MARINOL -- The SYNTHETIC CANNABIS:
MARINOL - Technically speaking Marinol is a synthetic [chemical] form of Cannabis and "Ironies of Ironies," at one time marketed by Roxanne Laboratories [a.k.a. The Columbus Pharmacal Co.], which made extensive use of Cannabis before the anti-Medical Marihuana laws went into effect.
While many people criticized its medical efficiency, it is fully FDA approved and legal while actual Cannabis [the plant] is NOT. And what is it that Mezz Mezzrow was once quoted as saying: "Of Course Cannabis is more dangerous that Alcohol, you can get sent to jail for it". Which is another way of saying, Marinol is good enough for government work.
WHY THE NAME? Although this is only a guess, the name does seems to have a certain likeness to another word.
Mari-nol
AN ASIDE - ON THE NEGATIVE SIDE:
Although better than nothing, the author is of the opinion that Marinol will not replace Cannabis [the plant], and for the following reasons:
- First MARINOL IS NOT ALL THAT GOOD At What It Does: The Mfg.'s of Marinol openly admit (in literature they hand out) that between 80% to 90% of their drug IS USELESS within the human body. In addition they also admit that for some percentage of the population Marinol won't even work, while actual Medical Marihuana (the plant) will. Again, this is in the literature that they hand out.
- MARINOL IS EXPENSIVE, very expensive; In fact there is as much as a 100-to-1 cost ratio between the two. But don't take my word for it, do the math.
- If Legal, a pound of high-quality Medical Marihuana would cost (much less than) $100.oo,[1] which is enough to create 400 [2] Cigarettes.
- That 15 mg of Marinol, is the equivalent of one-half of a Cannabis cigarette. [3] Therefore one pound of Cannabis = 800 medical doses, or the equivalent of 27,397-mg of Marinol.
- That 20 mg of legal Marinol can costs $1,050 per month or $12,500 per year.
- If Legal, a pound of high-quality Medical Marihuana would cost (much less than) $100.oo,[1] which is enough to create 400 [2] Cigarettes.
PRICE WISE, these containers [that's both the cardboard box as well as actual container] are selling from between, $5 and $10 dollars.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] - ONE POUND OF CANNABIS FOR $100 OR LESS: --- Ever wonder what a pound of Cannabis would cost if it were legal. The answer is between $35 (poor quality stuff) to $100 for a good pound of Medical Marihuana. The way I figured it out is as follows: I looked up a series of medical bulk herbs sold openly in 1931. Herbs such as Parsley, Passion flowers (no I don't know what that is), Peppermint, Rhubarb (no joke, rhubarb), Cascara Saqrada, etc. Next, I looked up the same herbs and noted what they were selling for then and now. [Note roots were compared with roots, leafs with leafs etc.] Next, doing a little math, [dividing the present day price, by the 1931 price], I came up with a cost increase rate of between X-18 [low end] all the way up to X-50 at the top end. As one pound of Cannabis was selling [wholesale price] for $2, I figure that using the worst case scenario the present day price would [at most] be $100, but it could be much less.
[2] - Here it is assumed that each cigarette is equal in size to a standard tobacco cigarette.
[3] While far from scientific, this figure is based on the observation that it takes between 5mg-to-15mg of marinol, and between 0.1-to-0.5 of a Medical Cannabis cigarette to give a novice medical patient a slight sense of euphoria. Again, this is far from scientific, however, it does give us a perfect way to compare the equivalent performance between the two. Here, for economic comparisons, the two upper points (15mg = 1/2 cigarette) are used.
WANT TO KNOW MORE:
=====================
Due to space / download time considerations, only selected materials are displayed. If you would like to obtain more information, feel free to contact the museum. All our material is available (at cost) on CD-Rom format.
 BACK TO CHAPTER 20 |