I completely agree with you on the marijuana use for pain control, however what we have right now in Montana is a complete scam. The statistics show that the bulk of the card holders are in the 20-30 age bracket (typically not a group that is dealing with severe pain and debilitating sickness) and the lack of care standards for most of these caravan "doctors" is making a mockery of the intent of the law. Unfortunately a lot of people are angry about what is going on and hopefully the state legislature reigns in the abuse before the law is repealed.

They should just legalize it instead of it being a joke. Imagine having to go to a doctor to get a case of beer or a bottle of scotch or a packet of cigarettes.

There is no risk analysis from using marijuana, Anybody who tells you otherwise is full of @!$%#. Alcohol,Cigarettes Cheese burgers and Fries have a significant risk analysis

I agree that the caravans may result in some sort of backlash relating to the "spirit" of the law. But what is missing from your posts (## 1 and 1.1) is any mention of any harm being done. As long as the most medically needy are being served, is there really any damage caused by others being allowed medical marijuana too, who may have less severe, or even no, medical need of it? I am afraid that attempts to eliminate supposedly "undeserving" patients receiving the cards will result in barriers to those patients whose need is more acute. Shouldn't we err on the side of access, when there is little or no medically documented down-side?

Right,

as soon as states beging to legalize it, every stoner out there will come up with some "medical" need for it and these progressive quack dotors will only be too happy to write them a script. All well and good for those who REALLY need it, but I think we ALL know damn good and well where this is going.

Dave - read an article here on MSNBC a few weeks ago about the increase in DUI's in California - no harm done? Depends if they kill anyone.

phusi,

I'll tell you a true story. In Roanoke, VA I owned a house that was built in 1905. In the basement I found literally hundreds of old 3-oz medicine bottles with cork stoppers. I assumed that a previous owner was a pharmacist. An elderly neighbor laughingly told me that during Prohibition, the owner, a retired Army Colonel, would stop by the local pharmacy each morning and evening and be dispensed one 3-oz bottle of bourbon each stop. This was unknown to his wife. Every evening he would down both bottles and toss them under the coal chute. So this exact sort of thing has happened before in exactly the same way. During Prohibition, one would simply get a prescription for one's liquor. Poor people drank homebrew.

I am 66 have moderate to severe osteoarthritis. I have had one knee replaced in December and the other is coming due. But it is also in my back, right shoulder and fingers of both hands and is now starting up in my toes of all places. The pain is tough and especially bad since it interferes with my sleep. I cannot take opiates to sleep because they keep me awake and make me jittery. I can tell you for a fact that marijuana is a more effective painkiller than anything that will leave me conscious. And it is not addictive. So, if I had a real choice, I would choose marijuana over the current prescription drugs that I take.

If medical marijuana comes to Alabama (not likely) I will be near the front of the line.

But just think, a little medical marijuana might have saved Rush Limbaugh from a life of crime.

I like that doctors can prescribe boner, mood equalizer, chlosterol, etc pills that can cause dizziness, fainting, ulcers, liver conditions, stroke, death, etc. No problem there. Big pharma paid billions of dollars for you to take these pills. Medical marijuana, whoa, sounds like an epidemic.

Why don't we stop wasting our resources on this. How much money is wasted with police efforts, courts, prisons, etc. You should be able to buy it at walgreens and pay a 15% sin tax. NEXT!

ed liberal , you are brilliant! unfortunately most people are not that bright.

The quacks writing the scripts need to be audited by the IRS and AMA.

is there really any damage caused by others being allowed medical marijuana too, who may have less severe, or even no, medical need of it?

Yes when you consider the fact doctors are being punished for it meaning there are less doctors available for those who are really sick. It also hurts the medical marijuana community, at the very least it makes it much more difficult to convince other states of accepting medical marijuana.

Folks, it's been 70-some years since marijuana was made illegal. Seventy-some years later, no one can tell you why.

It truly has legitimate medical applications. It also is far less dangerous than alcohol. Does anyone remember the disastrous flirtation with alcohol prohibition?

