tales from the ditch

Here’s one more reason medical marijuana should be legalized federally.  

A small dose lessens pain (due to increased serotonin levels) but a larger dose increases pain (due to decreased serotonin levels).  Hmm, don’t you think it would be nice if doctors could prescribe standardized extracts of marijuana?  And NO, I do NOT mean Sativex and Marinol, which only contain THC and do not contain the myriad of other beautiful antioxidant cannabinoids present in natural medicinal hemp.

Oh, and how about this one: some illegal cannabis growers use fertilizers and pesticides which are largely unnecessary for cannabis growth.  A lot of people with pain are very sensitive to additives like this, and if there’s no certified organic status for their medicinal marijuana…. well, you see where this is going.  

Legalize the plant.  Legalize industrial hemp.  Legalize medical marijuana.  Regulate and tax it.  

People can grow tobacco plants in their homes, and did you know that eating two cigarettes’ worth of tobacco is enough to KILL you?   Well, it is.  If you ate two joints’ worth of cannabis, absolutely nothing would happen to you.  You wouldn’t even get high.  It’s like eating lettuce.  

And yet somehow, I can’t be trusted to grow the stuff in my own home, even though I’m certainly welcome to grow tobacco or brew beer?  If my infant or toddler gets ahold of my tobacco or alcohol, I’m calling poison control immediately and panicking all the way to the ER.  (And let’s not even discuss the legality of firearms in this respect.)  

If my infant or toddler gets ahold of a marijuana plant, on the other hand, I don’t have to worry, because unless the kid has learned how to smoke it or make an oil-based solution from it, absolutely nothing bad will happen.  Come on.  Is this prohibition logical?  Is it really for the safety of our kids?

Doctors should be able to prescribe controlled doses just like they do for much more addictive medicines like cocaine, amphetamines, and opioids.  Home growers should be able to purchase testing strips to help them standardize their own homemade medications.  I mean, when I buy alcohol at the liquor store (which, by the way, has no accepted medicinal purpose), it’s labeled with the proof.  That’s to help me regulate my consumption.  It’s helpful.  I like it.  And it’s possible to create tests for THC just like it’s possible to create tests for alcohol or any other compound.

It isn’t rocket science.  It’s really quite simple.  Work with the potheads, instead of against them, and we’ll all be much happier. 

Just because a few underage kids have keg parties, and just because a few people are alcoholics, doesn’t mean the prohibition of alcohol is a good solution.  We tried that.  It failed.  Let’s learn from our mistakes.