Please stop calling it "Medical Marijuana"

[The Funslinger]

I agree that potheads should just come out and say that they want to get high without worrying about legal issues.

Also, I think this is relevant: http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-pro-marijuana-arguments-that-arent-helping/

It's a hard call to make, governments are just unwilling to legalize recreational marijuana, they just won't touch it, it's almost like political suicide to them. I'm not very vocal about marijuana activism since it tends to get on people's nerves more than enlighten them, but this is a task we just can't accomplish by straight up admitting what we really want.

We ride on the medicinal marijuana movement because it serves to open loopholes and give us momentum, once medicinal marijuana is properly integrated and not controversial anymore, we can start working towards the next step.

We're very close to victory in Canada though, perhaps even closer than California was recently. In March there will be an appeal on a judge ruling last April, the government has been found guilty of violating the constitution with their marijuana regulations, failure to make amends during the appeal will result in nationwide legalization of all uses of marijuana.

The original deadline was going to be last July, but Harper managed to get an extension.

Just cause I want to tell ya: I went to Canada once, for six weeks, and boy! What a relief. Like stepping out of the crazy train to breath some fresh air and sensibility. People were open, sincere and enlightened on the issue. The people whose house I was staying at, let me, their daughter (who didn't partake) and her friends (who certainly did) toke on their lawn with a bonfire and it was all cozy and friendly. Gave me an insight on the world 'post-legalization', no more dark hiding places where you almost feel shameful indulging on the herb, just some friends together toking and enjoying life's finer moments. That is the future I'm hoping for, and a bright one it is.

That sounds FANTASTIC.

Exactly! I've seen the shady aspect of pot smoking, and there are, in fact, people who take that as part of the experience and they're complete DICKS! Literally, they've tried to get me arrested or killed because they thought it would be funny. I don't talk to those people anymore. I'd love a world where I can just sit with a couple of people I really feel comfortable with and smoke pot, without having to go outside somewhere, or air out a room afterwards to avoid being caught.

Also, a funny story: I was at a party in late December, and this guy I know says he has a present for me. He puts a bag of pot in my hand. I'm like "okay..." *pockets*. He says it's a christmas present, but I really think it's a "the first one's always free!" kind of thing.

 

[Steampunk Viking]

It does not fix any problem the body has, it does not fix any ailment, it is not a cure for anything. The number of people who have had diseases cured by pot is zero.

A bit like a placebo then?

 

[IPunchWithMyFists]

Seriously. Stop doing it. You're not helping. You're not accomplishing anything. It does not fix any problem the body has, it does not fix any ailment, it is not a cure for anything. The number of people who have had diseases cured by pot is zero.

"Medical Marijuana" is a trend. It's a catchphrase, a hotword that people who support legalization are trying to use to get it legalized. They use touching stories of cancer patients who rode out their chemotherapy by toking up. I get that. But that doesn't make it medicine. It makes it a painkiller. It's medicine the same way Vicodin is, which is to say, not at all.

Now, I'm not ranting against legalization. I genuinely believe it should be legalized, regulated, and taxed. I'm ranting against the pretense on which people are trying to get it legalized. You want pot to be legal so that you can come home from work, kick back, and have a toke or two the same way you can come home from work, kick back, and have a beer or three right now. And there's nothing wrong with that. But if we're going to get anywhere with the argument, we have to first acknowledge that. We have to be mature, upfront, honest, and genuine with our case. Yes, pot is recreational. Yes, we want it legalized so that we can recreationally use it without having to deal with some shady scumbag, or be afraid of losing our jobs to drug tests or incarceration.

Prohibition of alcohol wasn't defeated by shouting it's medicinal value. Nobody used sob stories or half-truths. People just said they wanted to be able to have a fucking beer without getting it from the mob. If marijuana is going to be legalized, that's how it's going to happen. People are going to say that we, as free human beings, have the right to use it if we so choose.


This rant was inspired by the following video


Couple flame shields here:

-I'm sure this thread has a high likelihood to devolve into another legalize vs don't legalize argument, in which case I plead for both sides to be civil, thoughtful, and mature in their arguments. It won't happen, but by saying that, I can sleep better tonight.
-I understand that many people legitimately get through difficult pains and ailments with the aid of marijuana, and while I totally support that, it is NOT the majority of use, and it is NOT why the majority of people want it legalized. That is my point.

Wow, I was about to call you a tool, but yeah, you're totally right.

Just don't get so mad, jeez, can't a dog get this dank shizznitz down on sum righteous-ass MEDICINAL MARIJUANA in peace, brah?

