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President Obama has changed the policy that allows federal prosecutors to pursue those who sell and use medical marijuana, when the state laws permit. At present, only 14 U. S. states have legalized the medical use of marijuana - which means you need a prescription for it, and access to a pharmacy certified to dispense it. This does not relax the laws governing recreational use of pot, so don't head out to your greenhouse and start harvesting a little extra weed to sell, even in a state where medical marijuana is legal. The new policy on pot simply says that federal prosecutors should stop targeting people who use or sell medical marijuana, when it is done so within the boundaries of state laws.
Thirty years ago, when my husband's mother was taking some experimental chemotherapy for a relapse of breast cancer, she was very ill with side effects. There were not many premedications to help ward off nausea and vomiting back then, but there were drugs that could be taken after these symptoms began. She wanted to live, to be there for her newly-engaged daughter, her newly-wed son, her devoted husband, and her elderly mother. Already petite and slender, she lost weight from side effects and loss of appetite, and said that one of the drugs she was given impaired her perception of colors. The world seemed to look black and white, itself a hard thing for an artist like her to bear, so she stopped taking that drug. But her other side effects continued as she soldiered on, making as little complaint as possible. Her husband said admiringly, "She's tough!" But a couple of her wilder nephews thought they could help. They put out the word that a little marijuana was needed, and the next time they visited her, they hustled into her room and closed the door. She accepted some home-made marijuana cigarettes as graciously as she could and promised to try it. Later, she said that it didn't help her side effects, but was fun while it lasted. She finished chemotherapy and used her last six months doing things that were very important to her - spending time with loved ones. After she died, just before her 50th birthday, we found some leftover marijuana in a jacket pocket - I don't remember how it was disposed of - but it gave us a chuckle. My mother-in-law was a beautiful, elegant, well-mannered educator and artist, and the thought of her lighting up a curled paper of pot doesn't seem to go with my image of her.
As for her being caught and prosecuted, can you see the cops coming in and busting a 90-pound sick, bald, night-gown swathed breast cancer patient? Her husband was in the Police Reserves, so perhaps he could have gotten some leniency for her. But if she had been arrested, they would have had to take her down to the cop shop on a gurney. That would not have made the local police look very good, now would it?For some cancer patients, medical marijuana may be a real blessing. For others it may seem like a legal loophole for addicts to claim a medical necessity. I never wanted to try it, myself. How do you feel about medical marijuana? Leave a comment or take a poll to voice your opinion. Is it still the "evil weed" - or is it time for a change, at least for medical marijuana?
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Your story is very touching, Pam. But it raises another important point — that we judge drug users based on the very characteristics you identify — age, appearance etc, and we judge their right to use drugs based on incomplete information on their physical and psychological needs. Many addicts use drugs to manage unbearable physical or psychological distress — should a label like cancer be the only thing that distinguishes medication from recreation?
Yet research shows that even physicians do this.
http://addictions.about.com/b/2008/12/10/do-only-nice-people-deserve-drugs.htm
This is going to sound strange from a very conservative Mormon girl who doesn’t currently drink, smoke, or do recreational drugs. I don’t get what the difference is between an alcoholic, a marijuana addict, or a prescription drug addict. We allow people to go into stores and buy alcohol every day and it is probably just as harmful and addictive and yet we call people who legitimately seek pain meds from MD’s as “drug seekers”. If the difference is between being an alcoholic or addicted to Lortab why do we choose one or the other? We ignore the millions of alcoholics in the U.S. but target other addicts and put them in jail. It seems to me that the government wants its cake and eat it too.
I believe in Medical Marijuana. I live in so-california. I had my 1st Epileptic seizure one sunday before I was supposed to go to church, I was just getting up. I was 19 then, im 35 now. I had faith in my Neurologist with the drugs he was prescribing, until my seizures got worse! I went from no medication, to taking 3 or more anti-spazmotics 3X a day. My Epilepsy went from 1 seizure (the 1st), to 20-25 seizures A MONTH! This happened in 1 month. I lost my job, my drivers license, my girlfriend, and many other things that made me feel like I was a real person.
Then, a cousin told me I should try MMJ. I thought ‘wont I go blind, go mad, and kill people’? I saw ‘Reefer Madness’ as a kid. But my cousin said, ‘no way. Try it and see what happens.’
So, after some trepidation and some internet research, I tried the MMJ for one month. I smoked several times a day, AND I stopped taking the anti-spazmotics (the pills). After the month, my seizures went from 20-25 per month… TO LESS THAN 5 PER MONTH!!
If thats not good enough evidence, then come and put me in jail and FORCE me to take the pills that will make my Epilepsy WORSE!! Then the jailers can deal with an unconscious spasming prisoner. Im SURE thats better!!
So, I say… AT LEAST legalize medical MJ. These raids by the feds, WHEN AG HOLDER HAS TOLD THEM TO STOP, are showing that the FBI, DEA, and CIA dont care what the prez and Attorney General have said. This shows that unless the prez publicly chastises them, it will NOT stop! It also says ‘If its not on tv, or in the news, then it DIDNT HAPPEN!!’ and they like it that way, then they dont have to be responsible, file evidence reports and can SELL ALL THEY CONFISCATE ON THE BLACK MARKET!! Of COURSE they dont want legalization, their market would dissapear!! ‘Compromise breeds mediocrity’
If Pam has ever used alcohol, a far more harmfull drug. She is nothing but a 2 faced hypocrite
For the record: I do not use alcohol, tobacco, or firearms. Same goes for recreational drugs. I had to take so many drugs during chemo that it put me off medications almost altogether. I’m now down to one vitamin and one prescription pill per day. For headaches, I take a cup of tea and a cold towel. If I have a substance problem, let’s say it might be chocolate! Brian: Thanks for nominating me for hypocrite, but it won’t stick this time.
