MARY JANE AND THE MEDICINE MAN

There are people of all different types in this world of ours.

There are girls, and there are boys.

There are people who own guns, and those who don't.

People who prefer to fold their toilet paper, and others who opt to scrunch.

There are people from Kosovo, and people from Kokomo.

Cubs fans, and fair weather fans.

There are women, and then there are people of the opposite sex.

Some are Christian, others aren't.

There are players, and player haters.

And then there are those out there who believe that the use of marijuana for
all purposes, including medical, is downright immoral and simply shouldn't
be practiced in our society.

Others disagree, including me.

Granted, there are plenty of other issues to wrestle with in our nation
right now. Should we send in a peace-keeping force? Should we switch our
credit over to get the low, initial APR? The debate about legalizing pot is
nothing new.

However, attention is directed to this issue in recent weeks as another
state body attempts to pass legislation allowing patients with serious
illness to obtain and use marijuana at their doctor's recommendation without
being prosecuted under state law.

But then enters the U.S. Justice Department.

Apparently Janet Reno and Co. find that arresting dying people is no
different from arresting drug dealers.

Well, except that dying people are probably easier to apprehend.

Sadly, this is probably why they opt to prosecute these "criminals" as
opposed to the ones who are still capable of running away.

In fact, they have even gone so far as to prosecute a candidate for governor
and his wife for the use of medical marijuana.

For some reason, you can't go very long without hearing the cry of
conservatism judge everything in sight. Whether it be Marilyn Manson's
latest hit or Michael Jackson's latest look, conformity continues its prowl
in the most unnecessary of places.

Now, far be it for me to propose the legalization of marijuana in all
circumstances. The mere thought of an individual saying something as
outlandish as that in this conservative area might provoke the local NRA
representative to clip out my mug and use it for target practice.

This time around, let's just leave this battle on the medical field.

Let's say, for a moment, that pot is bad -- in all cases.

So if now one is allowed to use marijuana for medical reasons, then, by that
rationale, it's time we get rid of some other drugs while we are at it. How
about morphine, nitrous oxide, and vicatin? I'm no doctor, but if you can
think of any other pain killers out there I am forgetting, please feel free
to take a writing utensil and list them in the margin over there to the
right (these are the only medications of which I am aware of as a result of
watching reruns of "ER" on the WB).

Although not as frequently and notably, these are all pain-killing drugs
which people have abused in the past.

The point is, pot is just as much a medical drug as any other. All drugs
come from Mother Earth, and they all, in different ways, can make the lives
of those who truly need them a little better.

The problem with pot is it got a bum rap. Because of eras such as the '60s
and Bob Marley, now people who are best served by a specific drug such as
marijuana are unable to receive the best health care possible.

Even in the places you least expect it, people are always going to abuse
drugs. And although some drugs are oftentimes abused more than others, the
answer is not to take them away from the patients who need them most.

Thankfully, I do not have any family members who are terminally ill from
cancer. Regrettably however, I cannot say that all of my friends and
acquaintances are in the same boat. I cannot truly fathom how they feel or
what they are going to face in the coming months or years.

That being written, I am certainly not going to be the person to tell them
that their loved one isn't entitled to the most effective care we know in
this most dire of circumstances.

Are you?

After all, the laws we live by are of the people, by the people, and for the
people.

People like you and me.