Now, on top of all that, it's high time - no pun intended - that we stop trying to make end runs by pretending this is all about medical use. Marijuana is wonderful. Can anyone - one single person, especially Republicans who hate government intrusion - tell me why we shouldn't be allowed to smoke cannabis in our own homes?

Movin to Montana soon, gonna be a dental floss....er...uh...medical weed tycoon (yes I am)

Pot should be legalized. Why criminalize the millions of poeple who smoke it for reasons ranging to the alleviation of nausea to stress reduction. Like alcohol, it should be a choice for anyone over the age of 18.

Please vote this November to legalize it 8) send a message to politicians we are fed up....

Steve Papa Will it be just you and the Pygmy Pony or is there room for others?

In addition to all the things that have already been said here, one thing struck me that no one has commented on yet.

And that is the fact that the people like the "Christ" individual in the story in all actuality does not EVER want marijuana to be legalized. He is going to become (if he isn't already) a multi millionaire in just a few months. The math is simple.

In only one year the number of the "magic cards" has swelled from 3,000 to over 15,000. So in one year that is a jump of over 12,000 people. And at $150 each JUST FOR THE CARD, not the weed. Some one (a small group actually) has netted over $1,800,000 And the only cost is the fuel to drive an RV around. At the recent stop in Helena they had between 200 and 300 "patients". For just one day,(probably no more than 3 or 4 hours) which means that they pulled in between $30,000 and $40,000. One day ! Just a few hours !Heck, even A-Rod or Kobe don't make that much .

And I don't know or understand how it really works. But I wonder is any of that is taxed, or if it gets to play the bookkeeper ping pong game and end up just "disappearing" somewhere?

Hmmmmm. Does anyone know where I can rent a Winnebago?

The board found that the doctor had seen about 150 people in 14 1/2 hours, or roughly a patient every six minutes, nowhere near enough to provide appropriate care in the eyes of medical observers

I worked at an MMJ dispensary in Colorado. We had a doctor come in on Saturdays for "clinics". He insisted that I schedule patients every TWO MINUTES. He would typically leave after his two hour visit with over $7000 cash in his pocket.

I made up lingo to secretly distinguish "sick" patients from what I believed were potheads so the employees could freely discuss the two. We called people we thought were actually using weed for an illness "Primary Patients" and those who just wanted to smoke freely "Secondary Patients". Primary Patients made up approximately 15% of our clientele.

Therefore, my bosses targeted their advertising at Secondary Patients. The dispensary would have gone out of business had we focused on actual sick people.

My experience was that Medical Marijuana created a big group of liars. Doctors who lie, patients who lie, dispensary employees who lie, etc.

I made it four months, walked out one day, and never came back. Karma's gonna' make me pay for that job- a job I needed desperately.

By the way, I'm pro-legalization all the way.

Why is marijuana illegal? Because it is too effective against pain and does not have serious side effects. The pharmaceutical companies know it will drastically cut their profits.

Pharma companies are prescribing fish oil to horn in on the health food market. How rediculous is that?

Many people are in prison or have records for marijuana possession only. Ruining the lives of otherwise productive citizens and creating a unnecessary financial burden on society.

Stop letting big business push us around for profit. Oil, Insurance , Banking & Pharmaceutical.

Jay put down the oxy-whatever.

Keep it up guy's. Pot should have been made legal years ago. Stupid laws made by stupid people!!

Steve- Thanks for the Zappa. Don't forget you zircon encrusted tweezers.

Every single person who has ever walked this planet has picked his/her "poison."

Be it caffeine or alcohol or nicotine or sugar or burgers/fries or OTC painkillers or just plain old aspirin (all of which are far more dangerous than pot, in my humble but slightly educated opinion), or marijuana, we all have our "poison." (Mine is caffeine).

Legalize it and tax it like booze and cigs and the national debt will magically disappear in 5 years, in my opinion.

