SO-CALLED MEDICAL MARIJUANA IS A CON

I don't have a problem with sick people having access to cannabinoid
drugs; I have a problem with legalizing marijuana. Pot is not
medicine and tagging it "medicinal" is a ruse to obscure a new surge
toward comprehensive legalization.

First, let's stipulate what's already on the table. Basically,
advocates say pot doesn't hurt you or society. Opponents say it does.
No matter how many reports the advocates or opponents cite, there are
plenty of contradictory findings. While the studies are inconclusive,
the advantage goes to the opponents. That's why marijuana is still
illegal and there is still a controversy after 40 years of study and debate.

In 1972 we put the "California Marijuana Initiative" on the ballot
and it failed. The people of the state were asked, "Do you want to
legalize pot?" The answer was "No."

In 1996 we approved the "Compassionate Use Act," once again through
the initiative process. This time the people of the state were asked,
"Do you think sick people should be able to use marijuana to feel
better?" Who doesn't consider himself to be a compassionate human
being? Our empathy led to an inescapable result in the vote: yes (I am caring).

We unwittingly thought "medical marijuana" was a real medicine, like
something you would take for blood pressure, cholesterol or asthma.
But it's still just pot, and the "Compassionate Use Act" turned out
to be something quite different.

In summary, Proposition 215 said anyone with any illness or condition
or even symptom for which marijuana provides relief may obtain and
use marijuana without legal penalty. The only condition is that a
physician provides a documented recommendation. Sounds more like the
"Convenient Use Act."

Chronic pain, migraine, PMS, depression and many more issues for
which getting high would make one feel better are acceptably
convenient uses. Apparently there are compassionate doctors in the
state who would, for their patients' well being, recommend a little
weed. In fact, Jeff Clark, president of the Upper Kern County chapter
of NORML (wow man, somebody was loaded when they came up with that
acronym), estimated there are 30,000 "medical marijuana" users in Kern County!

Applying the term "medical" to pot is like claiming medicinal status
for White Willow bark, except marijuana is an illegal Schedule I
hallucinogen. A doctor's recommendation is not a prescription because
marijuana is not medicine. It is nothing like picking up your
lovastatin at the pharmacy. It is merely a note qualifying you for
exemption from prosecution for possessing and/or using an illegal
folk remedy ... because we are compassionate, of course.

According to the Food and Drug Administration smoking or ingesting
pot "has no currently accepted or proven medical use in the United
States and is not an approved medical treatment." And no one is
running trials to get the FDA's imprimatur.

An Institute of Medicine report states that smoked marijuana is a
crude drug delivery system that exposes patients to a significant
number of harmful substances and "if there is any future of marijuana
as a medicine, it lies in its isolated components ...."

Here's the kicker, THC, one of the active chemicals in pot, has been
shown to be effective in the relief of nausea, but not the myriad
symptoms, conditions and syndromes for which adherents claim relief.
Let's face it. It's the smoking, not the THC, that is at issue here.
This whole charade is a subterfuge for comprehensive legalization,
not just "compassionate use."

Now some opportunistic and mercenary advocates are rising up among
California's politicians. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco,
sees pot as a goldmine of tax revenue and has proposed a bill to
legalize recreational use. Even Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger thinks
it's time to look at legalizing marijuana, especially for the fiscal benefits.

It is hard for me to imagine our leaders are so shortsighted and
unprincipled. And yet we hear them say that a billion dollars a year
in tax revenue awaits -- for First Five, senior medical care and
support for homeless families.

Are you as revolted as I am by their artless attempt to seduce our
support for something so unwholesome? What if we were to fold under
the pressure? California would still have a budget shortfall of tens
of billions of dollars. We would have implemented a virtually
irrevocable social policy as an impotent response to a temporary
economic problem. And our leaders would still need to find two-dozen
more vices to legalize, regulate and tax to close the budget gap!

So-called medical marijuana is a con. Smokers just want to smoke. We
were duped into taking a step toward legalization based on our
inherent humanitarianism. Political leaders are pressuring us to go
farther with dollar signs twinkling in their eyes. We need to push
back. We need to say no!