The general decline in standards today

[vintageTink]

Yes, it did. If the doctor is willing to write a prescription then he can certainly try it without worrying about being arrested.

His doc is okay with the medical cannibis so she'll likely not fight him on Marinol. Can't hurt to ask.

 

[1961MJS]

Not at all. "No currently accepted medical use" of crude marijuana simply means that the substance does not meet the FDA criteria for Safe and Approved medication. Those five criteria are:

1. The drug's chemistry must be known and reproducible.
....

The known and reproducible is apparently giving Colorado fits. Can be having people driving around stoned, but they haven't been able to adequately qualify "stoned" with a blood test etc. A guy at work told me (from the news) that the current amount they used (don't know what it is) stays at that level in your system for weeks or months.

Later

 

[sheeplady]

Marinol, according to my understanding, isn't a pain reliever. It's an appetite inducer and anti-nausea med. I could be wrong, but I've never heard it used as a pain reliever.

ETA: Apparently some doctor's will prescribe it off-label, but it's a Schedule III drug... so... likely you'd have to get a very cooperative and understanding doctor.

 

[vintageTink]

Marinol, according to my understanding, isn't a pain reliever. It's an appetite inducer and anti-nausea med. I could be wrong, but I've never heard it used as a pain reliever.

Then that won't do. He needs pain relief.
AS stinks.

 

[jamespowers]

Then that won't do. He needs pain relief.
AS stinks.

Again, consult the doctor first. It has been used to good effect in treatment of the severe pain associated with fibromyalgia. It is an off label use for it but it is used as such. At the very least, it is a synergist and in conjunction with other pain medications, helps them work better so you can take less of them. Consult your doctor and see what he says. You might be surprised.

 

[Zombie_61]

..."No currently accepted medical use" of crude marijuana simply means that the substance does not meet the FDA criteria for Safe and Approved medication...

To be honest, that is something I hadn't researched. Thank you for the education.

 

[Matt Crunk]

People, people, people. I guess I'm gonna have to step back in here and fix this once and for all: Forget the medical research and taxation part for now. Simply allow people to grow and possess a reasonable amount for their own personal use if they so choose, whatever reason that might be. The same should be done with distilled spirits, while we're at it. Treat them both the same way they currently do with home-brewed beer and wine: No license needed unless you seek to sell it. I don't really see how it could get much more simple than that.

 

[LizzieMaine]

People, people, people. I guess I'm gonna have to step back in here and fix this once and for all: Forget the medical research and taxation part for now. Simply allow people to grow and possess a reasonable amount for their own personal use if they so choose, whatever reason that might be. The same should be done with distilled spirits, while we're at it. Treat them both the same way they currently do with home-brewed beer and wine: No license needed unless you seek to sell it. I don't really see how it could get much more simple than that.

No.

I don't know how things are in your state, but we "decriminalized" small-amount possession of pot years ago, and then legalized "medical marijuana" on top of that. I haven't noticed any improvement. Maine is among the top ten for abuse of practically every drug you can name, from marijuana to opiates to cocaine, and in the top fifteen for alcoholism, and we see the results around us every damn day of the year. These "individual choices" are harming society, and the culture of intoxication promoted by those choices is causing real, lasting damage. Kids now look forward to getting "wasted" for the first time as some kind of perverted rite of passage. Some "choice."

And after what I've seen up close over the last eight weeks, there is absolutely nothing on God's green earth, no sophistic argument of any kind, that could ever convince me that recreational use of marijuana should be in any way encouraged or tolerated by our society.

 

[jamespowers]

No.

I don't know how things are in your state, but we "decriminalized" small-amount possession of pot years ago, and then legalized "medical marijuana" on top of that. I haven't noticed any improvement. Maine is among the top ten for abuse of practically every drug you can name, from marijuana to opiates to cocaine, and in the top fifteen for alcoholism, and we see the results around us every damn day of the year. These "individual choices" are harming society, and the culture of intoxication promoted by those choices is causing real, lasting damage. Kids now look forward to getting "wasted" for the first time as some kind of perverted rite of passage. Some "choice."

And after what I've seen up close over the last eight weeks, there is absolutely nothing on God's green earth, no sophistic argument of any kind, that could ever convince me that recreational use of marijuana should be in any way encouraged or tolerated by our society.

You can't convince me either as we have the canard know as medical MJ. It is nothing but an excuse for dopers to get high. The "dispensaries" are run by thugs and bongheads so the places are essentially headshops where dopers congregate. Several of them have been closed due to being as such but plenty still exist in hippie towns like Berkeley. The Feds still come in and nail them once in a while too.

