Medical MJ?

You know, quite a few (15 plus the District of Columbia) states have enacted laws to allow the use of Medical Marijuana.  The process has been that you would go to a Doctor and receive a recommendation that you need marijuana for medical purposes.  Then, you would go to a State registry board, and get an ID card.  You would then be able to purchase medical marijuana.

A few other states have enacted laws to the effect that, if a person is found to posses marijuana and can produce a Doctor's recommendation stating that it is medically necessary, then that person will not be prosecuted.

Personally, I have tried smoking "pot" and it's not for me.  I have no intention to every try it again, I just really didn't enjoy it that much.  So maybe this is what makes it a little hard for me to understand what all the fuss is about.

Detractors to decriminalizing marijuana have said that "pot heads" will all flock to the Doctor's office seeking a way to get legal pot.  They also claim that marijuana is the first step down the road to other, "hard" drugs.

To the first, I would say "So what?", and to the second I would say "WRONG!"!

The thing is, if you had ever known my grandmother, who would be in her 90's were she still with us to this day, you would know her stand on this issue.  A woman who never drank or touched a cigarette, so far as any one of us have ever observed, who voted Republican in every election her entire life -- was outraged that marijuana was illegal.

She would adamantly assert that, unlike crack or heroin users, marijuana smokers didn't shoot each other down in the street over $10 or $20 or even $100 worth of the drug.  She would argue that pot smokers weren't nearly as likely to get into a serious traffic accident, and that the worst thing about them driving was they were too slow and cautious.

She brings up a really good point that, if you ask anyone who has ever tried a "hard" drug, they will tell you without exception that their first "drug" was either cigarettes or alcohol.  Both of which are legal (when you are of a certain age of course), regulated, and taxed.

Which brings up another really good point my mom-mom had:  That we are spending hundreds of millions of dollars of tax revenue on fighting marijuana use, prosecuting criminals, etc…  When we could  be MAKING hundreds of millions taxing legalized marijuana.

At this point, you are wondering what sort of hip-and-cool grandmother I had.  Well, I'll tell you, she was neither hip nor cool.  What my grandmother was, was a nurse, midwife, and elderly care-giver for over 50 years.  

What she was most enraged by was the denial of medical marijuana to cancer patients.  She rightly called, many many years ago, that marijuana could help to ease both pain and nausea in cancer patients.  With less pain, patients would be more likely to complete a course of chemotherapy or radiation without incident, leading to higher cure rates.  Mom-mom also correctly pointed out that, as the drug stimulates your appetite, it might well reduce "wasting" in cancer patients, helping their treatment to be more effective.

And the best part, as far as I can see, is that now, people who are ill can use marijuana without smoking it, through a vaporizer, so that there are no ill effects of repeated inhalation of particulates.

The thing is, we legalize tobacco, which has to my knowledge not one single medical application, and can only cause terrible disease, and we make money off of it.  We legalize alcohol, which has incredibly limited medical use, none of which are related to DRINKING it, and it is not only addictive but is the cause thousands of traffic fatalities a year.  Not to mention it can cause cirrhosis of the liver anemia, clotting disorders and pancreatic problems.

I have to wonder, if you went to interview 1,000 chronically homeless people, or 1,000 long-term prison inmates…  What percent would tell you they drank alcohol and/or smoked cigarettes regularly, versus smoking marijuana.

So why are we so hesitant to re-label marijuana, even if it DOES result in many people using it recreationally?  Is this not a throw-back to the days of "Reefer Madness"?  Or is it perhaps a reluctance on the part of lawmakers to back up and say "Hey, we were wrong,"?  Or even perhaps our government is afraid of eliminating thousands of law-enforcement and DEA jobs (as if local law enforcement officers didn't have enough to do already, without chasing down pot smokers)?

I really can't fathom the answer to all this.  So I ask you, my readers:  If marijuana was legal, would you rush right out and apply for an ID card?  Do you know a large number of people who would use it recreationally, instead of for it's intended purpose?  And if you DO…  Would you care?