Yesterday I met with the second reading group for the department's book choice this semester, Dying to Get High: Marijuana as Medicine, by Wendy Chapkis and Richard J. Webb. Dr. Webb joined the group, so we got first-hand insight into the story underlying the book as well as an update on the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana.
The book includes several interviews with organizational members and those involved in the medical marijuana movement. For one discussion question I asked, "In the interview with Dr. Arnold Leff [pro-medical marijuana Santa Cruz physician] he states, 'Advertising by big corporate pharma giants has helped to create a culture that encourages drug use' (p. 35) and uses the example of Ambien, a sleeping pill. What other examples can you think of to support his claim?" Discussants easily identified other examples of our "take a pill to fix it" culture. The discussion then turned to what constituted acceptable versus unacceptable drugs and the role of pharmaceutical companies in defining "good" and "bad" drugs.
In Dying to Get High, Chapkis and Webb note the power of large organizations such as the pharmaceuticals, the AMA, and government agencies to define terms and dominate the discussion of medical marijuana. As Cheney et al. discuss in Chapter 9, "the ability to define terms is an extremely important part of the debate" (p. 258). Chapkis and Webb identify the ways in which powerful groups set the agenda for the discussion of medicine and drugs, limited the availability of information of the medicinal uses of marijuana, and silenced viewpoints about the plant.
~ Professor Cyborg
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1 comment:
In chapter 9, Cheney et al. also talks about values and how they are abstract and full of different meanings. In defining the terms it appears to me that Chapkis and Webb need to look at ways of addressing the abstract values of the issue for caring for sick individuals. If the terms of drug use are defined by the large pharmaceutical, is the idea that it's Ok to add marijuana to the subculture of 'drug use'? There is a stigma that comes with marijuana and the Medical Marijuana advocates should not shy away from it. If the government and the AMA are defining the terms of the use of marijuana then WMAMM needs to redefine the conversation and make a clear distinction in the use and the distribution. It would seem to me that if the medical marijuana is packaged and distributed in a fashion that is similar to the dealer down the block then the argument is lost.
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