In this new age of imminent terror threats why are we prosecuting people for using medical marijuana? Does the government have better things to do than stop cancer patients from using medical marijuana?

This is a state's rights issue. California legalized medical marijuana and the DEA is going after people who aren't in violation of the state law. John Ashcroft is only for state's rights when it helps his conservative policies survive.

RancidUncle, were you listening to NPR this morning, too? Medical Marijuana Asylum (You'll need Realplayer or Windows Media Player)

I will be interested to learn if the Canadian government will accept these people as political refugees.

I'm bothered by the idea of classifying marijuana as medicine. While it can be used as medicine, it can be used for recreation as well. I wouldn't want it regulated by the FDA and force people to have to get a prescription from a doctor and buy it in a pharmacy. That seems as stupid as keeping it illegal. It's a plant.

So is Peyote.


Back OT ... The government has a vested interest in stamping out Marijiuana use because it has basically already committed too much to the War on Drugs to back down.

Why does it bother you? Your description of medical/recreational use is true for any number of prescription medicines. Opium derivatives like morphine are recognized medically and have been for a long time. Many medicines are derived from plants originally, whether or not the medicine used is synthetic or not. Marijuana's psychoactive ingredient, THC, has been used to produce the medicine Marinol, which has several medically recognized uses: as an anti-nausient, and for boosting appetite, as well as for relieving many symptoms of glaucoma.

It makes sense that marijuana should be available by prescription; in fact there is NO medical reason NOT to make it available. There are a couple of major reasons why it should be used as a medicine, and be legal for recreation as well.

First, it is not physically addictive. The withdrawal effects of coming off prolonged morphine use are horrible. Not so for THC. While one can be psychologically addicted to it, that's really a different ball game.

Secondly, and this is particularly true if it is ingested rather than smoked, it is a drug with no problematic side effects, and no interaction problems to speak of. By interactions, I should perhaps explain: most prescription drugs, as well as many OTC drugs, have harmful and sometimes potentially fatal effects when mixed with other drugs. This is called drug interaction. There are drugs that, if you take them while on something else, can kill you, or at the least have their effect nullified. This is why it is very important to be honest with your health care provider when they ask you about what substances you may be taking. They are not going to turn you in (although as a side note, this is yet another reason why medical records should remain completely private and inviolate). Marijuana is fairly unique in having no interaction problems to speak of. It also has a toxicity level (fatal dosage) SO high (pardon the pun) that you cannot reach it no matter how hard you try.

The second reason is perhaps the most important one. Particularly with cancer, the treatment is often almost as bad as the disease. When you have a drug which can be used to relieve symptoms, fight the nausea associated with chemotherapy, and boost appetites often suppressed by drug therapy, and which furthermore can be used safely in conjunction with any given drug regime, it is insane not to let it be used medically. It just doesn't make sense. Why can doctors prescribe medicines derived from opium, yet not marijuana?

The logical reasons for legalizing marijuana are well documented and well argued. I think Jaime was pointing out how rediculous it is to keep such a benign plant illegal. It's as if barley were to be made illegal because beer can be brewed from it, or many of the medicinal plants used in homeopathy because they can be used as mild psychotropics.

Marijuana is also classified as a narcotic, which is just factually wrong. Narcotics come from the poppy plant--whole different species.

Of all our laws that display irrationality in lawmaking, this one takes the bud. No, I mean "cake."

States rights is definately an issue here as various states try to get out from under the federal drug laws. Drug policy is mandated, not like the other federal programs where the states can opt out but not recieve funding for highways and the such. That practice itself can be argued, but it's a little off subject because extortion has so much to do with the arguments, and that revolves into the income tax issue.

Marijuana can be abused, and I've seen this happen. However, the abuse leads to a constant state of being silly, paranoid, and satisfied with really bad food and entertainment. Silly because everything seems hillarious, paranoid because this is an illegal activity, and satisfied with less because--well, why do you need anything else? And man, doesn't that cafeteria food taste great?

Now, we can't possibly maintain a consumer-based economy with people running around being satisfied, can we? Oh, and these people enjoy sex much, too much. Gad, without repression, we won't be able to sell ANYTHING!

They also go protesting this and that (the Nixon state of mind). Well, as you can see, legalizing marijuana would probably change our entire cuture! Oh my, can't have that. Why, with people stoned and thinking, hey, don't we all have responsibility for each other--couldn't that lead to (gack!) so-shall-izm?

And so, marijuana remains illegal.