring: opium, cocaine, marihuana. Of these, cocaine and opium are legal, but “controlled”, while marihuana is controlled under Federal law, but illegal.
The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) of 1970 was cobbled together from earlier statutes, mostly the Harrison Narcotics Act and the Drug Abuse Control Act. Five “schedules” are provided, with the worst actors, so to speak, listed in Schedules I and II. The principal difference between stuff in Schedule I versus II is that Schedule II drugs have an accepted medical use, while Schedule I’s do not. The result is that marijuana, a relatively harmless substance (depending on your point of view) resides in Schedule I, since it doesn’t have an “accepted” use, while fentanyl, the nation’s #1 killer, does have a use (to treat implacable pain in some cancer patients). With nods to Saul Bellow, this is a classic Catch 22.
I’m not about to tell you that pot is harmless. In all fairness, no drug is completely harmless or free of side effects. New drugs undergo rigorous clinical testing before they are approved for use. So why couldn’t something like this be done to/for marihuana? For one thing, it would be difficult to patent, which deprives Big Pharma of the profit motive. For another, marihuana is a mixture of numerous substances; some of which we have an inkling of whether they are safe and efficatious; the vast majority, we don’t have a clue. To sort all this out would take years and cost a great deal – with no real prospect of any company ever making a profit.
Of the plethora of substances in marihuana, at least one shows considerable promise to relieve suffering: cannabidiol (often abbreviated CBD), which has been found (at least anectodally) effective in relieving seizures, and easing chronic pain. The stuff, supposedly, doesn’t make one high. Then there is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (abbreviated THC), which does make you high. THC can be ingested in several ways: in brownies (remember I Love You, Alice B. Toklas?), and, of course, smoked. This may be the most dangerous mode of ingestion; marijuana smoke has been compared with tobacco smoke, and not favorably.
As I write this, CBD can be bought in any head shop in the numerous states where “medical marihuana” is legal (sort of). FDA has approved two or three preparations. There is, of course, a drug that is available without a prescription, is perfectly legal, gets you high, and was once illegal under Federal law – alcohol.
Rogernarc 