MARIJUANA AND HEALTH CARE POLICY CHANGES WOULD PAY OFF FOR U.S.

The United States is faced with two large, important, emotion-laden
problems. Each has a very simple but extremely controversial solution
that will require education of the people to overcome powerful
lobbies - governmental and private. Each of these solutions can
result in savings of at least $350 billion, which can finance needed
changes in our society.

Legalize it, tax it The first twin is drug prohibition. Many do not
realize that marijuana was America's largest cash crop in 2007 -
exceeding corn, wheat and barley added together. If marijuana is
legalized, taxed and regulated, at least $350 billion would be
diverted from the drug lords into public coffers, according to the
Marijuana Policy Project, Citizens for a Sane Drug Policy and the
Drug Policy Alliance. It could then be used for education, treatment
and myriad other societal needs.

The medical use of marijuana is characterized by a marked decrease in
the need of narcotics for chronic pain and, in patients being treated
with chemotherapy for cancer, a marked improvement in appetite and
outlook on life.

The biggest impediment to honest information about marijuana getting
into people's hands is the incessant drumbeat of lies from the Drug
Enforcement Agency that regularly states that marijuana is highly
addictive and that it is a "gateway drug." There is no evidence to
support either of these claims.

The second twin is a single-payer health plan. If it were passed, the
health insurance industry would no longer be necessary and
approximately (estimates vary) $350 billion in savings - both in
doctors' offices and in overhead from insurance companies - would be
available to fund the extension of comprehensive health care to all,
according to Physicians for a National Health Plan. We already have
two single-payer systems in this country - the Veteran's
Administration and Medicare - both of which operate in the vicinity
of 12 percent overhead instead of the almost 30 percent that we now
suffer with the health insurance nonsystem.

Another argument for a single-payer system is that only with that
system can cost control, access to medical care and quality assurance
be accomplished. All three of these aspects of a health care system
should be expected and demanded by the American public. It is
interesting to note that about 59 percent of doctors and 54 percent
of the public favor a single-payer health plan.

Too controversial for politicians Both of these solutions are
considered by most politicians to be too controversial to deal with.
Thus, only a ground swell of public opinion is going to be heeded by
Congress. Only in this way can "the people" overcome powerful lobbies
and governmental bureaucracies.

Many people think that we have to make changes on an incremental
basis, while the organization Physicians for a National Health Plan
feels that there is a national crisis in health care that demands
radical change. Incremental change will merely "kick the can" to the
next generation.

So here are two major problems this country needs to deal with. If
the arguments put forth here make sense to you, please make your
opinions known to your friends and members of Congress! It could
result in $700 billion being channeled into positive directions for our country.