Posted on 04/16/2015 6:17:50 AM PDT by Citizen Zed
As I sat across from Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) and Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), I knew something extraordinary was happening.
They were reciting the story of Charlotte Figi and countless other children. They were quoting back the data we had shared from our earlier investigations. They were extolling the potential virtues of the plant, and all of that was before the interview even started. There was an impatience about them, and they seemed in a hurry to make a large dent in marijuana reform.
They want marijuana to be rescheduled. They want it now.
They want doctors to be able to prescribe it at VA hospitals all over the country. They want it now.
They want research dollars freed up to study the plant. They want it now.
They want their fellow lawmakers at the state and national level to acknowledge what most of the world, including the citizens of the United States, have known for a long time: Marijuana is a medicine, that should be studied and treated like any other medicine.
And they want all of it now.
I spent much of our interview challenging them. I needed to remind them that people, long before me or them, have been trying to do many of these same things for 40 years, and had been rejected every time. I reminded them that politicians have a hard time winning elections on the issue of marijuana but less difficulty losing them. I challenged them every step of the way. "This time will be different," Booker confidently told me as he walked out of the room.
I know how easy it is do nothing because I did nothing for too long.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Weed! It’s the miracle drug maaaaan! It cures everything! LOL!
Menthol, maybe? I mean, hey, if the makers of Head & Shoulders can claim their shampoo is medicated due to menthol, why not the makers of marijuana?
Woo hoo! A nation of zoned out, unemployed narcissists. What could go wrong?
It’s the deconstruction of therapeutic medicine. A substance which is touted as a cureall without side effects is snake oil, in fact this is a cannabis product name. Children are subjected to unregulated exposure, coincidentally the best way of ensuring a steady supply of future consumers.
Medical marijuana is and always will be “peanuts” compared to the big money of legalizing hemp production.
Right now, paper products are a major component in the commodities market, and hemp paper, which is of much better and more durable quality than wood pulp paper, could take over much of that industry. We’re talking multiple billions of dollars into the economy every year, perhaps a hundred thousand new jobs, etc.
But what about wood pulp? Instead of pulping old growth forests, which is a tremendous waste of wood, that wood could be used for products like lumber, which has been very inflated for many years, as well as chip board and plywood.
In turn, this would drive down the price of construction and all other wooden goods.
The bottom line is that hemp agriculture is a lot like mining. The value of the hemp, or ore, itself is good, but its real economic impact comes from what is made of it.
This will solve CA’s water problem.
Fry the sheeple’s brains even more so they will offer no resistance at all to an increasingly intrusive and corrupt government who would have absolutely no qualms at all of taking every dollar you earn as taxes.
Ah yes Weed!
You know, there are numerous studies that show that long term use causes...uh, uh, uh.......
what was I talking about?
Ah yes Weed!
Too many legislators all over the country are of the “Reefer Madness” mindset.
Last year it was legalized gambling and casinos.
You were the only one to make a intelligent comment. It looks like now that trolls, fools and government agents make up most of the comments on F.R. My only question to all is if marijuana is so bad why does the FDA hold the patent on it? You must first remove your head from your rectal cavity to see the sun!
Agree 100%.
Absolutely no good reason it should be illegal. I can count on one hand the number of Prosecutors and cops that really thought pot should be “as illegal” as it is.
And no .... it is NOT a gateway drug. Period.
Having said that, this is a State issue. (Hear my Chris Christie). Let the States decide. But the Feds should reclassify and stay out of it.
FlingWingFlyer: “Weed! It’s the miracle drug maaaaan! It cures everything! LOL!”
CharlesOConnell: “A substance which is touted as a cureall without side effects”
I don’t see those claims in the article. Here’s what I do see:
“There is now promising research into the use of marijuana that could impact tens of thousands children and adults, including treatment for cancer, epilepsy and Alzheimer’s, to name a few. With regard to pain alone, marijuana could greatly reduce the demand for narcotics and simultaneously decrease the number of accidental painkiller overdoses, which are the greatest cause of preventable death in this country.”
The adjective "medical" applies not to the marijuana itself but to the purpose of its use. There probably is a better way of expressing that.
The hyper-moralists can’t accept that it’s not immoral in and of itself.
By the same token, is morphine or the plant it’s derived from immoral? Most people who have surgery will be given morphine afterwards and they have no problem with that. But their emotions keep them from examining what might be valuable uses for cannabis separate from the people who abuse it.
And, no before l get called all sorts of vile names I will say that I don’t use it, never have and never will. But I have some family members who benefit from the pill extract .
Where did this brain-dead a hole come from ?
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More Coloradans approve of pot than a year ago, poll shows
-snip-
In all three states, those polled supported medical marijuana by a margin of 10 to 1, Quinnipiac found.
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