Medical Marijana

[RV]

I've recently found out about a couple of christian friends using medical marijana.

I personally don't really see a problem with it.

Anyone thoughts?

[steve]

I don't see why that would be worse than any prescription pain killers.

[Paidion]

There is no need for "medical marijuana". Any medical purpose it may serve, can be obtained from other pharmaceutical drugs. In my opinion, the move to providing marijuana for medical reasons, actually is a step toward influencing the public toward favouring its legal use for recreational reasons.

Although there are several different ways of ingesting medical marijuana, one of the ways is smoking the dried buds. Inhaling smoke (of any kind) is hazardous to the health, and its negative effects may outweigh the benefits.

[steve]

I have never smoked marijuana, and have never wished to. However, I also have never taken pharmaceutical pain killers. Of the two, I would prefer to use something natural than something pharmaceutical, even if both get equal results. I have a friend in Idaho with chronic pain who says he has been using marijuana for pain for years (illegally). I believe he grows his own. He says the drugs he would have to buy would cost a fortune.

I know there is the move toward legalizing the drug, here in California, even for recreational purposes. I think anyone who uses drugs (who does not need them for medical purposes) is foolish. However, I am not sure why marijuana is illegal and alcohol is legal. The abuse of either substance is wrong, but I think the abuse of alcohol is more dangerous—at least from the information circulating here in California (possibly propaganda).

[Paidion]

I have never smoked marijuana either, or tobacco for that matter. I thought that virtually everyone who was a former hippie had smoked marijuana. But obviously there were exceptions in this as well as other matters. Stereotyping any group of people is unfair, and can result in bad relations.

Though I have seldom taken pain killers, I did take acetaminophen after I had my wisdom teeth extracted in my mid fifties. I was amazed at the rapid elimination of the very severe pain.

As a politically conservative type, I believe that government and laws are for the protection of people from other people. But some of our laws have been formulated to protect us from ourselves. For example, the requirement that everyone wear a seat belt. I happen to be one of those individuals who believe that I am less safe wearing a seat belt. I've heard too many stories of people who were thankful that they were not wearing a seat belt when they were involved in a car accident. If they had been, they were sure they would have been killed, or so badly injured that they would not have wanted to go on living. But I do not have the legal option of not wearing a seat belt. If I don't buckle up, I must face the legal consequences.

However, if it's okay to have laws to protect people against themselves, then why not make smoking of any kind illegal. It's known that smoking of tobacco can and does cause lung cancer, emphysema, heart problems, etc. Anti-smoking laws could also save billions of dollars in health costs.

But out of respect for individual choice, perhaps we should not pass laws to protect people from their own choices. Perhaps we should not have laws against the use of any kind of drugs for personal use. But obviously the private sale of such drugs to others should be prohibited in order to protect others against abuse of these drugs.

I would agree that the abuse of alcohol is more dangerous than the abuse of marijuana, although I think the moderate use of marijuana is more harmful to the individual than the moderate use of alcohol.

[TK]

I read or heard recently about correspondence between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Both grew marijuana (hemp) on their plantations- primarily for use as fiber. There was much discussion on the best strains, etc and some of the discussion, while perhaps not explicitly stated, suggested that they smoked it as well. If I can remember where I heard or read this I will post it.

TK

[TK]

found it:

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/rea ... -marijuana

TK

[RV]

I did smoke pot a lot as a teenager. I never used any hard drugs.

I've never been a huge drinker, but in the past I did drink to much a couple of times. From my experience, drinking can be very bad. I've seen people act real nasty on it. Opposite of marijana.

I guess a lot of people don't even smoke it anymore, they eat it or use a vaporizer.

Many prescription drugs are very addictive and dangerious.

To me, if you can use Marijana safely, why not.

Interesting fact I found out a few years ago, almost every prescription drug comes from a plant. I just mention that because I like science stuff.

[Jepne]

I feel bad for the many who believe marijuana helps them medically, and I think the government should stay out of their business and let them do it. In the same vein, I knew people who spent too much money to go to Tijuana for laetrile and felt the same about that (I also know people who have had stage five cancer and beat it by eating raw foods and herbs of certain kinds, while billions of dollars are spent on research!).

I smoked and ingested marijuana and every hallucinogen I heard of from the age of 19 to 33 and began to feel bad that my needing hallucinogens to find life worth living devalued the place of my daughter and my husband in my life. Seeing that yogis and mystics and Jesus Christ did not need them showed me that I was in bondage.

After my deliverance from it, someone convinced me to smoke some to help with a toothache. The toothache got worse. My experience is that marijuana affects the mental state so greatly, I would do everything I could to find some other relief from what many think it cures.