Worth recalling:
This country’s views and policies about marijuana are truly appalling. I have inherited problems with high eye pressure that possibly could be relieved by medical marijuana, according to anecdotal evidence, but the government refuses even to allow decent testing of that hypothesis. We permit folks to use and abuse Oxycontin without nearly the uproar that attaches to the San Francisco grandmother who makes pot brownies for AIDS patients. And I’m scared to consume marijuana in even limited quantities for even a good reason for fear of on-the-job drug testing.
When I was managing editor of The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, we published an article based on a thorough longitudinal study of a good number of Americans from their pot-using college years to early middle age. Nearly all of the subjects eventually stopped using pot, none had any injuries or serious problems arising from pot, scarcely any used any harder drugs, and all of them did far better on the measures of success used (job progression, stable relationships, home ownership) than did similarly situated individuals who had never used pot. The article was published during the “just-say-no” years, and the authors not only were surprised at the results, but hesitated to seek publication for fear of being blackballed from any government grants for future research. I should check up on the authors and see if those fears were justified.
I have to say that if there’s ever a good reason for civil disobedience it’s in defense of your own health. The idea that people dealing with chemo or other serious issues cannot avail themselves of a plant that grows on God’s green earth is so preposterous it beggars belief. Voters in many states grasp this truth, and yet their deliberations are over-ruled by the federal government. The Clintonites were no better. But the current situation is yet another indication of how far Washington conservatism has drifted from its roots in human liberty and empirical science. Maybe this latest insult will fuel a real revolt from the grass-roots, if you’ll pardon the expression. It’s about frigging time.
The Dish 