 

[funguy2121]

snip

You watch too much TV and are too informed by conventional wisdom. Marijuana can slow the onset of Alzheimer's/dementia, it can benefit people who suffer from cataracts and glaucoma, it can help with impotence and for those who have cerebral palsy or anything else that causes tremors and nausea, it helps them as well. Marijuana can help people to eat when they feel sick. These are medical facts supported by a wealth of empirical data and lab studies. It's already legal purely for medicinal use in many areas. The federal government grows it at Old Miss and provides it to 6 American citizens, including George McMahon, whom I've met. He has Nail Patella Syndrome and will tell you that he's alive today because of Marijuana.

Why do you suppose that is? Are you smarter than all of the doctors who risk their practice to recommend marijuana to their patients? Are these docs just a bunch of stoner hippies?

I work with surgeons for a living, so let me tell you: not one of them is a stoner hippie. We clear on that? 'Kay.

People should be able to get high for fun, just as they get drunk for fun. But that isn't nearly as important as sick people being able to access it.

So, in summary: you are dead wrong. I will continue to use the term medical marijuana, because medical marijuana exists, no matter how much it annoys you that sitcoms make fun of it.

"By the way, keep drinkin' beer, morons!" --Bill Hicks

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

med·i·cine/ˈmedisən/
Noun:

The science or practice of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease (in technical use often taken to exclude surgery).
A drug or other preparation used for the treatment or prevention of disease.

Marijuana is a drug. Opiates are a drug. Penicillin is medicine. Pain relievers are not medicine, they are drugs.

**face-palm**

Medicine and 'drug' are synonyms. Your definition uses them as such - I've highlighted the relevant bit.

It is almost impossible to treat diseases directly. Typically, the best you can do is reduce the harm the disease does, strengthen the immune system, and hope for the best.

Marijuana is a medicine that reduces or eliminates nausea, a common side-effect of chemo therapy (which is literal poison that will hopefully kill your cancer before it kills you).

Whether or not you can get high on something has no baring on it's effectiveness as medicine. You can get high on cough syrup - doesn't mean it doesn't treat your cough.

 

[wintercoat]

Not all medical drugs cure things. In fact most don't, most treat symptoms. That's why marijuana is good for.

Also, you seem to be under the impression that "medicine" implies "cure", which is simply not true. A huge portion of medicine is concerned solely with alleviating pain or reducing symptoms or side-effects of other treatments. The fact that a treatment or drug does not cure an illness does not mean it's not medicine.

med·i·cine/ˈmedisən/
Noun:

The science or practice of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease (in technical use often taken to exclude surgery).
A drug or other preparation used for the treatment or prevention of disease.

Marijuana is a drug. Opiates are a drug. Penicillin is medicine. Pain relievers are not medicine, they are drugs.

You left out the most important part!

medicine med·i·cine (měd'ĭ-sĭn)
n.

The science of diagnosing, treating, or preventing disease and other damage to the body or mind.

The branch of this science encompassing treatment by drugs, diet, exercise, and other nonsurgical means.

The practice of medicine.

An agent, such as a drug, used to treat disease or injury.

That's from a medical dictionary by the way. Drugs are classified as medicine. I do agree, though, that people should stop piggy-backing the medicinal uses when they just want to toke up, it does more harm than good. Just wanted to point out that it is indeed medicine.

 

[Deathmageddon]

Anesthesia is for medical purposes, it reduces stress and thus allows the body to function on a more healthy level.

Anesthesia is used so that patients won't feel the doctor cutting them open and looking around, not reducing stress...

Also people shouldn't have to alter their brain chemistry just because they're uptight. You know the best way to promote good health and reduce stress? Exercise. All pot does is make you too stupid to worry about stuff for a few hours, which are better spent getting stuff done and eliminating the cause of your stress.

 

[GrandmaFunk]

Marijuana can induce psychosis. Several studies have been performed around this topic.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22213786

The link goes to one of these studies.Alcohol can do the same in a sense but only if you abuse it a long time (alcoholic -> korsakov syndrome). Some people can get psychosis from 1 puff of marijuana. The percentage of people in the population is larger then you think. So no I don't think they should legalise it.

Apparently you totally misunderstood both the context and findings of that study. As well as what's meant by the use of the term "psychosis", which in this cases is used to mean an altered state of mind, which may include hallucinations.

this state of psychosis is temporary and is basically a scientific way of describing "getting high".

 

[Dags90]

Do you know how many drugs don't actually affect the course of a disease, but are merely palliative in nature?

A lot.

 

[DoomyMcDoom]

I live in Victoria, BC, Canada, pot is almost as common here as tobacco depending what neighbourhoods you're in, hell most apartment buildings have a few hallways that smell faintly of marajuana, police have pretty much given up enforcement for posession, only really confiscate it if you got a bunch on you, they go after grow ops, because that's the business end and you can enforce that without putting thousands of people in prison.

