March 6, 2014

Efforts at legalizing marijuana beyond the medical use are undercutting the medical marijuana system.

The medical marijuana business was "all very folksy – and virtually unregulated, which the authorities say led to widespread abuses."
Now, under pressure from the federal government, [Washington] state is moving to bring that loosely regulated world, with its echoes of hippie culture, into the tightly controlled and licensed commercial system being created for recreational marijuana, which goes on sale this summer....

In Washington, some dispensaries might be well run, others poorly, but without oversight, state officials could not [tell] which was which. So a clean sweep – killing off the old system so that a new one could emerge – was seen as the only way forward, legislators say....

To many patients and providers...the proposed mandatory registry is not a good thing. Some patients, especially those receiving Social Security or other federal aid, have said they would refuse to sign up because that would be a legal admission of drug use that they said could jeopardize their benefits. Others have told lawmakers they fear, with hacking and leaks of government data in the news, a loss of private information.
There's always the freedom and privacy of going back to outlaw ways... an ironic consequence of greater legalization. Unless/until the federal criminalization ends, state-level "legalization" is going to be weird. I suppose getting to this weird condition is one way to create pressure on the feds.

I loathe this midway position, which creates an inequality that burdens those of us who are punctilious about avoiding committing any crimes. And wouldn't you think it's the people who feel excessive compulsion toward order who could most benefit from a recreational marijuana break? In fact, if you see it as an order disorder, we ought to qualify for a medical marijuana pass.

32 comments:

rehajm said...

some dispensaries might be well run, others poorly, but without oversight, state officials could not [tell] which was which. So a clean sweep – killing off the old system so that a new one could emerge – was seen as the only way forward, legislators say

Oh good lord. Where have we heard this before?

This shouldn't surprise recreational advocates, as the only reason it's 'legal' is so state central central planners can control, tax and meddle.

Relative to what they end up with, the old 'system' will look better and better.

Carol said...

haha, "legalize it and tax it!" was always such a facile solution to the Drug Problem.

Right now I would like some legal OTC codeine for my back.

Chuck said...

I'd like to hear if there is a single anesthesiology text, a single pain management protocol, or any serious reference in any authoritative medical text, in which smoking marijuana is discussed with any seriousness.

Is there any pain management residency program where they are doing serious work with smoked marijuana?

Can anybody name a single FDA-approved drug that is prescribed for ingestion via a lit cigarette?

Unknown said...

Taxes? Pain relief? Irrelevant!

As heard on the Chris Plante show this morning following the story of two eight-years-old and one of nine nabbed in the school bathroom smoking pot in a pipe:

Obama's America: "A work free drug place."

Carol said...

Can anybody name a single FDA-approved drug that is prescribed for ingestion via a lit cigarette?

Seems like an ideal way to ingest if you're nauseated and can't keep anything down.

But you'd think sublingual would work too. And intravenous.

Kirk Parker said...

Inhalation is not an unknown form of administrating medication, but you'd think some kind of nebulizer would be the way to go, not burning something and inhaling the resulting smoke with all its 'interesting' byproducts.

Wince said...

...those of us who are punctilious about avoiding committing any crimes.

My history is more in line with being punctilious about avoiding getting caught committing any crimes.

madAsHell said...

legal OTC codeine for my back

Oh, Canada!!

222's at the prescription counter. Ignore the ones on display at the shelf.

mccullough said...

In other words, the people in Washington who were making money off medical pot are now mad that the other legalized pot dealers are allowed to compete. It's all about rent seeking.

Mark said...

Obviously Kirk and Chuck have never heard of vaporizers. You know, like those e cigarettes. Vapor and cannabanoids, no byproducts.

I seem to recall breathing nitrous oxide quite a few times at the dentist. There are certainly times when inhaled medication could be useful.

I can also imagine edible forms are quite popular for other people.

In case you haven't noticed, things have moved last the 60's. Search up Charlotte Figi and the strain that is made for epileptic children, tell me you want to deny the growing group of parents whose stories cannot be ignored.

tastid212 said...

There's another aspect I hadn't thought of before. I was talking with a high school teacher in a western state who is dreading the day when an 18-y-o shows up at school with a medical marijuana prescription. I don't think our good lawmakers really thought things through...

Revenant said...

I'd like to hear if there is a single anesthesiology text, a single pain management protocol, or any serious reference in any authoritative medical text, in which smoking marijuana is discussed with any seriousness.

You do realize that publishing such a thing would open up the authors to prosecution for multiple federal felonies, right?

It is amazing how little research gets done when the act of doing research leads directly to your being fucked in the ass by your cellmate from the Aryan Nations. :)

Revenant said...

I was talking with a high school teacher in a western state who is dreading the day when an 18-y-o shows up at school with a medical marijuana prescription.

I'm skeptical your teacher friend exists. Pretty much all schools these days have in place policies stating that ALL medications, prescription or otherwise, must be turned over to school officials and administered under their supervision. Even medications that could lead directly to the kid dying if he doesn't have access, such as asthma inhalers.

