A reader writes:
The real problem here is the ridiculous classification of marijuana as a Schedule I narcotic, or a drug considered to have a very strong potential for addiction or abuse and no legitimate medical use. I think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone, aside from hardliners, who think there is a strong potential for addiction with marijuana, unlike say nicotine. Further, users of medical marijuana give numerous legitimate reasons why using it helps them, from reducing pain to increasing appetite. Pot's classification is doubly ridiculous when you consider that drugs like cocaine and opiates outside of heroin, such as prescription heroin substitute oxycontin (aka, Hillbilly Heroin), are classified as Schedule II narcotics. I'm dumbfounded that anyone would actually believe that marijuana would be less addictive than either cocaine or oxy. And I’ve ever heard of anyone robbing a dispensary at gunpoint to get their hands on marijuana, which you hear all the time with oxy.
This ridiculous classification needs to be changed now, and maybe that’s where the fight should be concentrated. It's ludicrous, and changing it would absolutely help the case for medical marijuana nationwide. I cannot believe more people are not making noise over this.
Another reader adds to the Los Angeles angle:
I went to LA (from Baltimore) for the second or third time in my life last week. Walking along the boardwalk at Venice Beach, I was amazed at the number of medical marijuana storefronts with people in scrubs and sandwich boards outside telling us "The Doctor is in" and promising to get me a prescription written and filled on the spot. I'm all for legalizing it, but this seems counter productive in the meantime. It's not surprising that Los Angeles is considering scrapping the whole project. Maybe instead of all the effort being spent to "stay within the letter of the law," they could try to stick with the intent, which is medically-necessary usage, and focus other efforts on recreational legalization.
This is indeed part of the problem. If medical marijuana simply becomes legalization of all marijuana, then you give the feds a reason to intervene. California didn't vote to legalize pot period – and the abusers of the system may end up with less than they started with. Sharpen up, guys.
The Dish 