[Trichomeguy]

"I fear that the medical marijuana strategy may have outlived it's usefulness. The medical marijuana{MMJ} bills this year in Minnesota, New Jersey,New York,New Hampshire, & now an Arizona initive are becoming more restrictive. After a dozenyears of MMJ success, defined as "the sky did not fall when we legalized marijuana for sick people, bill's & initiatives should be getting more relaxed, not stricter, more inclusive, not less; and more conditions covered, not fewer. With polls consistantly showing mainstream support increasing in states with MMJ & holding steady in the states without, MMJ bills and initiatives should be getting better not worse.
What I fear is that the publics mindset is moving from "MJ is a deadly gateway drug whose users should be punished" to "MJ is a powerful medicine that should be used only under the most strict controls & supervision. The most recent bills take away the right of a patient to grow their own medicine, substituting instead requirements that medicine come only from dispensaries over which the state maintains a monopoly. They've pared down the list of "qualifying conditions" to the point where only the gravest ill, the terminal cases with less than six months to live, who've tried and had no success with all the other pharmaceutical drugs, only they have any access. This upcoming Arizona initiative will even electronically track how much medical cannabis a patient purchases and require criminal background checks & fingerprinting that will be forwarded to the FBI!

As fewer & fewer patients qualify for medical cannabis under these new, tighter laws, pharmaceutical companies continue to derive and patent cannabinoid compounds & prepare them for dose-regulated delivery by spray, inhaler,cream, and pill. They've used their lobbying power for decades to oppose natures finest medicine, because they feel that marijuana is the biggest threat to their market for benzodiazepines, NSAID's, and opioids, because they couldnt slap a bar code and a $250.000 percent mark-up on pot. Soon, they will be able to provide all these patients with all the benefits of medical cannabis, but without the pesky "high" and the ability to thwart their profits by people growing it themselves.
According to USA today, in 2005, there were 1,274 registered pharmaceutical lobbyists in washington DC -- thats more than two for every member of congress. In 2003, $143 million was spent on lobbying activities by the pharmaceutical industry. There are more lobbyists from pharmaceutical than any other industry trying to bend legislators' ears.

This is big business, and that means that your health care is NOT in the hands of people who honestly want to help you, but instead, is in the hands of people who view you as a market.

Mad yet?

The florida Medical Examiners concluded that three times more people die from prescription medicine as die from illegal drugs.

What I fear is dispensaries becoming pharmacies and cannabis becoming another pharmaceutical and those lobbyists turning that $143 million toward enacting horribly restrictive medical marijuana laws that preserve their profits by banning home growing.

Medical Marijuana is beginning to steer marijuana law reform toward treating cannabis like codeine and away from treating cannabis like coors light.

The beauty of MMJ is that people can cheaply and easily care for themselves. That's also threatening to the health care model as it is run today, because cannabis violates that need for the middlemen and bureaucracy to receive treatment.
I dont need to see the Dr. every so often to have him re-approve my prescription & I dont need to see the pharmacist to fill it up. I can grow it and use it when I need it, It cant kill me so I cant take too much, It cant addict me so I dont need supervision. It doesnt alter my perceptions and actions to the point that I need strict regulation. We dont need intermediaries, we can find our salvation ourselves!

But now we are seeing these new bills and initiatives
requiring more visits to the doctor, requiring the cannabis come from dispensaries, and strictly documenting how much is to be used.
Cannabis is being forced to fit into the paradigm of health care for profit with all the intermediaries, bureaucracy,markups, and restrictions. Once it is locked into the healthcare insurance-pharmaceutical-medical complex, Legalization for you and I will be farther away than ever.

That is why the next 18 months are crucial in marijuana law reform. We've never had higher support for legalization, in part due to the economy. A state needs to break through with legalization for you and me, before the economy begins to recover, before cannabis pharmaceuticals gain widespread approval,before a half dozen more states enact increasingly restrictive MMJ laws, and before cannabis becomes so ingrained in the publics mind as a medicine that we cant get them to accept cannabis as a social relaxant."