Also, public schools generally provide special classes for students whose medical conditions prevent them from doing normal coursework. This theoretical pothead would just wind up housed with the mentally disabled kids.

Revenant said...

Inhalation is not an unknown form of administrating medication, but you'd think some kind of nebulizer would be the way to go, not burning something and inhaling the resulting smoke with all its 'interesting' byproducts.

And marijuana users -- recreational and medical alike -- would undoubtedly agree with you!

Now: try starting a company that produces such a product without spending the rest of your life in prison. The "e-cigarette" people have it bad enough, and tobacco's actually legal!

SteveR said...

This was a problem back in the days when NORML was gathering signatures on college campuses (1970s). We'd sit around and easily see how government involvement could screw it up.

madAsHell said...

There's also a concern about EBT cards being used to purchase the weed here in the Soviet of Washington. They are working on passing a law.

Yeah....that'll stop 'em.

Kirk Parker said...

Obviously Mark has never heard about 'reading', since my comment explicitly addressed someone who explicitly mentioned smoking as a form of delivery. (Hint, if you're using a vaporizer, you're only figuratively smoking because there is no smoke.)

tastid212 said...

re Revenant: "I'm skeptical your teacher friend exists. Pretty much all schools these days..."

Rev, I'm skeptical you exist. I should have noted it was a private boarding school. But the relevant point remains the same: kid says he's in pain and needs joint med; gets to toke at school, how cool!; soon other kids find a doctor to prescribe (not too hard, play a contact sport). Result = principal gets high walking past the nurse's office.

Revenant said...

Rev, I'm skeptical you exist

Did you check Snopes?

I should have noted it was a private boarding school.

Unlike public schools, private schools are free to deny enrollment to students whose enrollment places an undue burden on the school.

But the relevant point remains the same: kid says he's in pain and needs joint med; gets to toke at school, how cool!

These kids have some mighty understanding parents. School officials are generally required to notify the parents when a student suffers a medical problem at school, regardless of the age of the student. In any case, you ignored my other observation: kids whose medical problems disrupt the learning of other students get segregated from the rest of the students.

Perhaps a better question is why these kids are bothering to come to school at all? They're 18, their parents either don't care or cannot control the kid in question, and the kid obviously isn't interested in learning. The concern seems inherently silly.

SGT Ted said...

If they legalize it, anybody who knows how to garden can grow tax free cannabis for what it costs to grow tomatoes.

SGT Ted said...

But you'd think sublingual would work too. And intravenous.

Vaporizing is far better than smoking it.

Tinctures are good.

And intravenous? no.

SGT Ted said...

It works better, with less dangerous side effects, for my PTSD than Zoloft. My VA psychologist recommends it.

SGT Ted said...

The parroting of the Cheech and Chong/Reefer Madness/"Gateway Drug" horseshit propaganda and lies promulgated by the government you all otherwise recognize and criticize as being dishonest has gotten rather stale and old.

The AMA recognized Cannabis as a legitimate medication up until the day it was outlawed.

Lucien said...

The reason drugs should be legal is that free people should be allowed to take whatever drugs they want to without government interference. (your mileage may vary, age of consent, pure drug laws are fine, etc.)

However, the regime of prohibition is so stupid, corrupting, expensive, and counterproductive, that it is easy to focus on how bad an idea it is for practical reasons, losing sight of the most important principle.

Which is individual liberty, dammit.

SGT Ted said...

The reason drugs should be legal is that free people should be allowed to take whatever drugs they want to without government interference.

No. We're talking about cannabis here.

Go look up "faces of meth" and then ponder and reflect that there are no similar websites for potheads.

No artist ever killed himself accidentally with an overdose of cannabis.

All drugs aren't the same. The libertarians are all stupid on the "all drugs should be legal" absolutism. It's very juvenile and thoughtless.

Lucien said...

Emphasizing the importance of individual liberty is not "all drugs should be legal absolutism", it's " the government bears a heavy burden whenever it wants to deprive people of liberty -- and paternalism doesn't cut it" absolutism.

Funny that Sgt. Ted implicitly recognizes that there are scary stereotypes of cannabis users out there (Cheech & Chong, Jeff Spicoli, etc.), but then doesn't see these as equivalent to the "Faces of meth." One scare tactic he rightly rejects, the other . . . ?

gerry said...

Drug abuse led to abuses.

What?

SGT Ted said...

Meth is poison.

SGT Ted said...

Government is justified in outlawing meth. It is very destructive.

SGT Ted said...

One is a scare tactic based on outright lies, the other is an acknowledgement of the reality of meth use.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Dude! How are we ever gonna get cool with this homo marriage shit if we aint allowed to get stoned?

ZZMike said...

Chuck said: "Is there any pain management residency program where they are doing serious work with smoked marijuana?"

Of course not!!!!!!!!!! It's been outlawed - no exceptions.

But there are thousands of actual real people who have made it through chemotherapy because they got marijuana - one way or another.

"... name a single FDA-approved drug that is prescribed for ingestion via a lit cigarette?"

Asthma inhalers come real close.