About half my friends smoke it, and hell I do periodically, and lemme tell you, I've worked in environments in which i was surrounded by drug users of all sorts, and when I say pot should be legal medical or not, well it's because out of all the drug users I've come across, I've NEVER met a stoner who wasn't friendly or at least nonviolent in their attitude while in public, drunks crackheads and meth users... well not so much y'know... quite the opposite.

Just saying convenience stores would get hella rich, and you'd have less violent crime if weed was cheap and legal and readily available.

As far as medical use, it acts as a pain killer muscle relaxant appetite booster, and just generally helps people get their mind off their problems for awhile... I've known people with cancer that wouldn have died without pot, like starved and had no will to live and no energy to fight it.
People who struggle with chronic pain who have a resistance to all sorts of over the counter pain killers, have found it helps a lot.

I say just legalize the shit all out, medical or not, it's not nearly as destructive as booze when it comes to violent acts while under the influence, and it can help people who need a bit of relief. I mean sure you would hafta have warnings about some of the side effects of pot use like short term memory loss, and let people know that as a psychoactive drug, it can mess with your head, and affects different people differently... But I say why waste money enforcing all the drug prohibition laws on the most common and least harmful drug on the streets...Put the money saved from the enforcement costs, and the taxes on the stuff that would undoubtedly be huge proffit government-side, to work on healthcare and education that seems to be the first target for cuts in like every government.

 

[iseko]

Marijuana can induce psychosis. Several studies have been performed around this topic.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22213786

The link goes to one of these studies.Alcohol can do the same in a sense but only if you abuse it a long time (alcoholic -> korsakov syndrome). Some people can get psychosis from 1 puff of marijuana. The percentage of people in the population is larger then you think. So no I don't think they should legalise it.

Apparently you totally misunderstood both the context and findings of that study. As well as what's meant by the use of the term "psychosis", which in this cases is used to mean an altered state of mind, which may include hallucinations.

this state of psychosis is temporary and is basically a scientific way of describing "getting high".

"Acute psychosis followed by increased risk of chronic schyzophrenia." The getting 'high' bit is just a part of it. But you are right that it is not the best example. Still I am 100% positive that you can become psychotic when doing marijuana.

1) My dad is a psychiatrist and works for a institution for the mentally ill. He works with people who became mentally ill from drugs.
2) My aunt is also a person who has this affliction thanks to marijuana.

But don't take my word for it. I'm too lazy to actually start looking up articles again (I did it once already for a paper) and research data for the sake of an internet discussion. I can only suggest that you look it up yourself and draw up your own conclusion .

 

[GrandmaFunk]

Still I am 100% positive that you can become psychotic when doing marijuana.

1) My dad is a psychiatrist and works for a institution for the mentally ill. He works with people who became mentally ill from drugs.
2) My aunt is also a person who has this affliction thanks to marijuana.

anecdotal evidence is awesome!

here's mine: I've met hundreds of pot smokers who were not mentally ill.

I've also met a few that were, but whose conditions not only predated their drug use, but were also mitigated by it.

Look, I'm not trying to say it doesn't happen, but it IS an extremely rare occurrence and is almost always due to a pre-existing predisposition.

 

[evilneko]

Well that fell apart fairly quickly, didn't it.

You should edit your OP to make your point without making incorrect claims about terminology.

Why don't you stop barging into threads and in no way help the discussion.

OT: I'd say the best way to handle marijuana is to make it legal with some restrictions, like we have here in the netherlands. Sometimes I even wonder how hard drugs like cocaine and herione and the like would be off if they'd be restricted in their usage as per their dangerousness, but still legal. I don't know much about that though. Also, I would discourage smoking it, that's still pretty unhealthy. It's too bad that other methods are less known and harder to come by.

I'm sorry you can't see the utility of editing the OP to make his point without going off on a flamebait-prone tangent.

 

[iseko]

Still I am 100% positive that you can become psychotic when doing marijuana.

1) My dad is a psychiatrist and works for a institution for the mentally ill. He works with people who became mentally ill from drugs.
2) My aunt is also a person who has this affliction thanks to marijuana.

anecdotal evidence is awesome!

here's mine: I've met hundreds of pot smokers who were not mentally ill.

I've also met a few that were, but whose conditions not only predated their drug use, but were also mitigated by it.

Look, I'm not trying to say it doesn't happen, but it IS an extremely rare occurrence and is almost always due to a pre-existing predisposition.

As you wish. If that is your opinion then that is fine. However I do not appreciate the sarcasm. No need for it. And don't tell me anecdotal evidence is worth nothing when you yourself make a statement without any proof: "it IS an extremely rare occurrence and is almost always due to a pre-existing predisposition."

