The effort to legalize smoked marijuana for medical purposes is again up before the Minnesota legislature. This time the entire focus of proponents is on testimony from people who say marijuana was what gave their dying loved ones relief from nausea associated with chemotherapy.
What's interesting is that situation probably represents less than one half of one percent of the instances in which marijuana would be used under the bill. The language of the bill allows it be used for any situation involving pain over an extended period of time. Like a tennis elbow or bad knee. In California, only 2% of the cases involve cancer, AIDS or glaucoma. In Colorado, it's about 8%.
The problem with marijuana is simply it's a dangerous drug. It's addictive, impairs judgment, and is a gateway drug for hard drug use. Yet now it's being misrepresented as medicine.
I recently came across an article pointing out to a link between marijuana use and testicular cancer. Yet some suggest that marijuana should be prescribed to cancer patients.
Marijuana should go through the FDA drug approval process rather than circumventing it through state referendums or state legislatures.
Frankly, the damage to lives resulting from legalizing it, e.g. crime, addiction, and harmful message to young people it's OK, far outweigh any medical benefits.
I believe that the ultimate goal of the major proponents of medical marijuana is general legalization of marijuana. Medical marijuana is merely the camels nose under the tent.
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