I totally agree. Just watch some TV at the end of the ad there list off all these side effects. The only side effect MJ has is to make you want some food.

Because some of us like reality as it is. We don't need to distort our world to feel good about ourselves!

Well don't hurt anything patting yourself on the back Sam.Fact is,humans have been seeking alternative realities for as long as we've existed.Even animals do.

Yeah, you shold be able to spend your welfare checks anyway you want to.

Well if you get into a car accident while high then yes you did harm someone else when high.

I want to know who it is that is having a problem with this.

You have to understand that some people were just raised this way and once indoctrinated that marijuana is bad there's nothing that will ever change their mind. No amount of facts or studies or science will ever change their mind. And it's not just dope, it's most things. Heck there are still people running around that want us to return to the days of prohibition!

Then punish them for that error in judgment, just as we do for drunk drivers. While cannabis impedes driving far less than alcohol does, it should NOT be legal to drive on, or work on, or sell to kids.

And I don't know whose welfare checks you're talking about, I probably fund more welfare families than you do. (at least statistically, it's very likely) Not to brag, but to make the point. Most folks I know who do, pay fiendish taxes. Not every user is a worthless washout, despite the propaganda you've been fed.

26 MILLION Americans have admitted to using cannabis in the last year. That's nearly one in ten. You probably know several, and believe it or not, they're almost normal! There is a vast difference between cannabis use, and cannabis abuse. Just as with alcohol, there are those folks who can use lightly, occasionally, and without it affecting their lives. Then there are those who cannot. Just as alcohol has alcoholics, the issue is not the substance, but the abuse.

Criminalizing 26 million Americans for using a substance that is demonstrably safer than alcohol or cigarettes is demonstrably ineffectual. Alcohol kills 75,000 Americans a year, cigarettes 450,000, and cannabis, the illegal one, used by 1/3 as many cigarettes smokers, is accountable for ZERO. Cannabis is less lethal than aspirin.

Now, I have to agree, that most of those using cannabis medically, are probably doing so at least somewhat on the sly. I know folks whose lives have changed because of it, but most are really just looking to catch a buzz.

Considering it's less addictive and less lethal than alcohol or tobacco, and that we should punish folks for their deeds and not for their addictions, what business is it of anyone's to say no? Please remember, this IS America.

Fred,

Your argument that alcohol kills over 75,000 people a year is not based solely on medical malladies such as sclerosis of the liver, kidney disease, and the like. It also includes drunk driving fatalities and other "alcohol related incidences". If you were to query all law enforcement agencies about DUI/DWI and what the intoxicant was, I know for certain you will find that there are just as many drivers that were high on one substance or an other to include marijuana.

I know of one instance in particular when I was in high school where a classmate was driving high and wrapped his car around a large Douglas Fir. He had 3 friends in the car with him and no one made it out alive. Still an other instance later on that same year where a friend was driving home after a football game and an on-coning car crossed the center line and nearly killed him. He wound up with the rear view mirror sticking out of his head. The driver of the other car was high. These are just from high school. There are many others through the years.

An other thing to think of: if people drive drunk and high, what about pilots? There are numerous incidences over the years of drunk pilots. How many of them were high on something?

And as for there being no harmfull substances and no proof that marijuana is physically harmful, you are dead wrong. There are multiple sources out there that cite over 400 chemicals in marijuana. Marijuana has tars, carcinogens, and other lung damaging properties just as cigarettes do. To deny is to act exactly as Big Tobacco did all of those years that they tried to deny their damaging effects of their product.

So your argument that marijuana use has hurt no one at any time holds NO water. Try again later.

Wow, where did you go to school???The exact same thing happend at my school...only it was ALWAYS alcohol and NEVER pot. You spout a bunch of stats that you can NOT back up. Cannabis also has a side effect other than hunger...clinically an "overdose" induces sleep...look it up...and without blackout driving (Ambian). Pharmaceutical drugs are dangerous...period. Unless you are for the elimination and criminalization of ALL prescription drugs, alcohol and tobacco...you are a freaking bonified hipocrite. Try using your own mind for once and quit parroting what you have heard.

