 A PHYSICIAN'S LETTER OPPOSING THE REGULATION OF TOBACCO AS A DRUGThe letter below was sent to the San Francisco Chronicle a few months back. We know of many doctors who have the same contempt about the antitobacco lies and politics as we have. Most of them, intimidated by the arrogance and power of some of their tax money-grabbing colleagues, fear for their careers, and stay silent in their contempt. Others work with us under assumed names.But some of them speak out. Dr. Carr is one of them. A big THANK YOU to Dr. Carr for telling the truth with honesty and courage. The Hippocratic oath is not just the promise to cure the ill; it is the commitment to professional integrity as well.
Unpredictable drugs In all the political flurry to get tobacco on the taboo list and keep cannabis clubs open, let me point out the vast difference between tobacco, alcohol, caffeine, chocolate et al. as a class, and the illegal-drug category. True, they are all addicting and potentially harmful, but only "drugs" are unpredictable. As a physician, I can say that tobacco and alcohol take years to kill - predictably, 10 to 30 years. Drugs can and do kill unpredictably, in 10 to 30 seconds. Everyone knows his or her limit with alcohol. With drugs, there is no predictability, no gauge of outcome, no set-dosing. One ounce of cocaine today may be exhilarating, while a lesser amount tomorrow may be lethal, killing in a few seconds. The metabolic pathway, absorption and breakdown rate of hard drugs in the body is different from that of alcohol and tobacco. The body's Krebs cycle hasn't met a recreational drug it likes. Why is this best-kept medical secret still a secret? The number of drug deaths resulting from train and bus wrecks, needle-induced AIDS and gang drug-driven violence is staggering, but the medical media will not tell you so. It's ludicrous to hope for the media, educators, drug gurus and public authorities to make this distinction of difference, while they've been teaching a whole generation that men and women are not distinct and different. Carolyn M. Carr, M.D. |