Jump to content

Marijuana Use- Medical Or Recreational?


BeachOfEden

Recommended Posts

I feel that stoners advocating medical marijuana use have more likely hurt the cause by makign it less serious. Advocacy with marijuana leaf flags is not so compelling to majority voters as real suffering people.

 

However, in the current political climate, I don't think it much matters who advocates for marijuana. Everyone has to be "tough on drugs". Even liberals politicians (the few of them there are) can't afford to take a stand on this, except in CA (or something).

 

 

--des

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, des, a majority of the public supports the legalization of medical marijuana. Several states, not just California, have passed medical marijuana initiatives. Many conservatives as well as liberals support it! For example: William F. Buckley, the original editor of the conservative magazine National Review, is one of medical marijuana's staunchest allies.

 

Check out this quote from Richard Lowry, from his article "Weed Whackers--the Anti-Marijuana Forces, and Why They're Wrong," from the August 20, 2001 National Review:

 

"In the end, marijuana prohibition basically relies on cultural prejudice. This is no small thing. Cultural prejudices are important. Alcohol and tobacco are woven into the very fabric of America. Marijuana doesn't have the equivalent of, say, the 'brewer patriot' Samuel Adams (its enthusiasts try to enlist George Washington, but he grew hemp instead of smoking it). Marijuana is an Eastern drug, and importantly for conservatives, many of its advocates over the years have looked and thought like Allen Ginsberg. But that isn't much of an argument for keeping it illegal, and if marijuana started out culturally alien, it certainly isn't anymore. No wonder drug warriors have to strain for medical and scientific reasons to justify its prohibition. But once all the misrepresentations and exaggerations are stripped away, the main pharmacological effect of marijuana is that it gets people high. Or as the Lancet [a British medical journal] puts it, 'When used in a social setting, it may produce infectious laughter and talkativeness.'"

 

Another big proponent of the legalization of marijuana is the highly respected New England Journal of Medicine.

 

The issue of medical marijuana was hot for a while, now it's cooled off since the terrorist attacks of 2001, as have debates on other domestic issues. But liberal and even conservative politicians have nothing to fear from supporting this issue, because so much of the public is behind them!

 

Regards,

 

curlytop

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm aware of much of this. The thing is that in the current political climate where everyone is trying to either claim either they are really tough on crime (or drugs) or afraid they won't be tough enough.

 

I think not allowing its medical use is less than principled, but isn't likely to be touched when the drug war is aragin'.

 

 

--des

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just had a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine.... She's a pothead. Plain and simple. Not a cancer patient, no medical reason at all. She just likes to get high.

 

She gave me some insight into the rationale behind the "I want to get high" argument that I'd really like to share.

 

Any person who says they do not use some mechanism to relieve stress and "forget the world" either lives a charmed life or is a liar. Some people go to the movies. Some people take a hot shower. Some people pray. Some people have a glass of wine. Some people smoke cigarettes. And some people smoke pot. The fact of the matter is that the legal precedents set in this country do not support marijuana prohibition of any kind, beginning with the constitutional repeal of the prohibition ammendment and the creation of the tobacco "lobby".

 

The two enormous health liabilities of Alcohol and tobacco are both legal for recreational use. Marijuana has never been shown to have anywhere EVEN CLOSE to the negative health effects that either of these two drugs have. Both alcohol and tobacco are addictive. Marijuana is not. Marijuana has been used safely in every culture around the world and has been documented as a psychoactive substance since before the time of Jesus. Still, NOT ONE confirmed death attributed to marijuana use, excluding allergic reactions, which can happen with ANY substance (like for example, pine..... should pine trees be illegal?). And any substance has the potential for psychological addiction (like.... oh lets see.... FOOD.... We are, by the way, the most overweight nation on earth.... perhaps the right wing fanatics will wage a war on food next).

 

How can the people of this nation justify the exclusion of a SAFER alternative method of relaxation, when each year the leading causes of death in this country are alcohol, tobabcco, and weight related causes? Simple.... we can't. From a strictly biblical point of view, it's hard to say what God would want, and I think that's something everyone has to take up with Him on a personal level.... But LEGALLY, MEDICALLY and SOCIALLY, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever on any level.

 

-Tea

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

terms of service