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Plainsman1963

Get High, Feel Better, Be Arrested: The Medical Marijuana Battle
04-29-06 | BlogCritics.Org | Howard Dratch

The American Medical Marijuana Association on its website declares that it "recently received official recognition by the United States government as one of the top organization websites promoting medical marijuana law reform. This recommendation appears in a briefing by the White House and is available online at the official web site for the White House Drug Policy."

I think that would be wonderful but why, I wonder, am I plagued by doubts of the validity of this assertion? But that is the reason for the link on "website." Check it out.

This is one of those stories which, in America, should not be touched with that stick I have been missing... a 10 or longer foot pole.

It is similar to Steven Hart's article here on Blogcritics, Politics Kills: Clean Needle Exchange Blocked in NJ. The answers seem simple: allow people to be safe and free of disease, allow freedom of choice, and provide access to medical needs. Oddly, there are those who disagree.

Imagine this: you have been told that you are dying of cancer. It is rotting away one of your organs - perhaps your brain. They will try valiantly to save your life. You will try chemotherapy and radiation treatment and some new drugs that interfere with the immune system. The physicians mention that you may see some side-effects. Nothing much. Nausea, fatigue, vomiting. They don't explain how bad it will be.

Mostly they don't explain that there is a drug to make it more tolerable. It doesn't matter. You aren't allowed to take it.

Imagine you suffer chronic, unbearable pain from this or that cause. It hurts. Now imagine that they have a drug to help ameliorate the agony. It doesn't matter. You aren't allowed to take it.

Imagine you were a photographer or a painter and you have developed glaucoma. While you wait for high-tech treatments terrified for your sight there is a drug that might help the disease and the fear. Don't worry. You aren't allowed to have it.

Imagine one of those digestive ailments that leave people wasting away and unable to eat, lacking appetite. There is something that might save your life by giving you the munchies. Don't worry. It is illegal.

Better yet: In those sovereign states that have democratically voted to allow the use of marijuana for medical use, the federal government — your government — is ready to arrest those who do what the state allows them to do to help ameliorate their suffering. This was understandable when some states insisted on enslavement of human beings. Studying the action of an herb and its medical uses is not quite the same thing.

Canada, at least, is far more civilized and maintains a site The Medical Use of Marijuana. They have shown up America by allowing medical testing and prescription use of the needed substance. There are other ways of looking at drugs, medications and the need for compassion in the law. America needs to look elsewhere for a model of drug control, investigation of medicinal herbs and plants, and the overwhelming importance of caring for people rather than concentrating on castigation.

The American Medical Marijuana Association also declares that,

Scientists now say that Cannabis, the third most popular recreational drug after alcohol and tobacco, could boost brain power.

Canadian researchers found that experiments on rats which were given a potent cannabinoid, showed the drug stimulates the growth of new brain cells. It appears that the drug caused neurons to regenerate in the hippocampus, an area that controls mood and emotions, after one month of treatment.

You can take that one with a grain of salt or, better yet, surf on over and take a look. That is the whole idea. The Internet offers a wealth of information and arguments on both sides of the question. American media appears cowed into avoiding the subject when possible to avoid the wrath of the central government.

Researchers are probably ready to initiate research projects and there is little question that there will be those ready and willing to volunteer for the studies. The missing link is a vengeful and wrathful government still held enthralled by the specter of Reefer Madness and the nameless, racist fears of drug-maddened perverts waiting to ravage our womenfolk.

There are exceptions. Drug War Facts notes that there are important organizations that have endorsed medical access to marijuana. These include,

the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Family Physicians; American Bar Association; American Public Health Association; American Society of Addiction Medicine; AIDS Action Council; British Medical Association; California Academy of Family Physicians; California Legislative Council for Older Americans; California Medical Association; California Nurses Association; California Pharmacists Association; California Society of Addiction Medicine; California-Pacific Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church; Colorado Nurses Association; Consumer Reports Magazine; Kaiser Permanente; Lymphoma Foundation of America; Multiple Sclerosis California Action Network; National Association of Attorneys General; National Association of People with AIDS; National Nurses Society on Addictions; New Mexico Nurses Association; New York State Nurses Association; New England Journal of Medicine; and Virginia Nurses Association.

They mention editorial boards that endorse medical access: "The Boston Globe; Chicago Tribune; Miami Herald; New York Times; Orange County Register; and USA Today."

Other groups have "favorable opinions" on accessible research "(e.g., unimpeded research) on medical marijuana. These groups include: The Institute of Medicine, The American Cancer Society; American Medical Association; Australian Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health; California Medical Association; Federation of American Scientists; Florida Medical Association; and the National Academy of Sciences.

The F.D.A. is not in agreement and cannot be ignored completely. Their website makes the report available: "Inter-Agency Advisory Regarding Claims That Smoked Marijuana Is a Medicine". Yahoo News also links to an article "FDA Opposition to Medical Marijuana Fuels Controversy" Don't ignore the opposition.

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"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." - Claire Wolfe

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