Americans cannot let their demand for pain cessation outstrip the need to guard against misuse and the enormous societal costs that could ensue. That’s why Utah’s Legislature came together Monday evening in a special session to once more address concerns with its medical marijuana law.
Since the launch of Utah’s medical marijuana ballot initiative that would lead to a compromise from stakeholders on both sides of the debate, we have maintained that good laws don’t spring from bad processes. The Legislature’s move on Monday evening should be seen as a necessary effort to do the hard work of debating and refining policy to ensure residents get what they need in the safest way.
A few years ago, an international health survey found something startling. More than one-third of Americans (34.1%, to be exact) reported feeling aches and pains either “often” or “very often.”
This was higher than in any other country surveyed, and much higher than most, including the Czech Republic, China and the Philippines.
The Atlantic examined possible reasons, identifying one as the high use of prescription painkillers in this country, which experts said can increase the perception of pain.
But this may be a bit backward. Those painkillers likely are prescribed in the first place because Americans demand more ways to mask or avoid pain. The Atlantic reported that Americans consume nearly 80% of the world’s supply of painkillers.
The Utah Legislature is grappling with a part of this phenomenon. The state’s medical marijuana law needed tweaking in order for qualified patients to begin receiving relief from the plant by a March deadline. As legal concerns mounted from county governments, lawmakers chose to abandon a central fill pharmacy model in favor of 14 — and possibly more — private, licensed pharmacies to distribute the drug, among other changes.
In an unrelated but not entirely disconnected matter, the session coincide roughly with an announcement by Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, that the company filed for bankruptcy as part of a settlement with state and local governments over a lawsuit concerning the misuse of opioids.
Our intent is not to belittle the pain. Anyone who has experienced chronic pain or known someone experiencing it can appreciate the desperation for relief and the way it affects all aspects of life. Nor is this an attempt to minimize the potential effects of properly administered marijuana-based solutions. Evidence suggests that, under the supervision of a competent medical professional, this can produce much-needed results. The same is true for the careful, supervised use of other drugs, including opioids.
It is, rather, a voice of warning. Americans must not be blind to hidden consequences in the rush for pain alleviation. With the right policy, compassion for those who suffer would be compatible with safeguards for the rest of the public.
Americans must not be blind to hidden consequences in the rush for pain alleviation.
Utah lawmakers are walking this tightrope, as they have been for nearly a year now. Here are a few observations from that process:
- Allowing the people to write laws through the initiative process presents difficulties. We don’t argue for removing this right. But initiatives are not subject to the leveling process of committee hearings, debates, amendments and the ultimate threat of a veto from the governor. Instead, they allow for an up-or-down public vote on one unvetted solution to a problem. The value of an initiative is that it can express public will on a matter lawmakers have ignored, but lawmakers need to retain the right to tweak laws passed in this manner
- Big public policy decisions are complicated when states and the federal government are at odds. Marijuana remains a Schedule 1 drug on the federal level. Its use is forbidden, as is federally funded research on its medicinal effects. States such as Utah struggle for ways to reduce liabilities in the event Washington should begin to enforce federal law. That’s neither conducive to research nor effective solutions.
- Lawmakers, the public and the courts need to minimize harm to all involved. Public opinion can be a powerful driver, but it tends to see clear-cut answers where they don’t exist. With careful supervision, opioids can help patients manage pain without harmful addictions. And, despite a growing conventional wisdom, unchecked marijuana use is not harmless.
On the last point, we note anecdotal evidence about the consequences of recreational marijuana use. As USA Today reported recently, auto accidents have risen by 6% over five years in four states that allow such use by law. Other critics point to evidence that links use of the drug with suicide, schizophrenia and other problems.
These evidences are hotly debated by supporters and opponents of legalization. But with a growing movement to decriminalize psychedelic drugs, including some forms of mushrooms, as the Deseret News recently reported, it’s more important than ever to not let public opinion get ahead of the careful examination of facts and unintended consequences.
Utah lawmakers need to tread carefully, and they need constant vigilance against unintended consequences.
The American demand for pain relief may be a reflection of culture, a high living standard, sedentary lifestyles or any of a number of factors. But the nation can’t afford to compound that demand by creating avenues for abuse.