Chuck Rosenberg, the acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, claimed that smoking marijuana has “never been shown to be safe or effective as a medicine.”
That’s false. Though information is limited on the topic, several studies have found smoked marijuana has medical benefits and mostly mild side effects. A Journal of the American Medical Association review noted that at least some such evidence does exist: “There was moderate-quality evidence to suggest that cannbinoids may be beneficial for the treatment of chronic neuropathic or cancer pain (smoked THC and nabiximols).”
Nabiximols is a cannabis extract delivered as a mouth spray. “Very little evidence” is not the same as “never been shown to be safe or effective as a medicine,” as Rosenberg said. There is in fact evidence of smoked marijuana’s beneficial effects and safety.
Carson targets bias on campus
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson says he would use the Department of Education to monitor “extreme political bias” on college campuses. Carson has mentioned a 2013 incident in which, he says, a student was disciplined for refusing to “stomp” on a piece of paper with the name “Jesus” written on it. The exercise wasn’t designed to have students actually step on the piece of paper, and professor Deandre Poole has said most did not. Instead, it was intended to spark a conversation in the Intercultural Communications class about the importance of symbols once students hesitated to step (not “stomp”) on it. The textbook author, James W. Neuliep, is a professor at St. Norbert College, a small Catholic school, and a former editor of the Journal of Intercultural Communication Research. When he uses the exercise, he finds his students “walk away having reaffirmed their faith.” Twenty of the 23 students who were in Poole’s class during the controversial exercise signed a letter supporting him. “We the students were not offended by any class room activities, including the one pertaining to Jesus, which was not specific to symbolize ‘Jesus Christ.’ ... We stand with professor Poole during this rough time and refuse to let him continue to be demonized.”
As to discipline, the vice president of student affairs, Charles Brow, said, “We have not taken any disciplinary action against any student as a result of this matter.”
Smith is cloudy about climate science
Rep. Lamar Smith, a climate change denier and chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, has made several inaccurate or misleading claims about climate science in an ongoing battle with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Smith claims NOAA has “altered the data to get the results they needed to advance this administration’s extreme climate change agenda.” A study led by NOAA scientist Thomas Karl concluded “Newly corrected and updated global surface temperature data ... do not support the notion of a global warming ‘hiatus.’” Those who reject mainstream climate science often claim that there has been no warming specifically for 17 years, a claim that relies on cherry-picked data. By starting with 1998, a particularly warm year, the amount of warming over that period appears smaller than starting with 1997 or 1999. The far more relevant long-term trend, however, is unequivocal: 14 of the 15 hottest years ever recorded have occurred this century, and 2014 was likely the warmest year on record. NOAA says 2015 is “extremely likely” to surpass 2014. FactCheck found that Smith had cherry-picked data that supports his claims regarding climate science. In this case, there is no scientific basis for Smith’s claims.
Chip Tuthill is a resident of Mancos. Website used for this column: www.factcheck.org.