Wednesday, doctors and a cancer survivor voiced their support for medical marijuana, specifically ballot issue seven.
If approved by voters, issue seven would allow doctors to recommend pot for 56 different medical diagnoses.
Dr. William Piechal, D.O., says while many are concerned about the impacts of passing the act, research shows that opioids, which are legal, present more harmful threats like overdose and addiction, while cannabis does not.
“I don’t think, unless there’s been some isolated thing, that there has been any toxicological effects of just marijuana itself. It is having been co-consumed that there is a problem, but in and of itself has been shown to have minimal to no addictive properties.” said Dr. Piechal.
Dr. Piechal says more research still needs to be done on medical marijuana, but that can’t happen until the Drug Enforcement Administration loosens its restrictions.
Dr. Piechal also believes opioids and cannabis could be used together to treat patients more effectively.
