Quote:
Originally Posted by listopencil
It looks like Federal regs are based on the scheduling of the drug. Right now pot is listed as having no medicinal value with a high likelihood of abuse. So the DEA can go after it.
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I know you're not endorsing the DEAs view, but I'd still like to respond:
That's bullshit.
Marijuana has a number of medicinal uses. They may not be the BEST AVAILABLE treatments, but they're natural and they do produce some level of symptom alleviation.
The prohibition on weed is commonly attributed to the alcohol and tobacco companies, but the MAJOR player in the fight is the pharmaceutical industry. The natural argument to that is, "well, let the pharm companies produce their own". Never, ever. The pharm companies understand that the growth of these plants is easy and readily available, making their advances in that industry difficult-at-best.
To the medicinal uses: weed is primarily a pain alleviator. It reduces intraocular pressure (hence the "glaucoma" stereotype), and depending on strain, can reduce anxiety, break insomnia, and certainly diminish post-chemotherapy symptoms. I work with a clinical oncologist, and she is a big believer in that type of natural approach, but often is left to proscribing whichever insurance-approved pharmaceuticals (many of which present a whole host of unrelated pharmacological issues) she's left with.