"Marijuana has tars, carcinogens, and other lung damaging properties just as cigarettes do. "

Well, 2 out of three you are correct on. SMOKED marijuana does contain carcinogens and tars. It does NOT contain the other lung damaging properties that cigarettes do. Studies have shown that not only does smoking cannabis NOT cause cancer (despite the HIGHER level of carcinogens), but that it actually REDUCES cancer risk. That's right, there is potential for FIGHTING cancer there. But the whole point is moot if you simply eat foods cooked from it, or use a vaporizer (No combustion = no carcinogens).

And I can't disagree with drivers or flying while high, which is why i said it should NOT be legal to drive or work on (RIF baby). Yep, it does impeded reaction times, but nowhere near as badly as alcohol does. Again, look for the studies, science proves out my claim. Furthermore, I NEVER said it never harms anyone, but that it is FAR LESS HARMFUL than other, already legal intoxicants (though there is a dearth of true statistical analysis of who is hurt by it, thank the 'War on Drugs' for that lack of data). All we want is parity. If what I like is less harmful than what Joe likes, why does Joe get to use his, and I can't use mine?

So your claim that I claimed that it's never hurt anyone holds NO water. As do most of your points.

Although acute cannabis intoxication following smoking has been shown to mildly impair psychomotor skills, this impairment is seldom severe or long lasting. Studies have shown that marijuana's acute effects on psychomotor performance include minor impairments in tracking (eye movement control and decreased peripheral vision) and slower reaction time, as well as variation in lateral positioning, headway (drivers under the influence of cannabis tend to tailgate less), and slower speed following cannabis inhalation. In general, these variations in driving behavior are noticeably less consistent or pronounced than the impairments exhibited by subjects under the influence of alcohol. Also, unlike subjects impaired by alcohol, individuals under the influence of cannabis tend to be aware of their impairment and try to compensate for it accordingly, either by driving more cautiously or by expressing an unwillingness to drive at all. As a result, cannabis-induced variations in performance do not appear to play a significant role in on-road traffic accidents when THC levels in a driver's blood are low and/or cannabis is not consumed in combination with alcohol.

cannon you are 100% correct.................when some one is high they drive slow and very carefully. most likely they avoid driving at all because it aint no fun to have to focus on driving and actually ruins your buzz. thats right ....you lose your buzz!

thats the difference between alcohol and pot..........with pot you can lose your buzz if you are forced to think about something seriously. not the case when your drinking.

My 15 year old daughter shares with me that Oxycontin (and pills in general) and ecstasy are the drugs of choice with the kids...commercials tell them that pills are good...you should even ask your doctor if you need them...and then we tell them that pot is bad...they are not stupid, they have tried pot and found out first hand what it does...at the same time they have decided that the adults that told them pot is bad are liars, or at least do not know what they are talking about...this leads to very dangerous behaviors...it is not freaking rocket science folks...so if we tell them pot is bad, they find out that it is not even close to alcohol that their mindless drunk parents approve of...so maybe unprotected sex is all propaganda too...and if Cannabis is classified as more dangerous than heroin or cocaine...why not try those too???? Quit lying to your kids!!! They are not as dumb as you think!

you sir are uneducated about marijauna,

Eggs can and will kill you either from cholesterol or salmonella or severe allergic reaction ( take your pick )

Tylenol kills a lot more people than marijuana

Aspirin kills more people in the world combined than eggs and Tylenol combined!! gastric ulcers bleeding after injuries (it does save millions of people also

3/4 of them were under the age of 30. ... So i'm going to have to conclude most marijuana users are just lazy bastards

Um ... wow. Not sure why you're so (incredibly) hostile toward pot, but has it occurred to you that maybe people over 30 have been more indoctrinated with misleading and inaccurate anti-drug propaganda, and are therefore more distrustful of marijuana as treatment?

