Legalize It
But what is really at stake here? Those who oppose legalizing marijuana for medical purposes are essentially giving the nod to potential Rush Limbaugh-style prescription painkiller madness. After all, on the one hand we have a substance which is not physically addictive, actually does alleviate pain (I can say this from experience), and is basically harmless if ingested properly. On the other, you have the uber-conservative Rush Limbaugh and his narcotics problem, brought on by inital use as proscribed by a doctor, if I remember my scandals properly. To deny a cancer patient medical marijuana is basically to tell them that We, The People, would rather they get addicted to narcotics. If your conscience can let you sleep at night with such a notion, fine. Maybe you'd feel more at home toruturing Iraqi prisoners of war instead of going to your day job. Why don't you enlist? We have plenty of job openings in the Armed Services, it's more or less a drug-free environment (except for the alcohol, of course) and once you gain a position of trust and authority, you can quickly turn into one of the bad apples who give the hardworking legit members of the military a bad name. Because that is essentially what you are doing to cancer patients and other pain sufferers by denying them a quick and effective NON NARCOTIC pain management solution. It's torture to give someone chemo, then force them to suffer withdrawl symptoms to avoid a long-term substance problem. At the risk of repeating myself here, by saying "no" to medical marijuana, you are basically the equivalent to one of those bad apples who ran rampant in those Iraqi detention centers. You are causing needless suffering, and you don't see any problem with it. Perhaps YOU can afford to go to a rehab clinic and dry out, but someone already strapped with huge medical bills and the loss of income from prolonged medical treatment is going to have a hard time trying to pay for a bed. They will just have to suck it up and go "cold turkey". That is, unless We The People wake up and allow pain sufferers to use a medical treatment option that doesn't make them a slave to the pill bottle. Ask Rush Limbaugh how he feels about THAT one. Joe Wallace E-mail This Page | Talk About It | Return to My Column
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The New York State Legislature doesn't seem to know what they have on their hands when it comes to the medical marijuana. For those who are in the dark on this issue, a medical marijuana bill passed the Assembly recently, but when it got to the Senate, the bill was criticized and a different piece of legislation on the issue has been discussed. It's likely that this issue will not be resolved anytime soon, even if the bill passes. Opponents of medical marijuana will try their damndest to shoot down this idea.
