I find it sad the Mr Lang actually thinks doctors "prescribe massive amounts of morphine, Vicodin, or codeine to alleviate pain". Most doctors are afraid to prescribe pain medications to their patients in fear of the DEA and other authorities. Doctors that compassionately treat chronic pain patients are being put in prison for it! It is a myth that they are prescribing massive amounts". The war on pain doctors is another thing that might not be as much of a problem if people are allowed to use cannabis for chronic pain. It decreases the need for the opiates that are prescribed, at sub-therapeutic levels, to so many patients!

There may be little outcry, but the DEA people sure have made the doctors afraid to practice the "standard of care". That "standard of care" has been modified by the people that can control the doctors. Another sad thing being, those controlling the patients' medical care, for the most part, are not physicians, but law enforcement. Why should they be?

Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if states got off the kick of using the term "marijuana"? "Marijuana" is a pejorative term commonly used to refer to the cannabinoid THC.

States should simply pass laws that permits states to use "cannabis" in whatever forms it is found to be beneficial. There are other cannabinoids that have medical value besides THC.

There are over 40 known cannabinoids and perhaps even 60. It's been estimated that there may be as many as 1,000 cannabinoids in the cannabis plant.

State universities should be allowed to grow cannabis plants and develop whatever products they find useful and beneficial to produce whatever kinds of products the cannabis plant can best be grown to support.

The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government.

— Thomas Jefferson

1. David: I agree with you generally but here are some thoughts on the word "marijuana":

a. It is a disparaging term, because resembling the Mexican word "Americana" (aren't Mexicans inferior?), the word is thought by some users to be an effective way of insulting someone;

b. We could rename the high-resin strains Cannabis robusta ameriwana;

c. If as I expect these laws are reformed, our society could resolve many bitter disagreements and achieve a PAX AMERIWAMA.

2. Two ounces of herb, sifted through 1/16"-mesh screening for smooth-burning uniform particle size and used in a narrow screened-crater 25-mg. serving-size utensil (long-stemmed one-hitter for high-grade one-hit herb), adds up to around 1800 tokes, enough for a year at my rate of use. Think how many more thousands of tokes if you grow seven plants. (Pot? Seeds go to flower POT and stems to tea POT.)

3. Legal use, even if only for medical patients, will ease the pressure against "paraphernalia" (i.e. anything SAFER than hot-burning overdose cigaret papers), and de facto legalize the long-stemmed one-hitter and, with it, the vaporizer and the E-CIGARETTE with THC in the cartridge instead of nicotine.

4. Then once all cannabis users (and tobacco users, which is why the big companies are fighting it) have shifted from "joint" and "blunt" to safe nanodose equipment (25-mg.), the sudden drastic disappearance of overdose-related pathologies will knock the legs out from under any remaining arguments for prohibiting riefer as either "drug" or "dangerous".

miang and dave, thank you for your livly discussion and intelligent ideas! I have six spinal fused verts and three broken ribs and had to Run to Oregon to get the medical cannabis I have to have to get Off the percocets and morphene. You are totally right about the law creeps terrorizing on the pain control doctors! God bless these nice, brave doctors for risking their licenses and all those years in school to help me from the burning fiery pain that tears me up awake and asleep! Let the ill among us grow our plants in our home without terror from the adrenalized police. With lots of pot, strong heavy hitter stuff, I lose 50-100% of the post surgical pain that fries me alive. Cannabis is what I will continue to need in the future and I, personally, will need lots more than two ounces to help control the migraines from the brain injuries that will Never heal. God bless us, cops and all, to continue to evolve the next step, which is behavior, which is FORGIVENESS!

We all have the INALIENABLE RIGHT to medicate ourselves. Look it up.
Our government, in its infinite insanity, strips our rights away, then sells them back to us. AND acts all magnanimous about it each time. I, for one, will not be dictated to any longer. I will make up my own mind, thank you.
So, now my government wants to write me a permission slip to do what shouldn't even be an issue in this day and age. I can walk into a gun show and buy an assault rifle, but not an ounce of marijuana. I can go to the liquor store and buy enough booze to kill an army, but not an ounce of marijuana.
Reading that silly "medical" bill made me dizzy. There's even a rule about hiding cannabis behind a locked door. Hah! When is the last time you saw a public service announcement warning you of the dangers of leaving your prescriptions, guns, alcohol, etc. out in the open? The legislators evidently are still cursed with that "evil weed" mind set. I wonder how they unwind at the end of a long day... I don't care. It's none of my concern. So, why am I being held to THEIR standards and customs? Can you say, "fascism"? I rest my case. Smoke 'em if ya got 'em.

I simply just want to be able to smoke pot out of my choice and not have the government criminanalize me for something that should be a persons choice. For shame that our governments stand on this is stuck in some post reefer madness era outlook on marijuana. Really? I mean the government is all for tobacco and having that legal should be a crime to its your choice to smoke yeah sure but they know it harms you. Whats the difference here? They are not acknowledging the flaws of marijuana criminanalization