MARIJUANA VENDING MACHINES - UNBELIEVABLE

Just when you didn't think Los Angeles couldn't get any crazier - it does.

Twenty-four-hour medical marijuana vending machines are the latest
innovation to hit Los Angeles.

The inventor and owner says the machine will provide convenient
access, safety and anonymity. Only those carrying authorized cards
will be able to access the machines, which will dispense only small amounts.

But that doesn't mean too much, given the fact they're dolling out
illegal drugs. The adage where there's a will there's a way seems to
come to mind.

Knowing that a machine is filled with the drug might be too tempting
for some. Vending machines are often the target of vandals. A crowbar
can pry open the machine and voila, paydirt.

Not only that, cards can be illegally obtained. In early 2007
officials at the Grossmont Union High School District in San Diego,
Calif. sent letters home to parents, notifying them a number of
students have been caught on campus with medical marijuana cards.
They managed to fool doctors into giving them the cards. Let's face
it, if your money can be counterfeited, so can these authorized drug cards,

Drugs are a problem in our society. Desperate for a quick high, our
youth are going so far as to buy over-the-counter cough syrup.

While medical marijuana does help ease severe pain in those suffering
from multiple sclerosis, cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases,
marijuana use is illegal under U.S. federal law, which does not
recognize the medical marijuana laws in California and 11 other
states. It is categorized as a controlled substance in Canada.

These vending machines are just a bad idea. Marijuana is not candy,
it's an illegal drug. If patients truly are in need of the drug to
help ease their pain, there has to be a better way for them to access it.