California Physicians Call for the Legalization of Cannabis

slimvictor

slimvictor

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The California Medical Association (CMA) has adopted an official policy calling for the legalization and regulation of cannabis, which, it says, will facilitate wider clinical research on the drug.

"CMA may be the first organization of its kind to take this position, but we won't be the last. This was a carefully considered, deliberative decision made exclusively on medical and scientific grounds," said James T. Hay, MD, president of the CMA, in a release.

"As physicians, we need to have a better understanding about the benefits and risks of medicinal cannabis so we can provide the best care possible to our patients."

The CMA notes that clinicians in California, where cannabis is decriminalized, are often in a catch-22 situation. Under the decriminalization rules, they can only "recommend" the substance for medical purposes, but there are no processes in place to address this.

"We need to regulate cannabis so we know what we're recommending to our patients," Paul Phinney, MD, president-elect of the CMA, told Medscape Medical News.

cont at
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/752341
 
well at least its something. but it will still never be legal unless real people start getting involved in the higher powers in government. until then the nefarious rich and evil people at the top will never let it happen. They got enough money to throw at it probably to lobby against it ever being legal
 
shellybabe said:
They want to regulate so they can major tax on it. I have my card, I can get on a plane with a certain amount, I can walk into a store and know where it was grown, THC content, indoor or outdoor. Are you in Cali? I actually had to stop because of it being so available I could walk around the corner and have my selection of hash, cookies, tinctures..you name it. I also can have it delivered to my home by a well dressed delivery guy and an ATM card machine reader. Making any changes will only hurt the people that do really need it and that is why the prop was not passed last year. Most of the dispensaries have their stuff tested and have reports on it. Very legal...but untaxed, that us their motive. I can smoke on the street (not near playgrounds, schools, libraries, etc) and have no worries about the smell.

Usually when you see a "real" doctor, they ask you if you have a medical Marijuana card and ask what you use and how often. They know, tax on the poor so we can feed the rich.

There is even a technical college in SF to perfect becoming a grower., considering as times change this will be big business. If CA could tax the MJ, they might not be in such debt.
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That college is in Oakland called Oaksterdam and the feds are going after its founder, as well as the rest of california's medical marijuana industry. Things want change much in humboldt anyway. And california does tax its medical pot. I pay tax everytime im in a dispensary. The dr you see to get your card pays a tax and the people that sold it to the dispensary pay a tax.
 
shellybabe said:
They want to regulate so they can major tax on it. I have my card, I can get on a plane with a certain amount, I can walk into a store and know where it was grown, THC content, indoor or outdoor. Are you in Cali? I actually had to stop because of it being so available I could walk around the corner and have my selection of hash, cookies, tinctures..you name it. I also can have it delivered to my home by a well dressed delivery guy and an ATM card machine reader. Making any changes will only hurt the people that do really need it and that is why the prop was not passed last year. Most of the dispensaries have their stuff tested and have reports on it. Very legal...but untaxed, that us their motive. I can smoke on the street (not near playgrounds, schools, libraries, etc) and have no worries about the smell.

Usually when you see a "real" doctor, they ask you if you have a medical Marijuana card and ask what you use and how often. They know, tax on the poor so we can feed the rich.

There is even a technical college in SF to perfect becoming a grower., considering as times change this will be big business. If CA could tax the MJ, they might not be in such debt.
Click to expand...

Don't you think the federal government's recent actions may spoil the utopia you've described? If it were legalized (for prescription or recreation) , wouldn't it be harder for the feds to shut it down?
 
shellybabe said:
It is all about politics, time to shift the focus and be a little but more "republican" before reelection. It will come and go. I mean doesn't the president have better things to worry about? War, Occupy Wall Street, America's credit rating...oh yeah he wants you to forget about that right now, now it's time to fight pot. I have my card, but I quit because it was just too easy and I started to partake too often. They won't win, this is a smoke and mirrors tactic. I am new to this blog and I am reading about some chemicals that are legal and I am shocked, but a little old bud that grows out of the ground, can be made illegal. In Cali, I know so many people that do not have cards and get great bud. I mean in general, does the government have any right at all over plants? That's like telling me I can't grow roses. All that is going on is still a push in the right direction, fighting for it puts it into the light. The last thing anyone wants is Marijuana legalized and monitored by the feds, you would never be able to get that good smooth kush you can get now in the stores.