I am not for expanding the inventory of intoxicants that we already have available. Enough is enough already. You can't convince me that it is going to make anything better. It certainly hasn't here or across the bay in the largest outdoor insane asylum either.

 

[sheeplady]

The problem, though, is that drug abuse has it's roots in other problems. If you look at some of the areas that have the highest amounts of abuse, it is because those areas lack opportunities (mainly good jobs) and education. That's why crack is ravaging our inner cities and meth in our rural areas. It doesn't matter how you legislate it, until you fix those basic problems you're going to have people turning towards both legal and illegal substances in quantities far greater quantity than anyone should to escape their problems.

The best thing we could do to prevent substance addiction is to improve our economy.

And while individuals who lack opportunities are not the only people who fall victim to substance abuse, when they do, they lack the resources to get into good rehabilitation programs and such so getting out of the cycle is near impossible.

 

[jamespowers]

The problem, though, is that drug abuse has it's roots in other problems. If you look at some of the areas that have the highest amounts of abuse, it is because those areas lack opportunities (mainly good jobs) and education. That's why crack is ravaging our inner cities and meth in our rural areas. It doesn't matter how you legislate it, until you fix those basic problems you're going to have people turning towards both legal and illegal substances in quantities far greater quantity than anyone should to escape their problems.

The best thing we could do to prevent substance addiction is to improve our economy.

And while individuals who lack opportunities are not the only people who fall victim to substance abuse, when they do, they lack the resources to get into good rehabilitation programs and such so getting out of the cycle is near impossible.

That may be true where you are but there are plenty of jobs here. We just have recreational dopers who make a mess for the rest of us. The neighbor around the corner from me managed to set his dope growing garage on fire because he was stealing power from PG and E and tapping into the power directly from the lines. One short and the thing went up like paper. When the firemen came out they found out what it really was all about and closed the streets in the area so the police could come in and investigate. The guy had an expired medical dope card. Nothing happened to him either! I am putting in for the asset forfeiture from the Feds.
The other dopehead up the street at least had the good sense to blow away when they busted him for dope growing. We don't need this crap in our neighborhoods near our children. Keep the laws the way they are or make them stricter---not more lenient. This too will be coming to your neighborhood with medical MJ. Dope attracts a certain criminal element no matter if it is legal or not.
There are enough legal substances out there without adding more.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The problem, though, is that drug abuse has it's roots in other problems. If you look at some of the areas that have the highest amounts of abuse, it is because those areas lack opportunities (mainly good jobs) and education. That's why crack is ravaging our inner cities and meth in our rural areas. It doesn't matter how you legislate it, until you fix those basic problems you're going to have people turning towards both legal and illegal substances in quantities far greater quantity than anyone should to escape their problems.

The best thing we could do to prevent substance addiction is to improve our economy.

And while individuals who lack opportunities are not the only people who fall victim to substance abuse, when they do, they lack the resources to get into good rehabilitation programs and such so getting out of the cycle is near impossible.

Oh, I absolutely agree. No question there. But in order to solve those problems it's just as important to fight the idea that dominates modern culture that you can dose those problems away, either with prescription drugs, illegal drugs, booze, or any other substance. Such things are nothing but Huxleyan "soma" to keep the people docile, stupid, and under control.

I grew up on welfare for a good chunk of my childhood, and when I graduated from high school, regional unemployment was close to 25 percent. But because of the values I was raised with, I never touched alcohol or drugs to "escape." The *idea* of touching alcohol or drugs was never even an option. I'm now fifty years old and I've never been drunk or high, and I'm very proud of that, that I've been able to accomplish what I've accomplished in my life while staying completely free of those substances. When I have problems or stresses I solve them the way I was taught to solve them -- by thinking my way thru them, not drinking my way thru them. Maybe my tough old Methodist grandmother was onto something.

 

[Touchofevil]

In recent years, we have had a number of deaths and/or murders which can be attributed to criminals attempting to steal marijuana from growers. These growers have family members get their own script when they turn eighteen. They pay them a fee so that they can attach their card to their grow and as a result grow more. Their is so much corruption going on it is out of control. Sketchy behavior by growers and consumers is rampant. Neighbors of growers have to put up with the smell, the sketchy people, and the fear of pot thieves breaking in to the wrong house. I am sure this is not what was intended by the public when they voted for medical marijuana, but it is what we got.

