In case you hadn't seen this one, this one's been buzzing locally: you might someday be denied organ transplants for using marijuana. It's happening in Seattle right now, to a patient who will die without a liver transplant:
With the scarcity of donated organs, transplant committees like the one at the University of Washington Medical Center use tough standards, including whether the candidate has other serious health problems or is likely to drink or do drugs.
And with cases like Garon's, they also have to consider — as a dozen states now have medical marijuana laws — if using dope with a doctor's blessing should be held against a dying patient in need of a transplant.
Amazingly, here is the justification:
"Marijuana, unlike alcohol, has no direct effect on the liver. It is however a concern ... in that it's a potential indicator of an addictive personality," Sade said.
And of course, if we
let these people die, they won't turn into addicts. It just makes sense!
Seriously, tough standards are appropriate in these cases, I'm sure, but in states where medical marijuana is legal, this just seems like massive overkill (no pun intended).
