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Marijuana Rx

March 6, 2009 9:10 AM

Has medical marijuana gotten a bad rap? Dr. Jon LaPook talks with Dr. Herbert Kleber and Dr. Mitch Earleywine on the pros and cons of using medical marijuana for your health.

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by dragon8me November 30, 2009 12:17 AM EST
Send the prohibitionist to Iran. They would love it there. A country run by religious nuts is just the place for the wackos. After all it's a very conservitive country.
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by dragon8me November 30, 2009 12:14 AM EST
If prohibitionist had to spend 1 day in jail, maybe they would realize the injustice of their views.
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by MatterofLiberty November 29, 2009 11:56 AM EST
Simply changing Cannabis to a Schedule 3 controlled substance (instead the Schedule 1 that it is now) would simply be keeping consistant with information gathered on THC (dronabinol marketed as marinol)does have a legitimate medical value. Simply allowing a person to use a Vaporizor as a means of quick, controlable consumption is not so different than using current inhalor technology. The reason most people haven't run out to get a Vaporizor, is that a good one is going to cost about $500. This is a big cost for already cash strapped sick people. Bringing down the prices is highly feasible. Having Authorized Medical Cannabis does not mean people will be able to grow their own if they are mandated to get it from a pharmacy with a labeled breakdown of potency, canabinoids, and recomended temprature at which optimal Vaporization occurs. When it comes to potental dangers of Medical Cannabis, it is clearly safer than all these opiate-based medicines that can lead to actual CHEMICAL DEPENDANCE and potential LETHAL overdose if abused, not just the infrequent psychological addiction that only 7% of even casual users of Cannabis experience. And as far as overdose on Cannabis the only real side effect is drowsiness. (This side effect alone should be evidence that Medical Cannabis is good for at least one ailment... Insomnia.)
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by breeziehall November 28, 2009 4:05 PM EST
I wish we could take away alcohol and put marijuana in its place. I agree, if you want other drugs or are that curious about them you will do them no matter what, so to say marijuana is a gateway drug- thats just an observation of the fact that as a kid- thats the easiest drug to come across first, at one time it was alcohol, then it was tabacco, then it was marijuana, now it is your parents perscriptions, so no its not the gateway. I bet Dr. kleber goes home at night and drinks and to me thats soooooooo much worse!
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by rfague November 27, 2009 11:10 PM EST
Legalize it already, fer cryin' out loud.
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by Big-Jim-bob November 27, 2009 7:13 PM EST
Marijuana is the third most popular recreational drug in America (behind only alcohol and tobacco), and has been used by nearly 100 million Americans. According to government surveys, some 25 million Americans have smoked marijuana in the past year, and more than 14 million do so regularly despite harsh laws against its use. Our public policies should reflect this reality, not deny it.

Marijuana is far less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco. Around 50,000 people die each year from alcohol poisoning. Similarly, more than 400,000 deaths each year are attributed to tobacco smoking. By comparison, marijuana is nontoxic and cannot cause death by overdose. According to the prestigious European medical journal, The Lancet, "The smoking of cannabis, even long-term, is not harmful to health. ... It would be reasonable to judge cannabis as less of a threat ... than alcohol or tobacco." from NORML

It's time to change the laws...
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by hereticzero November 27, 2009 2:35 PM EST
It is wrong to deny a person the right to choose for one's self, even if that choice is unwise. Evidence has shown marijuana does not pose a public health threat and yet the Federal government insists on prohibition of the plant and its use. My last job was with the Federal govt. processing Death Certificates. I never found one that was due to the result of marijuana use. When used in a responsible manner, marijuana is the safest alternative to tobacco and alcohol and illegal street drugs. Marijuana has killed no one although our government and its supporters are responsible for the deaths of unsuspecting homeowners during no-knock raids at the wrong address. I fear my local police more than the drug user that may live next door.
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by dragon8me November 27, 2009 11:27 AM EST
Prohibition is insanity.
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by excoachken November 27, 2009 9:28 AM EST
With Doctors able to dispense opiates via prescription, why, in 2009, are we still arguing about this?
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by clauneck November 27, 2009 4:32 AM EST
Guess this has been going for ages, Marijuana does not lead you to other drugs NO NO NO NO, u go for other drugs only if u want to, now a day's life has became so stressful and every person needs to dedicate some time for himself, the human cannot live for work only, we need to enjoy yourself and have fun without disturbing other people and keeping peace, some turn to alcohol and some turn to Marijuana some turn to other drugs which is worse, the worst thing is that the government agrees with alcohol which is much worse than Marijuana, and alcohol kills so much people but of course the government is making so much profit from alcohol that it is worth it to keep it legal and keep things low on the media, so the media never speaks bad about it, I wish there was a true program that says all the aspects on things, and why we have things that are worse than Marijuana and are legal.
It seems that the government scares our families that if we use Marijuana we will start using having drugs. Now a day's live become over controlled by the government media bombarding us with what they want us to know, everywhere you go is with cameras and security, and all we just want to do is go to work, after works smoke some Marijuana with our friends have a good time maybe watch a movies, than wake up for work again and start a new day I do not see anything bad in this. And I can assure you that Marijuana does not hold u back from your career I have an amazing career it just depends on the person and to keep a balance in life. Everything in life can be used bad a wrong, but why always the bad is mentioned in the media, guess people love more to watch bad things in the media now a day life's, every were u turn on the news, u see WAR, ACCIDENTS, BAD NEWS always negative things, I think these things need to be more controlled and more balanced because there are some good people out there that are making amazing things but it is not important for the media anymore.
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