Marc
Colorado
The "medical" marijuana industry is merely a political bridge to the day when this least harmful of intoxicants is finally de-stigmatized and legalized. All this regulation clap trap is so much distraction from the facts that folks like to smoke weed and it also helps many people with medical conditions.
The "prescription" process is un-constitutional. Why does one , (ahem) "medicine", require a state license for use while really, really dangerous substances such as tobacco, alcohol, narcotics, coca cola and fast food are passed out with little to no oversight? If you think the HPPA privacy laws are going to protect you from a future administration calling "do over" and persecuting us remember the Patriot Act.
We need only two regulations: One is the public health officer checking to be certain that what is sold is 100% natural and free of any additives, business licensing fees will easily cover this expense. The other is simply supply, demand and pricing which the market will settle on it's own just as with every other business on Earth. In short: BUTT OUT!!
I'm watching the dispensary business regulate itself in my little town. We now have 6 dispensaries and I expect that some will flourish and some will fail based on quality and price. It's called the free market, (and as long as no fool ever starts buying derivatives of it), it works just fine.
I'm 51 and have puffed since I was 14. In spite of, or perhaps because of this, I left NYC at 18, went to an excellent college, built a business and was successful enough to take a higher look at things. At 40 I realized that years of hard work had put me in a position where I could A)sit behind a desk and make more money than I'd ever need or B)quit and build a more rewarding life around doing things for others. I chose the latter. Perhaps therein lies the stigma of marijuana...that it might allow people to free themselves from excessive greed and consumerism and work on building a fair and sustainable world.
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1 comment:
As much as I am rue to criticize the "legalize it" masses, having smoked norcal chronic for a good 15 years straight, I think I know what I'm talking about. Cannabis is addictive and best left alone. Sure it is a wonderful high--day after day, year after year--it takes the edge off otherwise "edgy" days, makes you numb to the tides of stress which define everyone else's daily life. Yes, some people enjoy a glass of wine at the end of the day, others a good bong rip...you say tomato i say tomaaaato...to each his own, its all good. Yes, I appreciate the arguments, but what I would give to have been more productive over those 15 years, less moody, and more "there" present without the cloud of cannabis defining my days and weeks and months. So do as you please, people, but having been there and done that, enjoyed it, craved it, dug on the various scenes associated with it--Cypress Hill, the reggae scene, and snoop dog, etc--i know the consequences are not worth the inherent immediate pleasure. Psychologically the drug works you year after year, the long term affects on the the brain hardly worth all the many highs. Paranoia, psychosis, lethargy--even schizophrenia (2 cousins of mine suffer from it as a result of heavy marijuana smoking)--are the badges of long-term marijuana usage. That is what you get at the end of the day--in addition of course to all the wonderful highs--but the problem is you live with these other "highs" much longer, 20 or 40 years of psychosis and a less than optimal mental functioning coupled with an unshakable lethargy in many cases, is indeed a heavy price to pay.
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