Then again, it's not like a i'm going to trust any marijuana user in a white collar job either. I mean, do you really think that a person on marijuana is going to have my best interest at heart holding my money at their bank? Or that i'd trust them with my child if I needed a babysitter?

You almost undoubtedly already do trust pot smokers in positions of trust. People at all levels in business and government smoke pot for decades on end with no ill effects. Why is it that you think smoking pot somehow makes one less likely to have your interests at heart? In my experience, pot increases empathy. As long as they're not doing it on the job, which should go without saying, where is your evidence that it has any ill effects on anyone's trustworthiness or character?

Yeah not very bright but then again is he just trying to stir his pot? Just wondered. Maybe is on Lexapro or Valium and stays pissed off all the time? Who knows?

I totally disagree with almost everything you stated in your post. I have a medical marijuana card. I've had bilateral shoulder surgeries in the last two years and still have trouble sleeping from the pain. I hate taking percocet because of the hangover and vicodin does nothing for me. If I smoke once a week, it helps to alleviate pain for the entire week, and helps me to sleep better. And an added side effect which I later discovered, was the alleviation of my chronic depression I've battled since childhood. I haven't smoked in about a month, and not surprisingly, some of my depression has returned.

By the way, I have a degree in nuclear medicine, write novels (am published), and my creativity is helped when I smoke regularly. I'm far from lazy, except for friday nights when I hunker down on the couch to play xbox with my best friend from high school.

I guess I'm what you call your typical stoner in the year 2010.

Key...do you live in some bubble somewhere?

Do you have any REAL idea of just how many and WHO smokes it? You'd be surprised. Many are far far from dumb. I know people who are incredibly successful who smoke it, business owners, politicians, you name it.

There is nothing wrong with it....alcohol kills, pain killers kill, cigarettes kill. Marijuana does NOT and never has killed. I highly doubt there has been a divorce over it.

I've always said I'd rather my kids smoke than drink.

Go do some research. You'll be amazed at what you will learn.

Get a hobby.

And i'm sure the doctor said to "work the muscles", otherwise if you don't you WILL have constant pain for the rest of your misbegotten little life. The muscle will atrophy, in which case you use it for any lifting or heavy lifting, your going to be in any and all sorts of pain.

And you believe that the marijuana is going to help you for that pain. I'm sure it will, because your muscles will not get the proper stretching and exercise it needs to fully heal.

Your a dumbass.

KeyOrion:

Wow! it is almost painful to see posts like yours. Not really for the ignorance of the reality of marijuana. But for the inability to realise what is actuall happening with this situation. The majority of these people are NOT getting a medical marijuana card because they have pain. They are getting the card so that they don't have to go to prison for 3-5 years for half a joint that some Dudley Do Right State Trooper finds after searching someone that looks " suspicous" because they don't have a crew cut and a button down shirt.

you are a total______. OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I do not need to add anything else as I am sure MANY others will enlighten you if you could get past your endoctrination.

.

You must be a glass half full kind of girl. A trait to be admired for sure.

Laura,

People like you are prime target for this type of scams, and a good example why we need to regulate the use.

My mother died of cancer before I was two. Aunts, both grandmothers, both grandfathers and my father all have had or died from some form of cancer. I have smoked cannabis for 27 years and now also occasionally take it internally just for it's anti-cancer properties. Cannabis is a good thing...the propaganda that has made and kept it a jailable offence is PURE evil.

I still have messed up cognition from taking the highly addictive anti-deppressant Effexor XR. It was as hard as cigarettes to quit and had massive vertigo for a month (I quit smoking cannabis for 1.5 years and end up on this crap)...I will not do something so stupid again.

My daughter is very thankful that I smoke...it makes me a better parent/person/towel;)

MMJ has made my life better, and maybe someday will return the job of law enforcement back to SERVING and PROTECTING once again rather than REVENUING!

Yes, Check out L.E.A.P. they are attempting to restore honor to the miscreant pigs that rove our streets like the other color wearing gangs!

sounds like a hillbilly cop to me

I clicked on that web page, just what, are you suggesting out of state'rs do?

