Medical Marijuana

Hopefully this is a topic that is allowed.
Currently Medical Marijuana is available in 13 states and Washington DC. There are bills and initiatives in other states at the moment.
I live in a state that has 2 bills and a grass roots movement to force the use of it onto the ballot for 2012.
I personally would be a candidate for useage (arthritis and neuropathy). I also can say that it has helped me, tho I certainly was sceptable when it was offered. I was in Maine for a family gathering and catching up with a few cousins and my symptoms came up. One cousin asked if I had ever tried Medical Marijuana. After a brief exchange of yeah yeah the California people just use that as an excuse to get stoned, and the response was make up your own mind and don't rely on hearsay.
Bottom line, it changed a bad day with the neuropathy to a pretty good day.
After returning home I started to do some research online and found a vast amount of information out there. Some good and some questionable.
My question to everyone is:
If this were on the state ballot would you vote for or against? You might not benefit from the drug (yes it is a drug just like alcohol and aspirin), but you may know someone who might benefit.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Rick

By VARickbear | 01/08/2012 08:29 AM | 11 comments

Comments are disabled for this blog post.

Beht: I understand perfectly. When I was in my wayward youth, living in Germany, printing an anti-war newspaper and doing copious amounts of hashish and tripping I had a revelation. We used to do acid on the top of this mountain above Heidelberg. The Hitler Youth Corps had built this amphitheater out of huge blocks of granite in the middle of the forest next to the ruins of a castle. It was a perfect place to do acid because the forest kicked up a fog most nights and you could turn the swirling clouds of water vapor into just about anything in your imagination. The acid we got back in those days was real not mostly strychnine that it is today. Sandoz in Switzerland made most of what we took. I digress. I was tripping and in my mind I was going down a winding set of stairs that kept going and going and going and I knew that if I didn't stop I would never leave those stairs. That was the last time I took acid. Your body or your mind knows what is best for you.

txholdup 01/14/2012 09:43 PM

Beht if it didn't before and it does now perhaps you need to smoke less of it or get some ditch weed. The THC content of weed has gone up dramatically especially in the last couple of years due to genetic engineering and growers figuring out how to isolate the females from the males. Parnoia is a side affect for some people and they should never smoke alone.

txholdup 01/13/2012 11:50 AM

No I meant that the receptors in the brain that are most affected by THC are located in that portion of the brain that is responsible for forgetting. There is a hugely complex system of storage in your brain and this portion of the brain is responsible for removing memories. As you are aware every breath of air we are conscious of, every person we meet, song we hear, feeling we experience is registered in the brain. If we were unable to forget imagine how clogged the pathways would be. As it turns out the portion of the brain that gets extremely excited when we ingest THC has been indentified with forgetting.

txholdup 01/09/2012 03:20 PM

There are 4 (I believe) Medical Marijuana patients in the country being supplied medicine by the US government at this time. Amazing.
There are studies showing both sides of the argument and the government didn't like the results of one study they funded so they just shelved it.
Also amazing is the amount of data and research that is out there. Another side of the coin is hemp, which has many uses from clothing to rope. This plant is being crossed with marijuana to create new strains higher in the CBD component and showing great promise for medicine. Two of the new strains (look for the CBD project if interested) for the most part do not get you high.
Thanks guys for chiming in on the topic.

VARickbear 01/09/2012 08:30 AM

Just for medical purposes I would vote yes. I've used it once for severe neck pain and was amazed that after one try I haven't had a relapse (and it's been about 6 years or so).

As far as total legalization I haven't made up my mind. On one hand there's all the tax revenue that would be generated. There would be far less money being spent trying to control it. And most likely it would remove the mystique of pot smoking and a lot of people wouldn't care about it. On the other hand I look at the opium problems China had a few generations ago and compare it to our society's lack of self control. The amount of people that willfully hurt themselves by smoking cigs and driving drunk is staggering. How many people would rot away on their couch if they could legally smoke pot all day long? And please remember that THC is a mild hallucinogen. Although most users tend to calm down after smoking there are a few who have bad trips and may get violent. We could end up spending as much on rehab as we do on controlling it.

wolvenbane 01/09/2012 01:42 AM

HEMP THE OTHER GREEN WEED

hippygyspy 01/08/2012 08:34 PM

If you have the chance to see the Ken Burns documentary on Prohibition do watch it. Prohibiting something just makes it more appealling to some people. The Prohibition experiment in the 20's led to the growth and power of the Mafia. In our day we have given the Mexican cartels the same opportunities with the same results. Huge opportunities to make illegal profits lead to violence, tens of thousands of people breaking the law, corruption in law enforcement not to mention the loss opportunities and the cost of keeping thousand of otherwise productive people in jail. That alone is enough for me to not just vote for medical marijuanna but legalizing all marijuanna. Started smoking when I was 14 and despite Reefer Madnes have somehow been able to be a productive member of society, hold a good job, own a home, have amassed a considerable estate, kept friends, still read books, go to the theater and no I do not smoke everyday. It enhances sex incredibly and on Saturday when I have a whole lot of stuff to get done I may smoke a joint. I don't usually get all the things done I wanted to but along the way I generally accomplish a lot just not in the intended order. I saw a fascinating report on PBS just last week about the scientific search for what makes marijuanna work. They of course knew that THC was responsible for the high but they didn't know which part of the brain it affected or why those receptors were there in the first place. As it turns out the part of the brain that marijuanna affects is the portion that is responsible for forgetting which explained a lot to me. :)

txholdup 01/08/2012 12:48 PM

I use it daily for my fear of enormous cocks. It helps. I no longer am fearful.

fenwaydav 01/08/2012 12:23 PM

Medical marijuana approved? To answer your question - of course. Massachusetts get on the ball! 16 states and DC have laws approving and Maryland 'favors', what ever that means. It shouldn't and never should have been criminalized to begin with, but that is a whole other discussion! In short, how many deaths are attributed to marijuana use and how many to cigarettes? I rest my case.

BlackJimbo 01/08/2012 12:07 PM

I'd support it. There hasn't really been any valid conclusive *scientific* research showing marijuana is harmful for health. In fact, as you've mentioned, THC has a lot of beneficial effects on health. Problem is, the pharmaceutical companies won't be able to control the market if marijuana becomes legalized like tobacco, and hence, I don't see it being legalized in a widespread manner. Not in the near future anyway.
Doesn't help that the conservative mindset of a majority of the populace associates marijuana with stoners, hippies and zoned out druggies. That stereotypical image affects their perception of the drug and influences their vote the other way.

aliencubby 01/08/2012 11:28 AM

I am currentely a (legal) caregiver to a friend of mine who has severe MS here in Colorado. He uses daily and says he couldn't make it thru the day without it. We have had a lot of problems with "new" laws.. Things they didnt have in place when the law was passed (it was voted into the constitution, so hard to reverse the law). But things have setteled down now with 20% or more of the dispensarys closing down, because of owners with felonys. There were over 700 dispensarys in the state!!!
I predict they will find new uses for ganga, and if you go on YOUTUBE you will find some cancers are even beiing treated and cured with hash oil extract.
We are not just a bunch of stoners anymore.....

Bily 01/08/2012 10:28 AM