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Cannabis has been around for many years. If it is so useful for medical purposes, than why havent big pharma jumped on it when there was no such thing as an illegal substance. Remember we used to be able to buy heroin and cocaine on the sears catalog plus the needles too. This is of course way back when medical science was not that advanced. And I thought it will eventually do brain damage.
Simply put, big pharma can't make money on something if people can grow it! We can't make morphine at home, we can't make Percocet, or Vicodin, or whatever other BS drug that destroys the liver, and causes tons of other damage, not to mention its effect decreases over time. You can grow marijuana, and that means less money for greedy drug corporations. A lot of government control is not due to our safety, but to them wanting money. If it was due to safety, then Monsanto wouldn't even be allowed here like its been banned in many countries in Asia & Europe.
Last edited by colorfulchic83; 02-21-2013 at 07:40 AM..
Store front pot in my state of NJ? OVER MY DEAD BODY. What kind of an example is that for the children? Personally I'm very much against "medical marijuana" of any sort. A lot of pot smokers are "undesirable" types and pot is a gateway to dangerous hard drugs.
Trust me alcohol has been proven to be far worse. Its legal but no doctors are prescribing it. Cannabis is illegal and doctors are fighting for its legalization so they can prescribe to patients. I'm pretty sure the average person, and especially politicians don't know more about health & medicine than doctors & scientists.
OP, it's honestly so easy to get pot in this state. If I was sick and needed marijuana to help with my treatment, I'd just take a cruise to literally anywhere, be it a city, a suburb, or a rural area, because it would be cheaper, easier to get, and strong enough to work. I wouldn't bother with the legal route.
Here's why I am for some regulations, not like NJ regulations, but some. The street stuff isn't always grown using good farming practices. Actually, our tomatoes aren't grown using good farming practices, and can do more harm to our bodies, including cause cancer, than cannabis. Never mind, the government won't make sure its properly grown. They will tell us the THC level, and what conditions its best for, so they can be useful too some extent. If you need it for pain, it makes no sense to get a strain that treats insomnia, IMO. I doubt your typical weed dealer knows how his weed affects medical conditions.
Cannabis has been around for many years. If it is so useful for medical purposes, than why havent big pharma jumped on it when there was no such thing as an illegal substance. Remember we used to be able to buy heroin and cocaine on the sears catalog plus the needles too. This is of course way back when medical science was not that advanced. And I thought it will eventually do brain damage.
So for those who still think people use it in a medical context as a smoke screen to their real purpose, just because they want to get high, and that it really has no medical use, try again. The only reason it has taken this long is the obstruction of the DEA, which insists, despite the medical evidence, that marijuana has no medical benefit. They do this while providing marijuana, produced in Mississippi to 4 patients in a government study that has gone on for decades.
Sure there are people that use it just to get high, just like there are people who use alcohol to get a buzz. Both are legitimate uses for these to substances, and such use does not constitute abuse or indicate that you are an addict or have a dependency.
I just want to add about the "gateway" drug myth. Unlike many drugs marijuana's effect does NOT decrease with prolonged use. Also, its NOT addictive. Not physically at least. There are NO withdrawal symptoms related to cannabis. We don't hear about people prostituting themselves to get a weed fix. They do it for other drugs which have NO benefit, and prescription drugs which are addictive. Alcohol can even lead to this, as its very hard to keep a job when you're an alcoholic. They have no money, but they still want that liquor, so they do questionable things to get it.
The thing to remember here is that federal law still considers medical marijuana illegal and no matter what the states do to pass laws to allow it or regulate it, the federal government can still enforce federal drug laws. Technically, under NJ's system the DEA could come in, shut down the dispensary, arrest the people who run it, arrest patients who have it on their person, arrest the team at Rutgers that is growing and providing it and even arrest the state workers that oversee the program. Pretty much the only people immune to being arrested are the prescribing doctors.
Since the OP opened with the wonderland of medical marijuana that is SoCal, check out this LA Times article from Septebmer. The DEA raided 67 stores and is ordering them shutdown and threatening asset siezures against the property management companies that own the storefronts. They are doing this all over CA, including raiding and destroying growing operations that are legal under CA law. The people arrested are being prosecuted in federal court and facing federal time. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THE STATES LAWS ARE.
Since then, the administration has unleashed an interagency cannabis crackdown that goes beyond anything seen under the Bush administration, with more than 100 raids, primarily on California pot dispensaries, many of them operating in full compliance with state laws. Since October 2009, the Justice Department has conducted more than 170 aggressive SWAT-style raids in 9 medical marijuana states, resulting in at least 61 federal indictments, according to data compiled by Americans for Safe Access, an advocacy group.
When Obama first took office he instructed Attorney General Holder to ignore grow operations and dispensaries that were strictly following state laws. However, it still remained illegal and prosecutable by the federal government. In CA, as the risk of prosecution diminished, stores proliferated that skirted and bent the state laws. Now the federal government is reacting and taking out those stores (and large scale ones that are perfectly legal under state laws) as well as putting together task forces to take out growing operations.
Quote from Obama from the above links:
Quote:
Speaking with Rolling Stone, the president tried to explain his original comments, claiming that the recent pressure on dispensaries and providers was in line with his intent.
"What I specifically said was that we were not going to prioritize prosecutions of persons who are using medical marijuana," Obama said. "I never made a commitment that somehow we were going to give carte blanche to large-scale producers and operators of marijuana -- and the reason is, because it's against federal law."
The president continued: "I can't nullify congressional law. I can't ask the Justice Department to say, 'Ignore completely a federal law that's on the books.' What I can say is, 'Use your prosecutorial discretion and properly prioritize your resources to go after things that are really doing folks damage.' As a consequence, there haven't been prosecutions of users of marijuana for medical purposes."
