17 July 2006

Marijuana Law

1) San Fran not going to open a pot store on Fisherman's Wharf.

2) The case against legalization:
Earlier this year, studies by Minnesota's respected Mayo Clinic found that regular marijuana use can cause health problems ranging from memory loss to cancer. Specifically, clinic researchers reported that pot smoking can inhibit short-term memory; reduce hand-eye coordination, reaction time and muscle strength; limit attention span; increase the risk of schizophrenia, and may even cause paranoia, anxiety and/or panic attacks.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reinforced those findings in April by declaring that marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the U.S., and has a lack of safety for use under medical supervision. The FDA further determined that pot smoking is harmful and that there are no sound scientific studies supporting the safety or efficacy of "medical" marijuana. Other than that, the drug is completely safe.
3) Why in the world would you build a tunnel to smuggle marijuana from Canada to the US? We don't exactly have National Guard units sitting on our Northern border.

4) Charged with growing marijuana without a license? Only in NY.

1 comment:

Adelaide Gamer said...

Re Pot Prohibition - one must be guarded in what one says here, because it is becoming politically charged and what I regard as the idealogues who classify pot as being as evil as (say)ice are looking for scapegoats, even down under. But, I have had too many people tell me how they suffered chronic backpain, the official med's either don't work or massively cloud the brain (besides their other addictive side effects) and that small amounts of pot, while not getting them stoned, allow them to function without pain. There are other medical uses, this is the least glamorous. I have had too many say it to me to think that they are all reading off the same old script of lies.

The sad thing down here is that while nearly all the experts (cops, corrections, doctors, drug workers) agree off the record as to the relative merits of the substance, they all value their jobs too much to say the emporer has no clothes.