Right.Blame it on Obama.You realize prohibition has been tried and the result has been crime and murder on an epic scale.Look at Mexico.

You got an anger problem!

No, he gets high on being an arrogant, self-righteous, anonymous, person.

Anonymous? Ok, I can play that game. My real name is Jeremy D. Williams.

I live at 928 N.W. Spring st, Apt#3 newport, oregon 97365.

And I hate people who use marijuana, mostly because their looking for any "excuse" to get high for no other reason than they want to get high.

So taxpayer? You want to remain anonymous on who you are and what you believe in? Or you just gonna remain anonymous, and think that i'm to afraid to say who I am and where the @!$%# I live?

Arragont? A little, since I can safely say that marijuana is @!$%#, for @!$%# smokers.

And yes, it's a subject that I have been angry over for a very long time. Because you all believe you know everything about the crap, even the guy up above brought his "wife" into the arguement because "she's a psychologist". You want to know how many psychologists actually prescribe "medicinal marijuana" for people that are "depressed". Way to @!$%#ing many. And their not even doctors.

Plays D&D? Enough said. Has a perfect grasp on reality. Cool!

:) Yes, it's a game that you can play with pencil and paper and dice. And it's fun. And you don't need marijuana to play it. :D Which is great!

And you want to lecture me about reality, when you screw around on World of Warcraft? Get serious.

Key,

You're from OREGON and you are not HIGH? Holy $hit, I though I was the only one sober in the state when I joined the Army and left. Lived in White City, went to Eagle Point HS.

And by the way, you're NEVER going to convince a stoner that they can harm themselves or someone else smokin' dope. Yes, there are plenty of people that derive great help from the properties of good ol' Mari-Jane. But, for every one that it helps, there are many times more people out there that just wanna get high for fun. Good luck convincing the brick walls out there. Peace.

Wow D&D!!! I have met a few people who did this...even tried twice...even high I do not have a goofy enough imagination for this!!!

By dudes address and and his rhetoric, it is bcoming clear that he is not as old as once thought (probably about 19) and is from a family of out of work loggers who blame their woes on a girl named Butterfly and her beloved tree. Oregon is a lovely state, but NOWHERE else is as polarized....Hippies and Loggers...that's it...can't we all get a bong????

I guarantee that D&D is a favorite game amongst the former geeks turned wife beating, dog kicking cops.

Take a little day trip and drive 60 miles inland...see the sun...smile...hell have a Budweiser if it makes you happy...live and let live.

why dont we all call info and then call key- mr williams and discuss this personally.

I have dismissed 9 employees on a major Telecom company for positive pot tests over a five year period.

Every one of these employees were given a second chance after the first positive test. Even knowing that they will be tested within 3 months after the first they could not stop.

I don't buy the no dependence argument.

Your argument has to be the most illogical piece of drivel I've read in a long time.

The three people you know who had a "problem" does not make a reliable or valid study. Really just sounds like you need to get some new friends.

Ditto

Key, Sam, please consider a narrow limited view never lends itself well to the formation of an accurate OPINION...

How much more are you willing to spend for another 40 years of ZERO results?

This ain't your gran pappy's drug war no mo'...times they are a CHANGIN'...

An opinion is neither accurate or inaccureate. It's an OPINION and BELIEF.

So, baby boomers are getting old, and that means when they die, they'll change the laws because the baby's grew up to be pot heads?

I don't think that's how laws are changed.

Observation not experience, hmmm. I've smoked for years and when i go dry for 2 or 3 weeks I don't feel like I'm dieing. I'll tell you how i feel after combat, since my life changed. I have a problem going to sleep because my mind races with thoughts, it becomes hard to relax, I become hateful toward stupidity (thanks academia, media, and religion).

I think their eyes work. Go read "common sense" by Thomas Paine

110pct

If your argument is that the existing enforcement does not work I am 100% with you.

