Medical Marjuana

[Convert3]

I can only speak to the pain specialists that live here, but they do not take it as their job to manage pain, but to manage addiction. They are pitifully suspicious, leaving them very bad at their job, and really terrible at being actual doctors. Yet my family doctor who I had seen for decades is unable by law to prescribe pain medication past a certain point. This has only once been an issue for me, when I was stuck going to him to get my ineffective NSAID until I could get my cortisone injects. The incident has made me pro-legalization of marijuana as a survival mechanism.

That’s a real shame. I’m fortunate to have a wonderful primary care doctor who prescribed me hydrocodone when I need it. She was cautious early on, but has known me for years and knows I don’t ask unless I need it. My pain management doctor does cortisone injections and radio frequency ablation to relieve pain for longer periods. He doesn’t prescribe any medications for me typically since I prefer my primary care doctor too. I’ve been going to both doctors for at least thirteen years.

 

[TheLittleLady]

For ME (a person with many chronic health issues where marijuana is known to give relief) it comes down to the law in the US. While states and localities have legalized, this is still a federal crime.

It is about two things for me: obeying the law (right now I cannot convince myself that the federal laws are unjust as there are other medications that can alleviate my issues) and the fickle nature of our federal government. While they may wink today, if tomorrow they decide to enforce the laws, do I REALLY want to be in a handy dandy database as breaking this law?

 

[Cruciferi]

That’s a good point. Everything could change overnight

 

[blackforest]

You raise a good practical point.

From a Catholic moral standpoint, when one government body says “go ahead” and the other says “don’t you dare,” I don’t think there’s a black-and-white answer.

 

[farronwolf]

You raise a good practical point.

From a Catholic moral standpoint, when one government body says “go ahead” and the other says “don’t you dare,” I don’t think there’s a black-and-white answer.

The medical marijuana/marijuana will be the next states right issue. We discussed this a couple of weeks ago at a Scout meeting. This goes back to the argument between the federalist and the anti federalist.

Marijuana is still in the schedule 1 classification of drugs which is said to have no medical use and high risk of abuse. LSD, Ecstasy, heroin, qualudes are also in this classification.

Due to this classification adequate research has not been allowed, and therefor not much progress has been made to remove it from this classification.

Since over half of our states have some form of legalization, and the feds have failed to reclassify it, it can not be dispensed through pharmacies which are highly regulated, and have pharmacists who can properly discuss with the patient the proper usage and side effects.

We certainly aren’t going to be fighting another civil war over marijuana, but I believe on this one, the states will eventually win the war and it will be legalized across the country at least for legitimate medical purposes. I certainly don’t think the effects of that are going to be any worse than the current opioid problem we are having now.

Will folks still continue to use marijuana for recreational purposes, absolutely. They always have. Will the gov. be able to save a ton of money on enforcement, absolutely. Will the people who need it for legitimate medical purposes be better off, absolutely, because there will be additional research, additional safety measure, and proper administration and counseling when one is prescribed it.

 

[farronwolf]

For ME (a person with many chronic health issues where marijuana is known to give relief) it comes down to the law in the US. While states and localities have legalized, this is still a federal crime.

It is about two things for me: obeying the law (right now I cannot convince myself that the federal laws are unjust as there are other medications that can alleviate my issues) and the fickle nature of our federal government. While they may wink today, if tomorrow they decide to enforce the laws, do I REALLY want to be in a handy dandy database as breaking this law?

Not disagreeing with you post, but have an additional thought on the justification portion.

What is the fed gov. justification for keeping it illegal? Is it because of the dangers, or is it because of other reason? If it is legitimately due to the danger that marijuana poses, then the law could be considered just.

If it is for other reasons. Say the pharmaceutical lobby doesn’t want it cutting into their profits, or there is a lot of money being made due to the enforcement, sort of like military budgets keeping an industry fat on taxpayer dollars. Or maybe certain farm lobbies don’t want to lose subsidies on a particular crop if legalization were to occur for marijuana and part of their base abandoned say soy beans to start growing marijuana.

If the federal law is only in place for these other reasons, then I would say the current law would be unjust because it is not based on the benefit of the people whom the gov is there to serve.

I am not certain of all the reasons the fed laws remain, but I suspect it is a combination of both reason, but leans more towards the unjust side of things.