Posted on 03/07/2012 4:22:54 AM PST by AnTiw1
Anesthesiologist and pain relief expert tells Knesset Committee on Drug Abuse that Israel is leader in the field. By MCT Israel is the world leader in medical marijuana use, anesthesiologist and pain relief expert Dr. Bareket Schiff- Keren told the Knesset Committee on Drug Abuse on Tuesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at jpost.com ...
Approximately 15 tons of medicinal cannabis are stolen each year, police records show.
Most medical marijuana fields do not meet the polices standards, according to Zilberman, who called the situation bizarre. He said that some of the fields are near shopping malls and parks and have low fences, without security cameras or locks.
Anyone can come in and take what they want, Zilberman explained. We warned the Health Ministry that they must close those fields, but nothing happened.
Committee on Drug Abuse chairman MK Taleb a-Sanaa (UAL-Taal) expressed frustration that after two years of meetings on securing medical marijuana fields, the topic still has not been dealt with properly.
Those who are ill will pay the price for these problems, he said.
Dr. Yehuda Baruch, who is responsible for coordinating the growth of medical marijuana, warned that without government regulation, use of the drug for medicinal purposes could lead to general legalization of cannabis.
I wonder if Israeli med marijuana users are like our dope-head med marijuana users that just want to push their dope agenda on us normal folk or are they legitimate?
who is trying to force "dope" on you?
From what I’ve read here over the years, it’s all those med marijuana advocates, especially in California.
Don’t you realise that when people disagree with freepers, it’s oviously because of some Satan-oriented agenda?
He should have said, “..or is it just a scam to make it available to pot heads?”
Our culture is not in need of a wider array of poisons to stupefy, demotivate, and destroy us.
Legalizing drugs has the effect of telling our kids, it couldn’t be that bad.
Just because alcohol has destroyed many lives, doesn’t mean we’re obligated to expand the buffet.
The canard about undermining the cartels and the mobs is naive.
Is the mob more broke than before legalized gambling?
Also, they typically smoke hashish there instead of raw pot. It is processed, concentrated pot that is usually stronger than the “super strong new pot” that people claim is evil. Hashish has been used in the region for thousands of years and Israel is one of the most productive and advanced countries in the world. Before Islam, the nearby Arab and Persian countries were also very advanced and productive.
Drug abuse is a symptom of a sick culture and society. Drug laws aimed at the symptom will do nothing to stop it. In fact, they often make it worse and make many people wealthy in the process.
a false comparison, since decriminalization destroys the "mobs'" monopoly with the simple act of dropping a seed into the ground without interference
it is the drug war and US drug war policy alone that permits drug gangs to profit from this weed
i'm glad you cite the dangers of alcohol, if we were "controlling substances" based on their threat to health and society, shouldn't tobacco and alcohol both be prohibited first?
ok, no more caffeine for this man
What part of “Don’t add to the array of poisons” didn’t you understand?
those wanting to “drop a seed into the ground” already do so.
The mobs will stay in the drug biz!
Ever hear the line “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.”?
everybody can get weed as it is, there is no drug "prevention"
there's only drug prosecution, and that's what gives criminal gangs a monopoly in the first place...
now, don't tell me that went right over your head twice ...
"...those wanting to drop a seed into the ground already do so.
what country do you live in?!
' The mobs will stay in the drug biz! Ever hear the line Ill make him an offer he cant refuse?
ok "godfather" show me all the italian mobsters who stayed in the beer business when a six-pack went down to four bucks?
New electronic joints,just like electronic cig’s but with THC are already coming to Market. These will probably dominate the true medical pain relief market in a couple of years, if that long. When you can go to your local parmacy as opposed to a dispensary, it will catch on for grandma and grandpa.
That's where you, as a parent, step in and say "just because it's legal doesn't mean it's good for you," and then you tell your children honestly what will happen if they abuse drugs.
Why would you abdicate your duties to your children as a parent simply because the criminalizes one substance and not another? You don't expect the government to raise your children for you, do you?
Economics isn't your strong point, is it . . .
Hay what the hell man, let's go occupy. Score some good grass, dirty tail and get free food, and no one cares if you. Are dirty and stink.
The War on Drugs is over. It was lost a long time ago, maybe even before it started becaue we didn’t learn from Prohibition. Keep pushing for it, then whine that we live in a Police State.
