EDITOR
Doug Kouma
OPINION
EDITOR
Anthony Nguyen
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Anne Hjersman
Paula Lavigne
Joshua GilHn
Jessica Kennedy
Jeff Randall
Guest
VIEW
Marijuana
Drug needs more testing
before used medicinally
From the San Diego Union-Tribune
Medicinal marijuana use is all the rage
right now. But studies showing the drug is
good medicine are decidedly mixed, with the
negative data outweighing the positive.
Before widespread use of any medicine
is allowed in this country, rigorous testing is
required. That’s why the Clinton administra
tion should direct the National Academy of
Sciences to conduct a definitive study on the
medicinal use of marijuana.
It should have been done long ago. De
spite claims that the drug can alleviate the
suffering of cancer and glaucoma patients, it
also has some serious side effects, namely
getting stoned. National Institute of Health
experts say there’s no evidence that smoking
marijuana provides any health benefits, par
ticularly none that can’t be found through a
synthetic alternative, absent the side effects.
However, some of the more reckless ac
tivists favor medicinal marijuana use, specifi
cally for the side effect of getting stoned. To
allow our current lax attitudes toward drug
use to become mixed up in the debate over
die purported medicinal benefits of marijuana
is asking for trouble.
That’s precisely why scientific experts
should resolve the medicinal marijuana de
bate. A National Academy of Sciences study
that includes clinical trials could prove
whether smoking marijuana has medical
value, and if so, exactly how it should be used.
Medicinal marijuana laws and the national
debate are premature without the scientific
certainty of whether the drug can be used
safely.
Until we know if marijuana is an effec
tive medicine, the Clinton administration is
right to crack down on doctors who prescribe
it. While states should exercise certain pow
ers, promoting drug use is not one of them.
Neither state legislatures nor voters should
be deciding what medical procedures and
drugs are permissible. Science must decide
that. "S
Research and clinical trials of marijuana
use could take some time. But just as doctors
are not allowed to prescribe or recommend
any drug until it is proven safe, they should
not be allowed to do so with marijuana. Doc
tors who recommend marijuana before the
research is completed should be penalized.
Federal drug czar Barry McCaffrey
warns that doctors found recommending mari
juana to patients could lose their license to
prescribe drugs or face criminal charges. That
is reasonable, since doctors who prescribe
other drugs that lack FDA approval are sub
ject to penalties. Why should marijuana be
any different?
Until conclusive scientific studies show
that marijuana is safe and effective for me
dicinal purposes, doctors should not encour
age its use.
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the
Spring 1997 Daily Nebraskan. They do not
necessarily reflect the views of the Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lincoln, its employees, its
student body or the University of Nebraska
, Board of Regents. A column is soley the
opinion of its author. The Board of Regents
serves as publisher of the Daily Nebraskan;
policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Edito
rial Board. The UNL Publications Board,
established by the regents, supervises the
production of the paper. According to policy
set by the regents, responsibility for the edi
torial content of the newspaper lies solely
in the hands of its student employees.
Letter Policy
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief let
ters to the editor and guest columns, but
does not guarantee their publication. The
Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit
or reject any material submitted. Sub
. mitted material becomes the property of
the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be re
turned. Anonymous submissions will not
be published. Those who submit letters
must identify themselves by name, year
in school, major and/or group affilia
tion, if any. Submit material to: Daily
Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R
St. Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. E-mail:
letters@unlinfo.unl .edu.
Mehsling’s
VIEW
YEAH, \ Guess IT Wife I
VJRONG TO HE, BUT THE L
TRUTH \S \ mm THINK I
\VJ0UU0 £e CAUGHT. I
J
.
■ 1
Anthony
NGUYEN ^
Surfin’ toward a new semester
Opinion page to change as semester progresses
Sitting at home on a Saturday
night. Carousing the ‘net. I’m not
looking for love. No, just looking for
other university newspapers on the
web. A site on how to get a date in
ten days, “guaranteed,” catches my
eye. Stop. Point and click. Nope, it’s
nothing that’ll help my “friend’s”
problems. Time to move on. Too
much coffee. Too much sex cm the
brain. But I must, must find other
dailies to look at. I stop for a quick
five push-ups, the ice cream kind
helps me to maintain my Mr.
Universe physique-then return back ,
to the computer.
Listening to Dave Matthews
Band. Neighbors upstairs have
either just discovered gravity “does”
exist or are experimenting with the
acoustical signature of dropped
bowling balls. Oh, well, that’s life.
Welcome back, Kotter. Okay, so
you might not have the swagger of a
Vinny Barbarino, or the hair or
clothes for that matter. But you are
back in school, and it’s time to get
back in the groove. Regardless if
your definition of groove is 4.0 or
skipping classes — the second
semester has begun.
So, why am I spending Saturday
night, all by my lonesome self,
surfing the net and looking at
university newspaper sites? Well,
lack of a good social life ... okay,
truthfully, no social life and my
current job at the DN has me in a
tizzy. (Do people use that word
anymore?) *
It all started back in the blizzard
of ’86, and dem ‘ole bastages in
Gulp Canyon...whoops, wrong life.
Really, though, it began when
Editor-in-Chief Doug Kouma hired
me to be the new Opinion Pages
66
I’m not a person
who makes
promises lightly, so
to avoid any letters
to me, I won’t
promise mega
blockbuster-kick
ass-and-don’t-take
names changes.”
Editor for the spring. My first
thought was, COOL! Okay not
really, but thinking about grabbing
burger and voicing it aloud are two
different things.
I left for Christmas break stress
free — I mean, no classes and I stil
work for the DN—what more cou
you ask for? Came back this past
week and that’s when the hammer
fell on me unmercifully. Picas and
points? Headers and decks? Layout
pages? Budget?
Tell me when this ride stops, ‘cuz
I think I’m gonna puke. Hey man,
I’m only a biochem and philos
major. And that’s why I’m surfing
the ‘net on a Saturday night. I
needed to get the creative juices
flowing, get back in the writing
mood, and find what I think works
or doesn’t work in an opinion page.
The opinion pages this semester
will keep a lot of the components
you expect — like letters to the
editor (I really fought against it, but
...), guest commentary, our weekly
columnists, the editorial and, of
course, the ed cartoon. But I hope to
add things like crossfire-style
debates — to get us all to think
about the issues which affect us as
students, as well as the community
at-large. I hope to package things to
make the opinion pages more
interesting.
I’m not a person who makes
promises lightly, so to avoid any
letters to me, I won’t promise mega
blockbuster- kick-ass-and-don’t
take-names changes. It’ll be a
gradual process. Painful to me, but
hopefully not to you.
And as you can tell, I won’t be
coming to you in a weekly format
anymore, but I’ll try to stop by every
couple of weeks to bore you—if I
haven’t gone crazy by then. I hope
that in the next few weeks you’ll
a enjoy some of the changes made to
the opinion pages, and that eventu
ally you’ll look at the changes as a
regular feature. Well, please forgive n
1 any editorial faux pas I make these
Id next few weeks and throughout the
semester. So, until next time, enjoy. *
Nguyen is a senior biochemistry
and philosophy major and the
Daily .Nebraskan opinion editor.
