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Nov-17-2012 00:53 TweetFollow @OregonNews Medical Marijuana: The Replacement for Very Dangerous Drugs Marijuana is less addictive and less dangerous than Starbuck’s espresso.



(PORTLAND, OR) - Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be speaking on CNN Sunday night about the 'killer drugs'. This article was first written in 2007; it still is found very easily on Google; I wonder where Dr. Gupta has been for the last five years! Marijuana/cannabis has been used in his home country India for the past 4000 years with absolutely no deaths. I wonder if the Doctor will be talking about marijuana as a painkiller when he speaks about the killer drugs tonight on CNN, but will not compare marijuana to these other definitely killer drugs. When I was ordered before the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners, the first question I was asked by Dr. Spokas, the chairman, from Ontario, Oregon, was “Dr. Leveque don’t you know that marijuana is very addicting and very dangerous?” Frankly, I didn’t know or believe this and all of my experience with fifty years of study and 4000 patients told me this was totally false. But, when one is facing a “Spanish inquisition” with psychological “thumb screws” or “hanging”, I decided to answer “maybe for some people”. I didn’t believe a word of it. I didn’t dare ask where he got his information but I assumed it came from the U.S. government, which has produced false propaganda for 70 plus years. Marijuana is less addictive and less dangerous than Starbuck’s espresso. The Oregon Medical Marijuana Law allows the use of marijuana for Cancer, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s rage, Glaucoma, chronic pain, chronic nausea, chronic spasms, Multiple Sclerosis and seizures. As a retired Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, I accepted this with a grain of salt but when I started seeing patients, I was astonished and pleased that indeed the above conditions were “miraculously” alleviated by the use of medical marijuana. I was further astonished when I was told by the patients “marijuana is much better than any prescription I have been given". Further questioning of patients indicated it was better that the morphine-like painkillers, such as Oxycontin, Percodan or Demerol. It was also better than the Valium-like tranquilizers, such as Xanax, and Ambien, etc. and even the anti-depressants, such as Elavil, Trazadone, and the really heavy anti-depressants, such as Prozac and Zoloft. Another, almost strange report, was that it was preferred over Aspirin and Tylenol, etc. because it worked faster with no stomach or liver damage. For a retired Professor of Pharmacology, the patient’s reports were really a “blockbuster”. The biggest surprise came really quickly by Viet Nam veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. They had been given every kind of medication, which gave minimal, if any, relief and many suffers simply turned to alcohol stupefaction to blot out PTSD battle stress. The latter had become a tragedy for many as they had discovered in Viet Nam the marijuana was an excellent tranquilizer, better than any standard such drug or alcohol. Literature review for current Marijuana Therapy led me to “O’Shaughnessy, The Journal of Cannabis in Clinical Practice”, a newspaper-like magazine published by a group of California Marijuana Specialists, which are providing the cutting edge for information on the subject. California is the leading marijuana state with about 300,000 legal marijuana patients. (This is a 2007 figure- the number is significantly higher today) I am not/was not surprised to see that the reports of the fifteen doctors in the journal correspond with my own experiences. In fact, (the late) Dr. Tod Mikuriya has found that marijuana provides relief for about 200 specific diseases. It seems like marijuana could be/should be the first choice drug rather than the last. Cannabis / marijuana medicines were at one time the “drugs of choice” in the United States, until they were declared illegal. They had been used for 100 specific medical problems through the use of about 30 prescription medicines. First published here: Medical Marijuana: The Replacement for Very Dangerous Drugs Dr. Phillip Leveque Dr. Phillip Leveque has degrees in chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology and minors in physiology and biochemistry. He was a Professor of Pharmacology, employed by the University of London for 2 years, during which time he trained the first doctors in Tanzania. After training doctors, he became an Osteopathic Physician, as well as a Forensic Toxicologist. Before any of that, Phil Leveque was a Combat Infantryman in the U.S. Army in WWII. He suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder more than 60 years after the war, and specialized in treating Veterans with PTSD during his years as a doctor in Molalla, Oregon. Do you have a question, comment or story to share with Dr. Leveque?

Email him: ASK DR. LEVEQUE More information on the history of Dr. Leveque can be found in his book, General Patton's Dogface Soldier of WWII about his own experiences "from a foxhole". Order the book by mail by following this link: DOGFACE SOLDIER OF WWII If you are a World War II history buff, you don't want to miss it.

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