Legalize it. [by Angela]
Anderson Cooper tried to present an unbiased report about marijuana on Tuesday’s episode of AC360, “America’s High: The Case for and Against Pot,” but instead added to the media clusterf*ck that is weed legalization.
The second installment in a week-long series began with a segment from correspondent Randi Kaye, who was invited by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department to join them on their raid of the Los Padres National Forest.
“With Captain Derek West as our guide, we start our journey deep into the forest. We smell the marijuana plants before we see them. The plants are young, no buds yet. That’s the part people smoke. They won’t have to be burned,” said Kaye.
So wait, people smoke the buds of the plant? No way! And are you saying that if the buds were developed the plants would be burned? I’ve gotta get me a helicopter and a long, long vacuum hose.
Kaye continues, “It is pretty easy to take a pot garden down. Once these guys come across the plants, they just yank them right out of the ground. It is that simple.”
Why don’t they take the plant out of the ground and make use out of it? According to Wikipedia.com,
“Industrial hemp has many uses, including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food, and fuel. It is one of the fastest growing biomasses known, and one of the earliest domesticated plants known. It may be environmentally helpful, for example hemp requires fewer pesticides, no herbicides, controls erosion of the topsoil, and produces oxygen.”
A later segment of AC360 featured Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project (a group that supports legalization of marijuana) and David Evans, special adviser to the Drug-Free America Foundation.
Cooper addressed Kampia first, questioning the necessity of marijuana for chemotherapy patients when the prescription drug, Marinol, is said to relieve side effects associated with the treatment.
“That question should be up to the doctor and the patient. Marinol, the prescription pill, it doesn’t work for everyone. And in fact, the Marinol pill is 100 percent THC. It’s the ingredient that gets you high. Whereas marijuana is an amalgam of ingredients, one of which is THC,” said Kampia.
Evans responds with, “I don’t completely buy that. I think, you know, we’ve got a debate, this debate really needs to be settled by the Food and Drug Administration. We’ve had a drug approval process for 100 years that’s protected us. Let the FDA sort it all out.”
Instead of using his time on AC360 to take part in said debate, Evans accuses Kampia of not wanting the issue to go to the FDA because he can’t influence them with “political and emotional arguments.” Kampia denies it, and the game of he-said-she-said and finger pointing continues.
America has its head lodged up its ass. We are in an economic and environmental crisis, and instead of looking for solutions the government, and government-fueled media, would rather dwell on topics as trivial as marijuana and same-sex marriage. LEGALIZE IT.
I think that marijuana should be prescribed for all people with gastrointestinal issues, migraines, chronic pain, nausea, and any disease with symptoms that can be alleviated by the drug such as glaucoma, cancer and multiple sclerosis. It should also be prescribed for those with mental health issues like anxiety, depression, attention deficit disorder, anorexia, the list goes on and on.
Well, I think that about covers the entire human population. Can we get on with our lives and focus on real problems now?
Comments
I know that’s you in the picture, Angela! You can’t fool your own mother! Hey… and isn’t that our kitchen?
I am a supporter of legalizing marijuana especially, in light of these tough economic times. The tax money that could be potentially gained through this process would provide a large new stream of revenue. However, before this tax money can be collected, policies, regulations and laws for this exact growing process will have to be created. It wont be as easy as just making it legal. The current process for the selling and purchasing of weed, lacks transperency and easily avoids the taxation process. This lack of oversight, control and taxation is intially why marijuana was made illegal.
Furthermore, I would like to note that there is a difference between the growing of industrial hemp and marijuana growth. “One type of Cannabis is high in the psychoactive cannabinoid, THC, and low in the antipsychoactive cannabinoid, CBD. This type is popularly known as marijuana. Another type is high in CBD and low in THC . Variants of this type are called industrial hemp. (West, 1998).” The hemp can be used for textiles and such as described by Angela, but the marijuana lacks the variety of uses and is primarily used as a recreational drug. Both of these plants provide many benefits economically, physically, and mentally.
You stoner hippie you! Smokin reefers!
This article was definitely thought provoking, however I think a few things should be mentioned regarding the health benefits you are attributing to smoking marijuana. It is true that select people have found benefits from smoking marijuana to alleviate negative symptoms of an illness, however I think it is a bit much to suggest prescribing medical marijuana to all people with these disorders. I think we need to remember that marijuana can be a risk factor for many of the above mentioned illnesses, especially if suggesting smoking of marijuana to help with these illnesses. When dealing with neuropathic pain and diminished or absent appetites due to nausea, medical marijuana can have benefits at alleviating symptoms, not correcting the root of the problem. Numerous studies have been conducted recently showing medicinal marijuana, and specifically THC, to have positive effects on certain cancers and tumor growths, however these studies are extremely recent, most of which occurred somepoint around 2007 or later, and many were conducted on animals, not human subjects. These studies have not produced definitive results, and I personally would not trust my health on them yet, without proving true through other trials, not on animal subjects. Also, the FDA has actually only approved 2 cannabinoid medications for use, neither of which are smoked, and these 2 medications have only been approved for nausea and neuropathic pain. The process the FDA goes through to approve new medications and uses for medications is extremely extensive, and takes years due to all of the trials that are required, to optimize safety of medications. Therefor there are probably good reasons more medications have not been approved for more uses. Overall, I think its important for people to realize that smoking marijuana to try and treat illnesses they have, like those mentioned above, is not the right route to go by, and can have more negative than positive effects, and to suggest that everyone should have access to it if they suffer these problems is just ridiculous.
thanks for the comment! clearly i’m no doctor, and i don’t mean to suggest that people with said illnesses MUST smoke. i just think that if people choose to use marijuana as a means to alleviate symptoms then they should be able to do so, legally.
obviously smoking weed isn’t going to TREAT a disease like cancer, it just may help symptoms. but smoking weed to treat a disease like irritable bowel syndrome (that a ridic. amount of people in this country suffer from) will help. that is, of course, unless you get the munchies.