The first medical marijuana dispensary in Maryland just received their license. Many people are excited about this for varying reasons. Some are saying it is a cure, others say it is a treatment. Another group is drooling over the possibility of profits and the state is going to collect more taxes ! You will have to have a prescription from your doctor. That prescription will allow you to inhale a foreign substance into your lungs. That substance may alleviate some anxiety and mask some other symptoms. The side effects ? I would guess lung cancer is a possibility but I'm no physician. But beyond all that, a lot of folks are happy saying what a great thing it is. I believe I just heard that California has now passed legislation that you don't need a prescription anymore, a little recreational pot is just fine. I suspect that will be the case in Maryland in a year or two, once that tax money starts to flow into the coffers.
You know I've given some thought to this agenda of marijuana as a medicine. I find it amusing that it has come about in a backward sort of way. Marijuana and the smoking of it has almost always been for recreation, although some " native Americans " used it to have religious experiences. Now we have decided it is medicine. I can get a prescription " for medicinal purposes " only. LOL, heard that said about alcohol many times too. During prohibition you could get a prescription for alcohol, did you know that ? Yup, for medicinal purposes only. Of course later on we legalized it once again for recreational use. I don't think a doctor would even prescribe using alcohol anymore. Drink a pint a day as needed for anxiety ! Doctors endorsed smoking cigarettes too. Now no cigarettes but pot is okay to inhale into your lungs.
The question is why do we regulate these sort of substances in the first place ? We are trying to keep people from getting too much of a good thing right ? Alcohol is regulated by the government for what reason ? Is it an attempt to keep minors from using it ? Is it because the government wants the tax money ? Is it because we decided it wasn't a medicine after all ? I mean if it was a medicine you would need a prescription right ? Well, not an over the counter medicine you wouldn't, but if you want the " good " stuff you need a prescription. The problem with pot was too much of the " good stuff " was being sold on the street and the government gets nothing. Solution, call it medicine, regulate and tax it.
Look I'm not saying there aren't chemicals in that stuff that may provide some relief to certain individuals. Cannabis oil has been proven to be an effective treatment for certain neurological conditions. The thing is that it can be introduced into the body without the person getting " high " from it. I have yet to see any study that says THC, the ingredient that gives you that euphoric feeling actually treats or cures anything. Like alcohol it'll make you feel good alright, for a little while anyway. The argument could be made that all medicines do one of three things. They either cure, control or cover-up. It we apply that logic almost everything becomes a medicine. I'd say smoking pot to get high is no different than drinking beer to get drunk, you are just covering up your feelings, altering your mood, you are medicating ! For that reason I find this whole idea of " dispensaries " for medical marijuana a silly sham. Does the government really think I am that stupid ? If you want to allow people to smoke dope, allow people to smoke dope. Do not try to convince me of some medical necessity and that you are doing this to benefit the people. Pooh, you're doing it for the revenue.
I have decided the battle is lost. Recreational use of marijuana will become the law of the land. I believe it is a mistake to legalize a substance that will just cause harm to the society. In what can only be viewed as ridiculous some state are earmarking tax revenue generated from the sale of pot to fund rehabilitation centers for those using marijuana ! It's true, look it up. You can buy pot legally, get yourself into trouble by excessive use, just like alcohol can do, and wind up needing professional intervention. No worries though that help is being financed by selling more pot ! A self sustaining cycle of sale and abuse. Hey, you gotta love it. Let the government run the show and this is what you wind up with.
The only other alternative would be personal accountability. We certainly can't expect that of our citizens now can we ? No, not when we are teaching generations of children just the opposite. The only thing we need be concerned with is the law of the land. If the " supreme court " rules it is acceptable, that's it ! That is the final authority. Why do you think the removal of God from the discussion is necessary ? Because the belief in God requires one to be personally accountable, that is my thought. Oh the cry goes up, separation of church and state ! Well that is true, the founding fathers did separate church from state. What they didn't separate was church from the people ! In fact they guaranteed the right of the people to worship God ! That was because they knew it is only through personal accountability that a nation can survive and flourish. People doing the right thing without the government telling them what to do all the time. They had enough of government intervention in their lives to understand that perfectly well. The " colonies " were doing quite well on their own, then government wanted a piece of the action. The result, a revolution.
