| sundialsvcs |
03-30-2017 08:18 AM |
In the 1960's, cigarette manufacturers fully expected hemp-smoking to be legalized, and they created a number of brands that would be converted to marijuana cigarettes as soon as the law was passed. It never was ... yet.
Instead, we get "electronic cigarettes," which main-line nicotine into the lungs and can cause the level of damage seen in a "three packs a day lifetime smoker" in less than 3 years. :mad: But, I digress.
I see no point in giving the "war on drugs, mandatory sentencing" people any more reason to lock people up for twenty years or more in a for-profit prison for possessing(?) a marijuana cigarette butt. If they want to smoke hemp instead of tobacco, they may as well be allowed to do it – and the prisoners who are "in" for nothing more than a cigarette butt should be released.
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As for medical uses of marijuana, these stories are true. Marijuana "intercepts" certain kinds of pain much as opium does – but without the crushingly-addictive side effects. (As with opium, the mechanism is not fully understood.)
I have a friend whose mother lived through the Depression and really didn't get enough to eat. My friend was born with a birth defect in her ankle which causes fairly-constant pain. But, being a smart and proud woman, she refused to take opiates. What she discovered was that marijuana – a remarkably small amount of it – blocks the pain with minimal side-effects. She takes it, by prescription, taking no more than she requires each day to stop the pain, and it works beautifully. Being fully alert and aware, she then can go about her business. For her, it was a god-send.
We would probably have a whole lot fewer people strung-out on painkillers (and suffering the addictive effects thereof) if we did legalize the use of this substance. It might well be a great deal more effective, especially when one is dealing with chronic pain versus the pain of recent surgery or a recent traumatic injury.
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