Do your part, Start caring about cannabis law reform, Lets do all we can to keep our herb in OUR OWN hands, & not in the hands of these greedy, squabbling,controling, profiteering pharmaceutical companies. Enough Govt. profiteering under the guise of morality,

Please help spread this message, print and distribute this text freely, and/or, Repeat this information to anyone who will listen. Help defend your right to use cannabis!!

[Medpatient]

restrictions become less, well it may have ended up that way, but every state that is considering MMJ and those that won't all use California as the reason. California is like the wild wild west, those states look at how the laws are written and then take away what they feel is the loop holes that cause it to be over run by anyone with $100 and an appointment to get a rec.

[Trichomeguy]

Let's hope that the other states follow Californias example remember that they have 2-3 pharmaceutical-Lobbyists for every one congressman, spread the word, dont let these people take away our right to grow our own meds.. please copy & print & distribute this info to otherwise unknowing people. Thank You for reading & feedback

[g0tpersian]

I agree with you trichomeguy.

I believe mmj is the first step to a full legalization. However, I do think the argument is dying, and when I defend the legalization, I don't even bring up medicinal purposes. There are much better arguments than medicinal use. For one, hemp is a fuel. Not to mention that the crop provides protein oil, clothing, paper, linen, rope, etc. Those are reasons to legalize something. Being a libertarian, giving the consumer a choice is another reason to legalize something. That's more of a political belief, and not everyone will agree with me on that.

[Fisherman Bob]

This upcoming Arizona initiative will even electronically track how much medical cannabis a patient purchases and require criminal background checks & fingerprinting that will be forwarded to the FBI!

This can't be good.Thanks for the post it was a eye opener to me.I for sure don't need anyone checking me out...it sounds like they want to watch and regulate us...NO THANK YOU, LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!!!!!

Fisherman Bob

[naupaka]

Originally Posted by Trichomeguy

Let's hope that the other states follow Californias example remember that they have 2-3 pharmaceutical-Lobbyists for every one congressman, spread the word, dont let these people take away our right to grow our own meds.. please copy & print & distribute this info to otherwise unknowing people. Thank You for reading & feedback

Will do...thank you.

[Medpatient]

Originally Posted by Fisherman Bob

This upcoming Arizona initiative will even electronically track how much medical cannabis a patient purchases and require criminal background checks & fingerprinting that will be forwarded to the FBI!

This can't be good.Thanks for the post it was a eye opener to me.I for sure don't need anyone checking me out...it sounds like they want to watch and regulate us...NO THANK YOU, LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!!!!!

Fisherman Bob

no offense to you or anyone else but I always have said, if you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to worry about.

[VooDoo Chile]

Originally Posted by Medpatient

no offense to you or anyone else but I always have said, if you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to worry about.

I personally have nothing to hide, and thus nothing to worry about. Yet, I still don't want anyone tracking my purchases. That's one of the many reasons why I don't have a credit card. I also try to avoid using my debit card at co-ops for this reason. Yeah, it's convenient, but it also leaves a paper trail. Call me paranoid, but I don't see anything good coming from tracking of that nature. It frankly scares the shit out of me.

[g0tpersian]

Originally Posted by VooDoo Chile

I personally have nothing to hide, and thus nothing to worry about. Yet, I still don't want anyone tracking my purchases. That's one of the many reasons why I don't have a credit card. I also try to avoid using my debit card at co-ops for this reason. Yeah, it's convenient, but it also leaves a paper trail. Call me paranoid, but I don't see anything good coming from tracking of that nature. It frankly scares the shit out of me.

Agreed. It's just the fact that they can do that. I agree. I have nothing to hide, however, I have rights too. It's important to remember your rights and use them when you can. If they aren't used or enforced, then there are no rights you know?

[Fisherman Bob]

Originally Posted by Medpatient

no offense to you or anyone else but I always have said, if you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to worry about.

I have been through this background check four times now and it can be a pain in the ass even if you have nothing to hide.It takes years to get it straightened out again(even though you have nothing to hide).Just don't want to do it again and have to wait years again to get it straightened out again....

Fisherman Bob