Strangely it seems that now the people want the government to intervene in their lives. They want the government to establish moral and ethical standards. These folks are calling it being progressive. I say it is being regressive. If you want the government to tell you what to do, how to do it and when, then get yourself a dictator. If something is morally or ethically wrong we will give it a different label, a new name, and just legalize it. We will call it a right ! Individual rights without individual responsibility is the end game here. It won't work ! That's my thinking on the whole deal anyway. And this post isn't about whether pot should be legal or not. To be clear, I have resigned my position on that debate.
You know I've given some thought to this agenda of marijuana as a medicine. I find it amusing that it has come about in a backward sort of way. Marijuana and the smoking of it has almost always been for recreation, although some " native Americans " used it to have religious experiences. Now we have decided it is medicine. I can get a prescription " for medicinal purposes " only. LOL, heard that said about alcohol many times too. During prohibition you could get a prescription for alcohol, did you know that ? Yup, for medicinal purposes only. Of course later on we legalized it once again for recreational use. I don't think a doctor would even prescribe using alcohol anymore. Drink a pint a day as needed for anxiety ! Doctors endorsed smoking cigarettes too. Now no cigarettes but pot is okay to inhale into your lungs.
The question is why do we regulate these sort of substances in the first place ? We are trying to keep people from getting too much of a good thing right ? Alcohol is regulated by the government for what reason ? Is it an attempt to keep minors from using it ? Is it because the government wants the tax money ? Is it because we decided it wasn't a medicine after all ? I mean if it was a medicine you would need a prescription right ? Well, not an over the counter medicine you wouldn't, but if you want the " good " stuff you need a prescription. The problem with pot was too much of the " good stuff " was being sold on the street and the government gets nothing. Solution, call it medicine, regulate and tax it.
Look I'm not saying there aren't chemicals in that stuff that may provide some relief to certain individuals. Cannabis oil has been proven to be an effective treatment for certain neurological conditions. The thing is that it can be introduced into the body without the person getting " high " from it. I have yet to see any study that says THC, the ingredient that gives you that euphoric feeling actually treats or cures anything. Like alcohol it'll make you feel good alright, for a little while anyway. The argument could be made that all medicines do one of three things. They either cure, control or cover-up. It we apply that logic almost everything becomes a medicine. I'd say smoking pot to get high is no different than drinking beer to get drunk, you are just covering up your feelings, altering your mood, you are medicating ! For that reason I find this whole idea of " dispensaries " for medical marijuana a silly sham. Does the government really think I am that stupid ? If you want to allow people to smoke dope, allow people to smoke dope. Do not try to convince me of some medical necessity and that you are doing this to benefit the people. Pooh, you're doing it for the revenue.
I have decided the battle is lost. Recreational use of marijuana will become the law of the land. I believe it is a mistake to legalize a substance that will just cause harm to the society. In what can only be viewed as ridiculous some state are earmarking tax revenue generated from the sale of pot to fund rehabilitation centers for those using marijuana ! It's true, look it up. You can buy pot legally, get yourself into trouble by excessive use, just like alcohol can do, and wind up needing professional intervention. No worries though that help is being financed by selling more pot ! A self sustaining cycle of sale and abuse. Hey, you gotta love it. Let the government run the show and this is what you wind up with.
The only other alternative would be personal accountability. We certainly can't expect that of our citizens now can we ? No, not when we are teaching generations of children just the opposite. The only thing we need be concerned with is the law of the land. If the " supreme court " rules it is acceptable, that's it ! That is the final authority. Why do you think the removal of God from the discussion is necessary ? Because the belief in God requires one to be personally accountable, that is my thought. Oh the cry goes up, separation of church and state ! Well that is true, the founding fathers did separate church from state. What they didn't separate was church from the people ! In fact they guaranteed the right of the people to worship God ! That was because they knew it is only through personal accountability that a nation can survive and flourish. People doing the right thing without the government telling them what to do all the time. They had enough of government intervention in their lives to understand that perfectly well. The " colonies " were doing quite well on their own, then government wanted a piece of the action. The result, a revolution.
Strangely it seems that now the people want the government to intervene in their lives. They want the government to establish moral and ethical standards. These folks are calling it being progressive. I say it is being regressive. If you want the government to tell you what to do, how to do it and when, then get yourself a dictator. If something is morally or ethically wrong we will give it a different label, a new name, and just legalize it. We will call it a right ! Individual rights without individual responsibility is the end game here. It won't work ! That's my thinking on the whole deal anyway. And this post isn't about whether pot should be legal or not. To be clear, I have resigned my position on that debate.
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