Pubdate: Sat, 15 Jan 2011
Source: Bulletin, The (Bend, OR)
Copyright: 2011 Western Communications Inc.
Contact:  http://www.bendbulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/62
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

AFTER MARIJUANA, THE COLD

Is marijuana bad for you? Presuming you agree it probably isn't good 
for you, how bad is it? Is it likely to cause more lasting damage 
than too much beer, or whiskey? Is it a smaller social problem than 
alcohol, to which three or four per cent of our population is 
addicted? Is there such a thing as a marijuana addict? If there is, 
is he a greater or less danger than the drinking driver?

Those really don't look like such tough questions, do they? They may 
not be tough, but the truth of the matter is that there are no 
definitive answers to them. That's because we really have no 
marijuana experts. That's why the penalty for possession of marijuana 
is more severe than the penalty for possession of LSD, which all the 
non-experts agree is a far more dangerous narcotic.

Doctors have not yet discovered a cure for the common cold, if there 
is such a thing as a common cold. It's too common to waste a lot of 
research time and money. It doesn't last long enough to be a major 
health problem to masses of people at the same time. It's far more 
rewarding to do research on cancer, or sex.

Marijuana is the common cold of narcotics. It's relatively cheap -- 
or was until the government started cracking down on its import. Its 
apparent effects were short-lived. No one ever died from an overdose. 
Crime is seldom committed to get funds for its purchase.

It's become a real social problem, though, if only in its 
contribution to the current so-called generation gap. It's possibly 
enough of a health problem to demand some study. The government funds 
most medical research in the country, and some of it appears on its 
face to be of doubtful value. Perhaps some of those millions of 
dollars ought to be funneled into research on marijuana. We need 
marijuana experts. After we settle the marijuana question we can go 
after the common cold.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom