While I usually don't care all that much for the anecdotal -
as it does reflect more of an individual point of view than a generalization -
I do think that some objective consideration would be worth while at times, if
only to relieve the nonsense of generalizations based solely on imagination.
Years ago - some 70+ now - in the over the counter area of
nearly every drug store in metro-Denver, one could find a box - or other
container - of what were called, in general, "asthma/bronchial"
cigarettes. Everyone knew they were a "medicine", simply because one
paid as high as $1.00 per box - in those days equal to a day's wage in some
jobs - while the ordinary cigarettes on the counter started at 5 cents, for
Wings, with the major brands, Lucky Strike, etc., costing 10 cents for 20.
The principal ingredient of the "asthma/bronchial"
cigarettes was CANABIS, with some additional herbs mixed in for purposes of
flavor and/or better odor, and/or both. From the time my Uncle came out from
Chicago - when I was about 10 years old - up to the time Harry Anslinger became
the Czar in drug enforcement, every time my Uncle had one of his bad bronchial
coughs I went down to the Rexall Drug, bought a box of the medicinal
cigarettes, and brought them home. They had then - as they do now as well -
EXCELLENT medical value, and you didn't need a prescription from the family
doctor to buy them, as they were available.
I had, at most, a couple of puffs for one bad cold myself.
They didn't jell with me; but that didn't mean they weren't useful and
recognized as medically good.
Now, Neither my Uncle nor anyone else in my family went on
to heroin and hard drugs, or wound up with any of the rest of the DEA nonsense
as a result of CANABIS. And, neither did any of my friends, whose families also
used the "asthma/bronchial" cigarettes when necessary.
The "dangers" you keep on insisting are there, are
almost totally figments of overworked imaginations; and the benefits of
controlling severe coughs, and sore throats, without extra expense of house
calls, or office visits to the doctor, far outweigh the threats of the fear
mongers. And of course, that is only ONE
of Marijuana's actually valuable benefits medically.
As an Analytical Psychologist of many years, I can tell you
that your remarks about "danger and damage" in that area are nothing
more than pure fantasy.
Some people are allergic to peanuts - even can die of shock
if they eat something containing peanut oil, or fragments of peanut processing.
So, is it your view, that peanuts should be outlawed; and those who eat peanuts
should be imprisoned for "abuse"? Makes just as much sense as the
anti-cannabis bullcrap
There are addictive personalities to be found almost anywhere;
and there are as many addictions as there are pleasurable ingredients to be
found in life. If marijuana be among those that affect you adversely, then you
are, of course, obligated to avoid marijuana for the sake of your own health.
The same obligation holds for alcohol, tobacco, chocolate milk shakes, peanuts,
or any other item your physiological system rejects, or has adverse reaction
to.
To generalize from individual situations is, as I said, not
really all that probative - which is one reason for avoiding the anecdotal, of
course. On the other hand, reasonable extrapolations can be made from
experience; and some 50+ years of experience in the field - including dealing
with substance use and abuse - has me fully, and flatly, on the side of what
might be well called anti-prohibition. Also, in that 50+ years of experience, I
had a good deal of training in the area - to supplement the personal experience
- and those much more knowledgeable than I, at the time, were mostly appalled at
the real mis-information that was being substituted for sound, scientific and
medical, knowledge - including the nonsense that cannabis had "no therapeutic
value(s)".
Health damage? Possibly,
but highly doubtful, and a matter of individual response rather than
generalizations. Maybe, when used beyond
moderation, and/or by those for whom it is an addiction. However, you might
remember - if you ever learned - that tobacco was a "sacred", and "medicinal",
plant to, and for, the Native Americans, long before it became a fad among the
rest of the world. It, too, had - and has - its own value; though perhaps those
values are not properly recognized, or dealt with, outside the culture in which
the plant was originally recognized.
Prohibition DID NOT work the first time. And prohibition IS NOT working now. Indeed, prohibition simply cannot work in a
free society. So, it's about time to do
away with prohibition, in the interests of freedom IN, freedom FOR, and
freedom OF both society and the
individual.
LEGALIZE MARIJUANA - AND ALL OTHER DRUGS - NOW!
Yore Cowlorado Correspondent