 

[jamespowers]

In recent years, we have had a number of deaths and/or murders which can be attributed to criminals attempting to steal marijuana from growers. These growers have family members get their own script when they turn eighteen. They pay them a fee so that they can attach their card to their grow and as a result grow more. Their is so much corruption going on it is out of control. Sketchy behavior by growers and consumers is rampant. Neighbors of growers have to put up with the smell, the sketchy people, and the fear of pot thieves breaking in to the wrong house. I am sure this is not what was intended by the public when they voted for medical marijuana, but it is what we got.

Stupid people vote for stupid things and we have no shortage of them here....... I knew wwaaaaayyyy ahead of time that this was going to happen and even warned of it in several newspaper editorials. Stupidity springs eternal....

 

[jamespowers]

Oh, I absolutely agree. No question there. But in order to solve those problems it's just as important to fight the idea that dominates modern culture that you can dose those problems away, either with prescription drugs, illegal drugs, booze, or any other substance. Such things are nothing but Huxleyan "soma" to keep the people docile, stupid, and under control.

I grew up on welfare for a good chunk of my childhood, and when I graduated from high school, regional unemployment was close to 25 percent. But because of the values I was raised with, I never touched alcohol or drugs to "escape." The *idea* of touching alcohol or drugs was never even an option. I'm now fifty years old and I've never been drunk or high, and I'm very proud of that, that I've been able to accomplish what I've accomplished in my life while staying completely free of those substances. When I have problems or stresses I solve them the way I was taught to solve them -- by thinking my way thru them, not drinking my way thru them. Maybe my tough old Methodist grandmother was onto something.

Worse yet, if we keeping getting more and more dopers you end up with:
[video=youtube_share;8Sp-VFBbjpE]http://youtu.be/8Sp-VFBbjpE[/video]

 

[Touchofevil]

Stupid people vote for stupid things and we have no shortage of them here....... I knew wwaaaaayyyy ahead of time that this was going to happen and even warned of it in several newspaper editorials. Stupidity springs eternal....

I too saw it and spoke out about it. People compared it to alcohol and argued if it is legal why not pot? I argued where does it stop? People who smoke pot tend to do it in the morning, maybe at noon, and in the evening all the while pretending it does not affect them while they interact with/in society. Too many are oblivious to its effects or that many have become the stereotypical slacker pothead.

 

[vitanola]

The alternative to this kind of scientific rigor is a return to the horrors of America before 1906, when all you needed to sell any kind of cheap poison to the gullible, desperate public was a slick-looking label, a buckboard wagon, a banjo player, an Indian chief, and a couple of shills to work the crowd. I don't think any sane person wants that.

Some would ask what is wrong with this?

Sounds like a Libertarian Paradise.

Read Freidman on the Pure Food and Drug Act (actually, I suspect that you have, Miss Maine.)

Market forces will always work flawlessly.

Why, if ever too many consumers are killed by a a dangerous or contaminated drug or food product, (and the consuming public is able to find out about it), the Market in its sublime perfection will insure the immediate failure of the offending firm or firms which supply the defective product, for of course not only are the Supreme Individual Consumers in the marketplace possessed of perfect knowledge of market conditions, they are also magically blessed with a negotiating status fully equal to that of the largest entity.

More folks need to read President Roosevelt's Ossawatmie speech, and perhaps add a bit of Brandeis and Veblen to their Bastiat, Hayek, and Hume.

 

[vintageTink]

Again, consult the doctor first. It has been used to good effect in treatment of the severe pain associated with fibromyalgia. It is an off label use for it but it is used as such. At the very least, it is a synergist and in conjunction with other pain medications, helps them work better so you can take less of them. Consult your doctor and see what he says. You might be surprised.

Will do.

I also do not understand the propensity to drink or get high when you're troubled. Doesn't make anything better.

 

[Flicka]

I'm with Lizzie (but then I always am ). The margin benefit to society as a whole must be measured against the margin cost of an individual whose behaviour is curbed. In my opinion, libertarian is just a snazzier word for egocentrism, a mentality I loathe.

That's my general stance. My stance on cannabis specifically... I have no personal experience of it myself, but I remember speaking to the director of drug treatment centre who summed up her experience: "Not everyone who tries cannabis ends up a heavy drug user, but all heavy drug users I've met started out with cannabis." And yes, that proabbly goes for alcohol too, but that we have one legal, dangerous recreational drug is hardly a reason to allow more. One is bad enough.

Market forces will always work flawlessly.

As a competition law specialist, that had me giggling out loud.

 

[jamespowers]

Market forces will always work flawlessly.

And government always works flawlessly---to steal as much as you let them get away with---probably one the reasons so many of them are for legalized dope.