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2011/10/medical_marijuana_lawyers_chal.php

Good Read.
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Ok....

"Does the government have any right at all over plants?" No they don't. That's why marijuana should be legalized, not illegal but allowed if you have a medical card. Legal and taxed. Prop 19 was an opportunity that California voters epically failed on. Here's an article from last year- http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2010/09/california_marijuana_arrests_remain_near_record_le.php

"In 2009, there were 17,008 felony and 61,164 misdemeanor marijuana arrests in California, for a total of 78,172.

In 2008, there were 17,126 marijuana felonies and 61,388 misdemeanors, for a total of 78,514. This was the highest number of marijuana arrests since pot was decriminalized in California in 1976, according to Dale Gieringer of California NORML."


Just because you know people in California who can get good weed without a medical card doesn't mean that we don't need to legalize weed. I live in Texas and most people I know can get great weed, even weed imported from Cali. But many of those people have criminal records or have spent time in jail.

Weed is very available in California. Availability is not the reason for legalization. The reason to legalize is that the government does not have the right to take people and lock them in cages, turning them into criminals, just because they have a plant.

If prop 19 had passed pot would be just as available in California, or more so. What would change is that tens of thousands of people would be saved from arrest and jail, you could grow weed in reasonable quantities (just like you can brew alcohol as long as you don't brew enough to be selling it) and California would gain some tax revenue.

I guarantee that good weed, probably better weed, would be available if it were legalized. Your arguments can be compared to alcohol. During prohibition alcohol was still very available, pretty much everyone could get it. Doctors could prescribe it if you had "sleep problems" or something of the sort. Most of the alcohol available was low quality. When it became legal again alcoholism rates went down, drinking deaths went down, alcohol prices went down, organized crime involvement in alcohol virtually disappeared and the quality and variety of alcohol available went way up.

If weed was legal I bet it would be easier to get good weed. Prices would go down. The state would save a lot of money from not arresting so many people. Legitimate medical uses of marijuana would be more well regulated because people who didn't have medical problems wouldn't be getting medical cards. This would help doctors have more oversight over what drugs their patients need, when 1/2 of their patients aren't lying to them in order to score some semi-legal weed. Pretty much everything would get better.

The argument that weed should be illegal because you're paranoid about the feds watching (as if they aren't watching anyway) and you don't want to pay taxes is an incredibly weak argument. The government shouldn't be allowed to ruin someone's life over weed.

The argument that "weed is basically legal in California, anyway" is simply false. Lots of people get arrested for weed in California every day.
 
^Fair enough, allowing states to regulate is fine by me (although seeing as I live in Tx I'd rather have federal legalization). The federal government has the right to regulate inter-state commerce which the mmj industry in Cali is not.

To me, increasing the state's tax revenue, increasing the freedom allowed to individuals and saving upwards of 50,000 people each year from jail is more important then protecting the profits of "medical" marijuana dispensaries. The owners might say that they couldn't survive taxes but I don't believe it. Every other product in the country is taxed and small businesses exist everywhere. There are small headshops businesses, small liquor stores and tobacconists and more. There are small alcohol producers all around the country that survive through federal taxes. I think it's more likely that prop 19 would have made marijuana legally similar to alcohol, not tobacco, large companies would produce it but so would small companies and people could choose what they bought. There'd be mega marts for people who want cheap weed and don't care about service or info about the weed. There'd be small businesses geared towards connoisseurs.

Right now, marijuana is made by giant companies (cartels) that kill tens of thousands of people every year. And it's made by large and small grow ops within the country. And people buy weed from all the different groups. I'd rather have Marlboro making weed then the Sinaloa Cartel and Los Zetas.
 
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