slimvictor
Bluelight Crew
There has long been a "drug war" surrounding marijuana, not only in terms of the plant's legal status but also in words. As the California Society of Addiction Medicine observes, "Reasonable dialogue regarding marijuana use has historically proven extraordinarily difficult." The result is a longstanding stalemate and various symptoms of "reefer madness," but with a growing consensus that our nation's marijuana policy has not served us much better than the failed experiment with alcohol prohibition many decades ago.
Most recently, there was this headline: "California Medical Association calls for legalization of marijuana." It was a cover story in the Sunday Los Angeles Times in October. As the CMA is a large, mainstream medical society, this caused quite a stir.
The four authors of this article served as San Francisco's representatives on the CMA's "Technical Advisory Committee" (TAC) tasked with drafting "a comprehensive white paper recommending policy on marijuana legalization and appropriate regulation and taxation." The TAC was "selected to represent CMA in the areas of science, ethical affairs, public health, addiction medicine, and expertise in the use of cannabis." We met five times; the deliberations were sometimes contentious but each member agreed sufficiently to endorse a final report to the CMA board of trustees.
Our 14-page report, titled "Cannabis and the Regulatory Void", was submitted to the CMA's Board of Trustees and approved, unanimously, in October. Reactions from all sides were immediate. The CMA was called "irresponsible" and at least one opponent utilized the cliché "What are they smoking?" But there has also been much positive response as well, with editorials saying we took "a bold step" towards "a prescription for the medical pot mess" and that that the CMA's "traditionally conservative doctors" are "simply acknowledging the obvious: Our current laws and the resulting war on drugs aren't working. "
cont at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-heilig/cannabis-and-californias-_b_1143808.html
Most recently, there was this headline: "California Medical Association calls for legalization of marijuana." It was a cover story in the Sunday Los Angeles Times in October. As the CMA is a large, mainstream medical society, this caused quite a stir.
The four authors of this article served as San Francisco's representatives on the CMA's "Technical Advisory Committee" (TAC) tasked with drafting "a comprehensive white paper recommending policy on marijuana legalization and appropriate regulation and taxation." The TAC was "selected to represent CMA in the areas of science, ethical affairs, public health, addiction medicine, and expertise in the use of cannabis." We met five times; the deliberations were sometimes contentious but each member agreed sufficiently to endorse a final report to the CMA board of trustees.
Our 14-page report, titled "Cannabis and the Regulatory Void", was submitted to the CMA's Board of Trustees and approved, unanimously, in October. Reactions from all sides were immediate. The CMA was called "irresponsible" and at least one opponent utilized the cliché "What are they smoking?" But there has also been much positive response as well, with editorials saying we took "a bold step" towards "a prescription for the medical pot mess" and that that the CMA's "traditionally conservative doctors" are "simply acknowledging the obvious: Our current laws and the resulting war on drugs aren't working. "
cont at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-heilig/cannabis-and-californias-_b_1143808.html
