MARIJUANA/NOT GOOD NEWS
Posted By: james christeck 
Date Posted: October 20th, 2009 Category: Health Literacy
Having Prez. Obama approve marijuana for medical use is not good news. It says two things, 1) Traditional Medicine has been priced out the Market Place and 2)More people will "Stay Home and Get Stoned" and this will cause a breakdown of the Medical System including new Research. New Research to me, is important to the progress of humankind. Returning to the "Stoned Age" is going back in time, not forward.
Comment By: Emily Carter
Date & Time: October 21, 2009 at 12:55 pm
I don't think this issue will have the impact on traditional medicine that you suggest. No one claims marijuana to be an acceptable cure for any ailment…much less a wonder drug that cures all. The theory that people will "stay home and get stoned" assumes very little about the overall intelligence of Americans. I don't think having the President's blessing to smoke marijuana, for one reason or another, really matters. I'm sure 1) those who already use this drug didn't need the president's approval and 2)those who didn't smoke before, probably won't start due to Obama's position. Realistically there may be some change, but the majority of people aren't going to abandon the traditional medicine system in favor of marijuana any more than we've seen with other alternative meds.
Comment By: Rebekah
Date & Time: October 22, 2009 at 1:49 pm
I agree with Emily's comment. The use of medical marijuana in states where it has already been legalized has been a blessing for many patients with many conditions, but it has not been as negative on the pharmaceutical industry as you might project.
Just because a treatment is old (marijuana has been used for centuries) does not mean it cannot be effective, nor does it mean that it must impede the research and advancements in modern medicine. This doesn't have to be the "Stoned Age." We still use leeches for venous congestion because they work well and are a simple, natural means of removing excess blood when the circulatory system has not healed. Marijuana is more natural than many drugs on the market today, and it has certain properties that serve as natural healing and pain-relieving agents.
When regulated by a physician and dispensed appropriately, medical marijuana can be part of the future of medical research, not just the past years of recreational use.