Failure of enforcement of illegal drugs does not answerer dependecy questions, health questions, etc.

education graunded on facts may be more effective ... it did a major dent on the tobacco industry ...

Key...first you admit to being from podunk coastal Oregon, then claim to have lots of experience in inner city drug rehabs...people who check themselves into drug rehab for MJ addiction are looking for attention...that's it...listen to them, feel sorry for them...if you want to help them.

Feel like you are going to die???? give me a freaking break! You are spouting out right lies/propaganda. I have quit a couple of times for a couple of reasons...your mood will be a little poor and you will have trouble sleeping and some racing thoughts...damn I sure hope death is that easy. And as for the sleep problem...1-3 servings of alcohol, while not good for you will help and be MUCH better than anything prescribed or OTC for sleep. I have smoked MJ on a daily basis for longer than you have been beatin up hippy kids/breathing logger boy.

They are admitting they have a problem, and are seeking others to help them kick that problem out of their lives.

As for sleep problems, read up on warm milk.

Bull@!$%#, the largest corporations received government grants to see if the chemical composition of marijuana's benefits could be put in a pill form, without the deterious effects of stupidity being a side effect. Which actually worked because they did come up with liquid forms.

People don't use the liquid form of Cannibus (lets call Marijuana as marijuana just like a cigar is called a cigar), because the high is no longer there, even though it does cause PAIN RELIEF.

So tell me?

A liquid form that doesn't give you a high, but does take care of pain relief?

But you all would rather smoke it to get high?

That doesn't make any "medical" sense.

So F-U-hypochristians, your nothing more than a lieing toke smoking sonofabitch that just wants to get @!$%#ed up. Just admit your logic was way flawed, and that none of you actuallY RESEARCHED JACK @!$%#, about the CURRENT MEDICAL BREAK THROUGHS OF CANNIBUS IN WHOLE OR GENERAL.

OHmygod. You people really REALLY need to do your research better. @!$%#ing jesus christ.

F-U-hypochristians -

On what basis are you making your argument? Do you have any prove that the pharma industry is lobbing the FDA to stop legalization of marijuana?

Extinguish your pipe for a couple of months and then re-read all the sources on which you based your argument. You may be amazed at how stupid and counterproductive those arguments are to pursuing an intelligent discussion to the potential benefits of marijuana.

Oh so if it was legal, bad things would not happen when people are high? Hmm...actually that arguement fails in the extreme. What your stating, literally this is what your stating in your arguement, is if it WAS LEGAL, none of that bad @!$%# that I observed would have never have happened?

...I really don't understand that arguement.

If an illegal drug was legal...bad things magically do not happen...

Ok, lets try this from another angle...bad things will never happen to individuals or other individuals through the use of drugs of the first party...if the drugs were legal.....

....

........

...............

No, even at that angle it still doesn't sound right.

=) Your stoned right now arn't you?

Those codes are called ICD 10 for billing purposes. A nationally accepted code for diagnostic and treatment procedures in order for the physician or clinic to be paid for their work. She would be correct in her analysis.

@ Chris

Marijuana is a substance which can be labeled under abuse laws. Which means an individual may seek treatment for what they believe to be an addiction to the abuse of that substance. Marijuana is a physical substance, and does not fall under "pscyhological" doctorates for prescribed areas where the druggee can seek assistance of a medical practitioner to relieve themselves of the physical ailments of the abusive substance.

The drug itself may cause emotional or mental distress or other physical ailments which a medical practitioner of the mental profession would reckognize.

No long term marijuana substance abuse survey has ever been taken, since it's been considered illegal for a very long time. Why take a survey on something that's been illegal. Hence there would be no Tier one classification book system exist for the @!$%#.

And I'm glad your wife is a psychologist for a Tier 1 university, but a psychologist is a long way from a medical practiioner. One treats the mind, one treats the body, so clearly your wife thinks she knows more than someone that has actually visited drug rehabilitation clinics and witnessed the actual symptoms of the people suffering from their actual addictions.

