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i8godzilla wrote:Why is it we needed a Constitutional Amendment to outlaw alcohol which was legal when the country was founded and we use a perverted interpretation of the Commerce Clause to outlaw marijuana which was also legal when the country was born?

Because the issue is not really about what is/is not safe or what is/not good for you. It's about control.

The Annoyed Man wrote:That's essentially what I said.

My apologies. My response was aimed more at your "I think that medical marijuana is crap" statement. I only meant that the programs themselves are not the issue, it's the abuses of the programs that are the problem.

The Annoyed Man wrote:I think that medical marijuana is crap. It's just an excuse to smoke dope. The number of medical marijuana users who legitimately need this drug for legitimate medical reasons is a small percentage of the total number who have prescriptions for it, most of whom are just dead weight to the rest of society. And as a person who lives with real pain for medically quantifiable reasons, I resent them. They're full of crap. I've even seen pot dealers at places like Burning Man and other events tell police that they have "patients" not customers, and it is plainly just so much bull.

I agree with your overall premise, but I do know of one case in which it really is the best option for the patient. My wife is a home-care nurse and has an older gentleman who, sadly, recently became a double amputee (legs). His wounds are healing very slowly and he is in excruciating pain; Especially when his dressings are being changed. He is also allergic (verified allergies) to most forms of pain medication, and most of the ones he isn't allergic to either 1) are not covered by his insurance and he can't afford out of pocket, 2) too weak to even dull the pain, or 3) both 1 & 2. So his live-in sister provides his with pot to ease the pain and help him relax. He doesn't smoke it though. She bakes it into brownies for him. My wife's one rule: keep it away from her. She calls when she's about an hour away, he eats a brownie, and the rest go into hiding.

So while I agree that most (95% if I'm being generous) medical pot users are phonies, there are some people out there who are helped by it.

Driving while stoned is nowhere near as bad as drunk driving. A guy doing 3mph down the highway while gnawing on the steering wheel isn't much of a threat to anybody.