Your statement is somewhat true I suppose. If I remember correctly only 5% of the population would become psychotic. They need a genetic predisposition. But that doesn't translate to: they would have become psychotic anyway without the marijuana. That bit is not true.

Any ways. Believe me or don't believe me. It doesn't matter to me. And I genuinely hope neither you or anyone in your family will have this affliction (not meant sarcastically). But I won't reply anymore,

Cheers

 

[isometry]

Cannabis has been used as medicine for 1000s of years, the OP is just blatantly ignorant, or trolling.

Marijuana can induce psychosis. Several studies have been performed around this topic.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22213786

The link goes to one of these studies. Alcohol can do the same in a sense but only if you abuse it a long time (alcoholic -> korsakov syndrome). Some people can get psychosis from 1 puff of marijuana. The percentage of people in the population is larger then you think. So no I don't think they should legalise it.

You are exaggerating the danger, the article says "chronic use may increase the risk of schizophrenia", nowhere in the article does it say "some people can get psychosis from 1 puff." The only place that happens is in the 1930s propaganda film "Reefer Madness", which wasn't based on reality.

Also it's funny that you would compare a safe medicine like cannabis to a dangerous poison like alcohol. Alcohol can cause brain damage, liver damage, depression, anxiety, suicide, fetus damage, and overdose (the only drug with a higher ratio of threshold dose to over dose is heroin, meaning alcohol is next to heroin as the easiest drug to OD on). That's why alcohol is a poison and cannabis is a medicine.

 

[IzisviAziria]

Are you sure it's just a catchphrase? How is medical Vicodin any different? They seem like pretty similar things to me.

 

[him over there]

Essentially as you said it is a cure for nothing but has medical purposes in the way of a pain killer and it also can restore things like appetites in chemo-patients.

I whole heartedly agree with the notion that saying it has medical uses is why it should be legal though. It's seriously pathetic and ignorant that saying it has medicinal uses means it should be recreationally legal. Though it should be legal. Marijuana is no more harmful than alcohol strictly speaking.(well it is but not significantly) It won't kill you, but it will fuck your life up. You know how many people die of alcohol poisoning? not as many as you may think. Far more die of unforeseen circumstances because their judgement was impaired. It is very much the same for Weed.

Will it be straight up legalized whether people want it or it's medicinal or whatever? probably not. Mostly because the government has no form of tax or regulations in place to make any sort of tax revenue of the market. Do you really think smoking, which kills way more people than alcohol and pot would still be legal if the industry didn't make huge amounts of tax money for the government?

 

[IzisviAziria]

I'm gonna eat some words here. I'm gonna drop part of the argument, for the sake of the rest of it. I'll stop fighting medicine vs drug vs painkiller. Will even go so far as to admit defeat and say I was wrong. I have a biased opinion on medicine because of how it is treated in the United States (an industry, rather than a method of healing).

I'm going to eat those words because I don't think they invalidate my point. I could have made the same point without making (rather vehemently) some of my rather less intelligent statements. So I'll do so.

Boiling it down, I want people to stop using medical marijuana as a loophole. Its negative effect is minimal, certainly less so than alcohol and poses little threat when used responsibly. The only rationale against legalization is, as previously stated, political. A terrible reason and sort of indicative of the American political system as a whole. It should be legal and available to adults who supposedly live in a free society and I don't think that finding loopholes to use it makes that problem better.

 

[Chewster]

there are an insanely high number of people that have green cards that have no real need of it. getting one is as simple as telling the right doctor you have back pain, or that you can't sleep at night. What started out as an avenue for people that need to to get it has turned into a loophole the general populace uses to circumvent the law.

Even if there actually were an "insanely high" number of people getting green cards under false pretenses, so what? Are these innumerable people making you smoke it too? The fuck do you care?

This isn't an issue of the wrong drug, but the wrong people doling out said drug. Maybe you should consider that avenue of reasoning, instead of getting all worked up that people like to differentiate between street drugs, and ones prescribed for medical issues.

The issue should be separate. It's not. It has bled over and now medicinal use is skewed. If you read my post, I completely legitimized people that use it as part of a regimen for chemotherapy, or other REAL problems that require use of a painkiller. But for every one person that uses it medically in a legitimate way, there are 15 guys that lied to a doctor about back pain so that they could smoke or acquire weed without being afraid of the police.

Again, so what? Pot is a fairly benign drug overall and people who want to smoke it are likely going to, regardless of the law. At least this way they are not giving their cash to potential criminal organizations or clogging up the justice system on the off chance they get caught.

I'd be more worried about people getting hooked on prescription painkillers or other strong opiates.