My daughter has breast cancer, WHATEVER she needs to feel somewhat normal during chemotherapy should be legal! You must live with and see a chemotherapy patient to understand this belief.
Isn’t it the THC in marijuana that helps some with side effects? Smoking it is more harmful to your lungs than nicotine because people hold it in longer. Couldn’t THC be extracted and given by pill or other method?
I was pretty desperate for relief of my pain and nausea during my chemo. None of the anti nausea meds worked. I tried MJ and it didn’t work; what was worse was that I got the ‘munchies,’ but I was still nauseous and throwing up.
It was like a double whammy of misery.
I believe just like any other drug or abstance it helps some people and doesn’t help others and can harm some people.
The decision should be left up to the individual with input from their doctor.
A tax paying adult should have a right to choose their type of medication. I dont have health insurance and suffer from fibromyalgia and endometriosos. I know I cant smoke daily because if I didi when I need the medical marijuana for the symptoms it wont work.
For me I dont like the
“Feeling high effect”. but when I’m laying on a bed in the fetal position and my twenty six year old daughter is begging me to go to the ER because of the excrcuiating pain I’m in and I will walk hunched over to the garage to smoke and within ten minutes the pain has subsided and in twenty miniutes its gone. I should be able to have my own med when I need it and not some lousy man made pain pill that some capitlaist is lobbying for in Washington.
The pharmasuetical companies dont want marijauna out for the masses to use because it will cut into their profit.
I have cronic back pain. I’m prescribed opiate pain meds. They suck so much, withdrawl when I run out, they only “mask” the pain and not to mention all sorts of other reasons that makes these meds not worth taking. Unfortunitly smoking “herb” doesn’t help my pain but I know it helps many other people in many ways. If it did help my pain I’d be all over. We need our god given right to use all the herbs this world has for us. FREE THE COUNTRY AND THE WORLD – “LEGALIZE IT”
It so sad that people who are suffering this much can be persecuted. A line must be drawn to distinguish those in need of medical marijuana and those who just like marijuana.
There is a really good article on how alcohol has remained the drug of choice in this country and the hypocrisy of the situation here: http://medical-marijuana-law.com/content/?p=77
I feel for this article in so many ways. My brother passed away this summer from leukemia, and during the last year of his life I regularly found him marijuana to use to ease the symtoms and side effects of chemo. This “illegal” marijuana brought him more relief from the nausea and vomiting than his $700/ pill prescriptions. It also stimulated his appetite and helped him gain weight. My older brother was 26, and 215 lbs. It was sad to see him at one point near the end weigh less than me at 145. What works for one will not always wotk for all, agreed, the do have canibanol pills and THC extracts, he was prescribed some, but he preferred to actually ‘inhale’ it worked for him better than the ‘legal’ pills.
I currently am a cancer patient going through chemo and such. This helps me 100% instantly with my nausea and vomiting. I do not understand how some say it didn’t help them at all! I think those either used a strain that was not meant for thier particular ailment or they are to ashamed to admit it helped due to religious beliefs, familyl, ect… World wide studies have proven the benifits of cannabis and the cannabinoids. Please do some research as this is truely a miricle drug that has been even proven to cure, yes CURE cancers! Yes some people abuse things, I know soda addicts, fast foos addicts, pill addicts, ect.. The herb marijuana itself is not addicting it is the persons personality that they tend to be addicts that lead to addiction. Why should the world suffer because of them? When is the last time you heard of someone taking a few hits driving down the road and killing someone? Well I see that every week in the paper due to alcohol! People need to grow up and, inform themselves about fact and fiction
I realise it may be difficult to dismiss the decades of the war on drug`s anti-marijuana exxagerated propaganda, but the truth is that it does aid a wide gammet of medical & mental conditions. Also so many people use it (medically or not), that it is the majority of people who want it to be legal. 14 states voted in medical use… our congress, the dea, and our president Obama have all conceded to state`s guidelines. California is pushing for complete legalization. It is your friends, your family, your neighbors, & your politicians who want it… who vote for it. If we arrest them because we disagree, that is not a democracy… its dictatorship. prohibition didn`t work. prohibiting marijuana won`t work either, plus it boosts our economy…. if all the potheads buy u.s. grown marijuana instead of mexico`s, the money will trickle down, & no court or jailing expenses taken out of your taxes. It would make an excellent export.
It will be interesting to see if the taxation of medical marijuana translates into enough revenue that full legalization is considered. California will have the first chance come November.
David, you took the words right out of my mouth. Its the safest drug in the world. Safer than caffeine. Look it up. Every drug out there has medicinal value. I’ve done 3 years of research on drugs and they all have been used for medicine before. People need to stop thinking what they believe in and read up on stuff and see how it can benefit other people. Stop being selfish and depriving people of a perfectly safe drug. Sadly California wasn’t ready to pass prop 19:( but it will in 4 years when I’ll be elligible to vote. I’m 16 and probably getting a med card soon for multipal reasons. It works great for what I have. We need to make the federal government legalize it for medicinal purposes. That’s all. Have a wonderful day!:D
I have a quesion rather,Is it ok to have another family live with you with children while you have marijuana in your house.You obviously share it with non prescription holders.