Christie was reticent to allow the law to come into practice or make it less restrictive because he knew full well that the federal government can still prosecute those involved. He basically got a "wink and nod" from Obama and the Attorney Generals office that NJ's program was "acceptable" as enacted and they wouldn't come after NJ. If the restrictions were lessened, NJ would open itself up to prosecution.
I agree that it has a very valid medical use and I am personally in favor of legalization. I also wish that it was more available to people in NJ that need it. However, I don't think NJ is wrong in being very cautious about it. Obama is in favor of "overlooking it", but the DEA is still enforcing federal law on his watch. Whose to say the next president won't just ratchet it up even more? As long as it remains illegal at the federal level, it has to be tightly controlled in NJ to avoid people involved being prosecuted as is routinely happening now in CA and eight other states.
The thing to remember here is that federal law still considers medical marijuana illegal and no matter what the states do to pass laws to allow it or regulate it, the federal government can still enforce federal drug laws. Technically, under NJ's system the DEA could come in, shut down the dispensary, arrest the people who run it, arrest patients who have it on their person, arrest the team at Rutgers that is growing and providing it and even arrest the state workers that oversee the program. Pretty much the only people immune to being arrested are the prescribing doctors.
Since the OP opened with the wonderland of medical marijuana that is SoCal, check out this LA Times article from Septebmer. The DEA raided 67 stores and is ordering them shutdown and threatening asset siezures against the property management companies that own the storefronts. They are doing this all over CA, including raiding and destroying growing operations that are legal under CA law. The people arrested are being prosecuted in federal court and facing federal time. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THE STATES LAWS ARE.
When Obama first took office he instructed Attorney General Holder to ignore grow operations and dispensaries that were strictly following state laws. However, it still remained illegal and prosecutable by the federal government. In CA, as the risk of prosecution diminished, stores proliferated that skirted and bent the state laws. Now the federal government is reacting and taking out those stores (and large scale ones that are perfectly legal under state laws) as well as putting together task forces to take out growing operations.
Quote from Obama from the above links:
Christie was reticent to allow the law to come into practice or make it less restrictive because he knew full well that the federal government can still prosecute those involved. He basically got a "wink and nod" from Obama and the Attorney Generals office that NJ's program was "acceptable" as enacted and they wouldn't come after NJ. If the restrictions were lessened, NJ would open itself up to prosecution.
I agree that it has a very valid medical use and I am personally in favor of legalization. I also wish that it was more available to people in NJ that need it. However, I don't think NJ is wrong in being very cautious about it. Obama is in favor of "overlooking it", but the DEA is still enforcing federal law on his watch. Whose to say the next president won't just ratchet it up even more? As long as it remains illegal at the federal level, it has to be tightly controlled in NJ to avoid people involved being prosecuted as is routinely happening now in CA.
I heard about the dispensary raids & patients being arrested. Its a damn shame. Obama better stop trying to brown nose the extreme right, and go ahead and lift the prohibition which has its roots in racism & corporations trying to shut down competition. There is NO scientific evidence that marijuana is harmful. Their argument to keep it illegal is weak.
Kentucky just lifted the hemp prohibition, and Washington & Colorado legalized cannabis. Maybe there is hope yet that the federal government will come around?
I heard about the dispensary raids & patients being arrested. Its a damn shame. Obama better stop trying to brown nose the extreme right, and go ahead and lift the prohibition which has its roots in racism & corporations trying to shut down competition. There is NO scientific evidence that marijuana is harmful. Their argument to keep it illegal is weak.
Kentucky just lifted the hemp prohibition, and Washington & Colorado legalized cannabis. Maybe there is hope yet that the federal government will come around?
Obama cannot "lift the prohibition". Marijuana is illegal under federal law. The president cannot say he won't enforce federal laws, he would in fact open himself to impeachment if he refused to enforce the laws. What he basically did was order the DEA and Attorney General to "prioritize" what they were going after, but many of the dispensaries and grow operations have become so large that they can't be ignored as they are flagrantly flaunting federal law.
Absent action by Congress to legalize it, there is nothing Obama can do. It is also a rather transcendent issue in terms of party lines. Many polls show equal number of Republicans and Democrats for and against legalization. It's more of a generational issue then it is a party issue. You are likely to find a young Republican in favor and an older Democract opposed.
Obama cannot "lift the prohibition". Marijuana is illegal under federal law. The president cannot say he won't enforce federal laws, he would in fact open himself to impeachment if he refused to enforce the laws. What he basically did was order the DEA and Attorney General to "prioritize" what they were going after, but many of the dispensaries and grow operations have become so large that they can't be ignored as they are flagrantly flaunting federal law.
Absent action by Congress to legalize it, there is nothing Obama can do. It is also a rather transcendent issue in terms of party lines. Many polls show equal number of Republicans and Democrats for and against legalization. It's more of a generational issue then it is a party issue. You are likely to find a young Republican in favor and an older Democract opposed.
In Pa the republicans who are for it are afraid to speak up. Many express their support of legalization in private, but fear backlash should they go public. Sen. Daylin leach D. from Montgomery County, who has always been in support of it, introduced a bill to regulate & legalize for all persons over 21, just as alcohol is. I doubt it will pass, but if it does, then NJ is sure to follow. At least on the principal that Pa can't be more progressive than NJ,lol?
Store front pot in my state of NJ? OVER MY DEAD BODY. What kind of an example is that for the children? Personally I'm very much against "medical marijuana" of any sort. A lot of pot smokers are "undesirable" types and pot is a gateway to dangerous hard drugs.
I hope you never have a debilitating disease for which marijuana would help. On the other hand, I hope you do and stand by your outdated convictions.
btw - there already is a store front in NJ - better pick your plot.
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They have, here is a link
