A poll in this morning’s Tennessean stated that 44% of Tennesseans agree that, “Marijuana should be legal only for medicinal use.” An additional 32% felt, “It should be legal for personal use. Only 22% said, “It should not be legal.”
My reaction, “72% of Tennesseans are out of their minds, ignorant, blind, or all three!”
Have 32% of Tennessee’s citizens, not seen the awful effect MJ has on brains? They are not called “pot heads” without reason. And, that’s not the worse part! I have been studying and caring for adolescents for almost half a century and what I have seen is that MJ is a gateway drug. I know pot heads don’t want to believe that, but most drug users start with marijuana.
Everyday I see high school and college age kids who are living with grandparents, aunts, uncles, or perfect strangers in foster homes. Their parents were declared unfit because of their drug use and lost custody of their precious offspring. It makes my heart ache to think someone would prefer using dope or other drugs, including alcohol, instead of being with their kids! The pot heads of the seventies are our current coke heads.
Please don’t blame the laws that make MJ illegal, the law is there to protect those who are dependent on the user, namely, their kids. And don’t tell me that it’s good for kids to sit around watching their stoned parents suck pot, meth, or cocaine.
My second thought: If marijuana is such a good medicine why doesn’t some pharmaceutical company get authorized by the FDA to distribute it to pharmacies. If it is so good, there must be money to be made! The FDA is responsible for the safety and effectiveness of all medicine prescribed by physicians. Firms who develop new drugs are required to do exhaustive studies to prove to the FDA that a new drug is not only effective and safe, but also needed by society.
It is not the place of opinion polls or voting booths to decide what makes a prescribable medication. Let’s leave that up to the FDA and the doctors who have our best interest in mind.