[Balding_Eagle]

Because pot is legal opioid use should be too?

I guess marijuana might be the gateway drug that so many have claimed it is.

[shanover]

Government needs to stay out of all vice but they won’t because it makes government and other entities money hand over fist.

[NobleFree]

Government's only legitimate role in medical matters is to require accurate labeling.

That said, the "strange dichotomy" posited by the article is rank nonsense - marijuana is vastly less dangerous than opioids.

[FourtySeven]

Impossible to ping everyone who’s said this on this thread so I’ll address this to the OP implying “all”:

This opinion piece doesn’t advocate getting rid of MJ in favor of opioids, or the reverse. I’ve read it twice to be sure.

It’s saying that since we are relaxing laws about MJ we shouldn’t restrict them for opioids. So if anything it’s saying the reverse of those who feel the author is saying MJ should be restricted like opioids. So IOW the author seems to be advocating both should be unrestricted or at least not as restricted as now.

Also the author is saying they (opiods) should in fact *not* be restricted, or at least as unrestricted as MJ is becoming. So all those on this thread suffering with chronic pain who apparently need opiods to manage it shouldn’t feel threatened by this piece either.

IOW, seems like a lot of arguing going on on this thread for nothing.

[Windflier]

"People who abuse pot are now able to feed their addiction..."

Pot is not addictive.

[Mister Da]

Once the pain becomes bad enough, I suspect every FReeper will choose opioid addiction over incapacitation.

If that disturbs you, consider that there are millions of functional opioid addicts who are not curled up in a corner babbling incoherently, but lead happy, productive lives.

[Jumper]

Army paratrooper with a jump injury in 1987.... hung there on active duty until I had my 20-years then got out. The VA started me on pain meds which helped me to actually start getting around in 1994 to present. I have had to educate a few of the pain management folks along the way the past two years. First the FDA (Govt) stated in their guidance to the medical community that 1) people taking pain meds over 10-years were to basically be left alone; 2) between 5-10 years consideration for lowering or reducing or taking away the meds in concert with medical reviews, counseling, pain management programs; and 3) under 5 years were to be removed if possible and no new pain medication patients were to be created unless they met specific requirements.

So if you smoke weed and you come up hot on a random urinalysis you lose your pain meds for 3-months; or you test positive for anything controlled you lose your pain meds.... three straight months of urinalysis before a new prescription. Places like VA just refuse to issue you any future meds if you come up positive once.

I hope the VA stops the State-by-State Medical Pot stuff and just it to everyone - if you can take in DC, California or Colorado and the VA is ok with it there, they should be fine with it Nation-wide - I understand the difference between Federal and State laws, but if the VA recognizes any State's laws as legal for Weed but the controlling law is the Federal Govt, then they can't allow it -but they do where it is legal by the State but not the Feds.