FReepers love to say ‘stupid people get the government they vote for.’
“ok, no more caffeine for this man”
Make it illegal - that’s the only solution!
There are some important, common-sense arguments about marijuana and other drugs, illegal and legal.
1) By far the best true argument that can be made about marijuana to young people is that it makes them slow, dim-witting, dull and uninteresting. Oddly enough, this is a pretty persuasive argument. In 2001, a singer named “Afroman” did a song about how he lost all the good things in his life because he just lived in a marijuana stupor, “Because I Got High”. It is a light and cheery (and a little NSFW) song, that sounds like a party song; but it really hit home to a lot of marijuana users as an effective anti-marijuana song.
2) Marijuana does have so very effective therapeutic uses, especially for some bad, and otherwise incurable eye conditions that result in blindness, and is a standard therapy in Israel to treat PTSD in soldiers. But its premier use is in conjunction with chemotherapy during cancer treatment. It is vital that such patients get good nutrition, and otherwise they cannot even drink water without vomiting.
3) For long the government anticipated that marijuana would cause an epidemic of lung cancer, because it does contain carcinogens. But this did not come about, because it also contains potent anti-cancer chemicals that more than neutralize the effect of the carcinogens.
4) The human brain does not fully mature until the early 20’s. A juvenile or adolescent brain will adapt to many addictive substances far easier than will a mature brain, so for this reason, children should be denied any and all addictive drugs, including caffeine, nicotine and alcohol, as long as possible. If this is prevented in youth, as an adult they will be far less likely to get addicted to anything, and if they do get addicted, it will be far easier for them to break the addiction.
5) Some of the most dangerous drugs available today are pharmaceutical opiates such as hydrocodones and hydromorphones. They are much the same as prescription heroin and are terribly addictive. This is likely to get much worse in the future, because currently such drugs are limited to about 20% opiate, but there are plans to market 100% opiate drugs.
While these will be effective against life threatening pain, the potential for harm is staggering.
Explain. The violence is a guaranteed product of any incredibly profitable uncontrolled black market. The profit IS because of the laws and the risk involved. Simple economics. During alcohol prohibition, alcohol prices and violence skyrocketed. People were blowing themselves up with stills in woods and residential neighborhoods (just like meth labs today). Today there is no gang violence over liquor, almost no dangerous stills making blinding liquor, and no flashy bootleggers (just like dealers today) making huge illegal profits. Legalizing alcohol stopped the violence and illegal profit almost overnight.
Todays drug prohibition is a hundred times worse than the 1930s. For example, cocaine costs about as much as caffeine powder to produce but can be sold for more than its weight in gold ($50+ per gram). Bootleggers had to smuggle truck loads of bottles(and still got through). Now, the same profit can be made by smuggling a few packets of cocaine inside someones stomach.
Pot costs about as much to produce as basil but is worth its weight in $20 bills ($20/gram) to a smoker. It is a literal money tree that any idiot can grow on their own. All one needs is a few square feet of garden or a box no bigger than a nightstand. There is nothing you can do to stop that.
One way to get a handle on things would be to secure our border & lock it up as tight as Iran has it's border for instance.
It would not matter long-term even if you completely closed the borders and airports. Nearly any drug can be produced within the USA if the price is right. Iran cannot stop it and they also execute 500 drug offenders every year. Concealing drugs is incredibly easy and the more they try to secure the border, the higher the profit and incentive to smuggle will be. They conceal drugs inside people, inside every vehicle crevice and scout for unknowing cars entering the US to attach packages to them. If the borders become too tight, they will use virtually undetectable drone aircraft and submarines. I can build a GPS-guided ultralight drone with a 100lb payload for less than the profit of one brick of cocaine.
Drug abuse is a symptom of a society sick at its core and will never, ever be stopped by force. Short of 24/7 surveillance, nothing will even slow it down. Even in North Korea, where people are under constant surveillance, meth is very popular and cheaper than food. Drug laws only enable outlaws to become rich and profit from mentally ill suicidal people willing to pay anything to momentarily escape this society. Law enforcement supports it because it warrants a huge amount of funding with no results to show for it. They also seize dealer's profits for pay raises, new toys and the chance to skim whatever cash is not entered into evidence.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.