I say, your wife needs to get off her high horse and out of her little room, take her notepad out of the classroom, and take it to somewhere where the physical and mental suffering of drug addicts are more visible.

Or does your wife think that she's to good to go get her hands dirty at a drug clinic?

I quit smoking pot twice to see how it was affecting me. Once for 5 months ( It took that long to test clean ) then again for three months! I had no withdrawl and no trouble with quitting other than I hurt more and had to take more pain and anti-spasm meds.

Awww, Key is just playing devil's advocate with us all. He really is a stoner and wants to get the most vociferous pro-legal arguments he can in advance of November's vote. Then he will have easy access to weed across the border - California, not Mexico, that is. Good going, Key. Peace be with you, brother.

What about the meth lovers ..gonna leave them out ? You say prohibition never works so everything should be legal.. or just the stuff you like ?

Ick. Meth? The main two ingrediants is Muriatic Acid and MEK (household disolvent that is an industrial strength cleaner).

Why anyone would want to take a little pill made from two caustic acids which can eat flesh...I havn't a clue.

meth, coke, heroine, crack if used daily, will take you down fast and hard.

alcohol, if abused, will get you and your family sooner or later. Usually later and affects generations of the same family

marijuana.........?

:) Not anymore, since members of the European Union have already succeeded in genetically altering the base plants to product a higher level of THC, so that the marijuana's effect is more long lasting. Regular marijuana can be found in the body's system 30 days after first use. The altered plant has a TLC level which can be detected in the human body 60 days after first use.

Yes it is a plant, and if you ate the leaves it would be just a plant. But since you don't burn it to give yourself warmth on a cold night, your using it for something that the body does not naturally need. Which is the smoke. The body does not like smoke, it actually hates it, because it interferes with the amount of oxygen gets to your brain.

But since your smoking it, and smoking something into your lungs which was made for oxygen, kind of turns it into an unnatural source.

So if you ate it, it would be a natural thing.

If you smoke it, than it's an unnatural usage of the plant, and is one of the reasons why it's labeled as a drug.

You know, chances are if you ate it, it might be more legal because the effects are considered very short, and may not effect the bodily chemistry to the point where smoking it may have more problems.

Salad anyone?

I have used this plant and you are nuts! Sure it is good for pain! Use marijuana and you don't know if you are afoot or horseback much less feel pain! You are trying to put a postive spin on something bad, I'm not easily pacified either!

I disagree with burning is an unnatural use, and we know that smoking anything is bad for your body, but we claim it makes us happy which is a right, one of those that can't be enumerated and we claim religious grounds. Now, I don't agree with the manipulation or the potency nor the use of growth hormones on live stock or the use of sterile seeds, both practices within our food supply. Thank consciousness and science for these advancements. Back to burning being unnatural. When early man came across a wild fire (which were in no short supply) they noticed smells and affects from different fuels.

Since smoking is bad use a vaporizer, but cannabis smoke is not more harm full then modern cigarettes or alcohol. Go ahead eat all you want and after your insides relax you'll spend your buzz sitting on the throne, while I have a hack attack and become happy. When will people stop trying to seperate us from nature, we as humans haven't changed only technologyhas. Remember to vote sugar a drug, it changes the chemicals in the brain also and will cause hyper-activity, tooth decay, weight gain, mood swings, do i need to tell you any more, almost sounds like ADD to me.

I didn't mention pain relief cause I still feel the pain it just helps me to forget about the pain for awhile. Whats crazy is they way this country is being administered. (read Hegel, Kant, Jefferson, Paine)

I am trying to put a positive spin on something positive. It has many industrial uses as well.

If you can't tell if you are walking or riding it isn't for you, just like rainbows nobody sees the same one.

You'll never be pacified if you don't think for yourself, there is a big big world out there in which to learn from. Good and Evil is a myth, Life and Death isn't.

Tigger you have bounced one too many times on your tail!!! Gosh am I affoot or on horseback...I really can't tell! wow that was funny...thanks!