Here's a pretty interesting tv ad for Minnesota's pending bill on medical marijuana. To me, the message of this ad is right on the money. Drug policy reform isn't about trying to "get away" with anything; it's simply about acknowledging that criminal drug laws turn ordinary people into criminals, and acknowledging that this is a problem we can address through our legislatures.
On this same subject, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune ran an editorial yesterday saying that "There's solid and growing data on the medical benefits of marijuana and its active compound for treating neuropathy (which causes extremity pain), multiple sclerosis, ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and chemotherapy-induced nausea and appetite loss. While other treatments are available, there are situations in which marijuana may work best. Doctors should be able to make this call."
It never ceases to amaze me how far behind the States we are in some ways in the UK (predominantly developments in medical treatments). Whilst you are in engaged in an (albeit sometimes bizarre and lopsided) debate about medical use of marijuana, our Government is desperately charging around trying to convince everyone it can that cannabis causes schitzophrenia and is a completely different drug to the one (that government ministers used) available in the 60's, 70's, 80's...
Posted by: Matthew - London | April 18, 2008 at 03:00 AM
Yeah that truly is strange. I guess it shows the extent to which our drug policies are simply functions of localized opinion and political expedience, and how little it matters what the underlying science might be.
Posted by: Alex | April 18, 2008 at 06:50 AM