Blogging NORML III: Medical Marijuana Gets Formalized

Although I was only able to attend the first day of this year's NORML conference, I was really struck by the strong push to regulate, normalize and formalize the discourse around medical marijuana. The major players in this area seem to understand that medical marijuana has a truly astounding potential to grow -- particularly when the federal administration changes -- and are moving now to set in place structures that will allow that growth to be as safe, responsible and sustainable as possible.

For example, the Medical Cannabis Safety Commission is moving to set standards around the way marijuana is handled and dispensed, the way it is named and labeled, and the way it is inspected. Meanwhile, the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine is trying to establish guidlines for doctors who prescribe medical marijuana.  I also had an interesting conversation with a guy name Chris Van Hook, who is trying to set up a certification program for growers who wish to be certified as producing organic marijuana, free of the sometimes rather dubious chemicals that are used in some cultivation.

Although politicians in other states like to characterize California's experience with medical marijuana as some sort of crazy free-for-all, the reality is much more nuanced. As the NORML conference indicates, California is actually a very interesting example of how this field is regulating itself. Standards are getting created and implemented by the people who work in the field, and they are evolving not as a function of law enforcement but in an attempt to encourage good health and good business.

The real irony, despite all the association between marijuana and the "counterculture," is that the people who work with marijuana are just as interested in humdrum things like accountability and standards as people who work with aspirin or Tylenol. It's only the pointless atmosphere of paranoia and secrecy, created by criminal law, that has prevented these standards from evolving in a more robust way earlier.