It seems totally obvious for the Justice Department to have the new policy of not prosecuting medical marijuana users/growers in states where it is legal to do so. Well, duh. That never made sense to me, especially as it was the Republican administration imposing Federal law on States. Wait, aren’t they for state’s rights? I guess they are only for state’s rights when it fits their world view.
I am thrilled by this. I do not live in one of the 13 states that have passed medical marijuana laws. I do not have cancer or another ailment in which marijuana would be helpful. Still, this is such a step in the right direction. Let’s leave off the discussion of the effectiveness of prosecuting minor marijuana possession with long jail sentences for the time being. Let’s just look at the medical side. Given the Justice Department decision, it seems possible that there could be a chance for medical marijuana laws to be passed in other states. It lends credibility to the use of the drug. It gives me hope.
The state I live in is about as conservative as you can get and there is no way that medical marijuana is coming here any time soon. Still, I hope. And I do hope. I have a friend with cancer. She is undergoing treatments currently and has lost twenty pounds already. She cannot eat. She cannot sleep. Her support group begs her to eat. She eats – then loses everything she eats. We beg her to drink fluids with the same results. She is at work – not wanting to risk her job or her insurance – but in the bathroom throwing up four or five times a day. She is on prescriptions to help her sleep, to help with the nausea and to calm her nerves. All of these drugs cost a fortune on top of the already expensive chemo treatments. It is a drug company’s dream. A patient needs a treatment that makes them need a bunch more. The thing is; they really don’t work. Obviously. If they did, my friend wouldn’t be in the bathroom right now throwing up the breakfast I made her eat.
You know what really just pisses me off? Her doctor told her that if she lived in California he would prescribe her with marijuana – for nausea, to help her sleep and to calm the anxiety. In other words, it would replace the three prescriptions she is taking and paying for now.
Here here! I want medical marijuana to be legal as a foothold for across the board legalization. Can I admit that? Sure I can because 44% of Americans agree – legal for any use. As it is, a prescription can be had for anything in a “medical marijuana state”. And that’s good. We’ve spent so long looking over our shoulders that we are still uncomfortable talking about it in public. Pot should be legal. Say it with me. Pot should be legal. Alcohol does a lot more damage but it’s legal. It’s legal because we tried to do away with it and just empowered a bunch of gangsters. Sound familiar? And think of the tax money!! Lots and lots of people smoke pot. A bunch more would if it was legal. We’ve been ranting so long about why it should be legal…I’d like to hear the argument against from the opposition.
Ok, end of rant. I forget about the cancer patients and the people taking cocktails for life-threatening diseases. I feel a little guilty. They need this. It’s right there and they can’t have it…and it helps. A lot.