SOCIAL MEDICATION

Medical Marijuana Social Clubs Are A Joke

Oregonians have always held the stereotype that they smoke more
marijuana than in other states--that we are hippies, that we are all
vegans or even that we might not have running water. Oregon often
seems to be misjudged. But some recent news, sadly, reinforces some of
the aforementioned stereotypes.

As of next week, Oregon's medical-marijuana patients will have two
smoke-easies in Portland in which to medicate and socialize, the first
such places in the country to open since the federal government
indicated that it will no longer arrest or prosecute patients and
suppliers," according to an article in The Oregonian from Nov. 3.

Managed by Oregon's chapter of the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), the Cannabis Cafe will open in
Northeast Portland on Nov. 13. It will be the second cafe of its kind
after Club 420 opened early last month.

After reading this I was shocked. We can't smoke cigarettes in a bar,
but we can have lounges in which to smoke pot freely? Apparently, all
people in the world can now label us as a "wacky state"--Amsterdam
included.

What's even worse is Madeline Martinez, executive director of NORML,
saying the following quote in The Oregonian's article about
medical-marijuana cardholders.

Do they go out into an alley and hide in the back of their car?"
Martinez asked. "There needs to be a place, much like our meetings
are, where people can socialize and network."

And "network?" I can see crime rates go up as I am writing this
article. It doesn't help with the obesity rate either. Cannabis Cafe
may not be selling marijuana but I am certain it sells the munchies.
Besides, who is going to monitor these lounges so that other drugs
don't slip into them? The next thing we know there will be bongs for
crack and glow sticks galore, all while we're thinking diabetics are
smoking "medical" marijuana. Yeah, right.

I don't get the social aspect of it either. Are you that lonely that
you must create a group to take medication together? Do you get
together to take insulin too? If so, you might have social problems
too, not just medical ones.

Perhaps that was harsh, but what I am trying to stress is that taking
medications is supposed to be boring. I've never heard of it being
something that should be a shared experience. But perhaps the 21st
century demands that we must be over taking medication in the privacy
of our own home. Now we have to pop pills together.

More so, if you read some of the comments that were posted online
after the article, you get things like from "fixin2" who "clues" us on
the fact that he smokes daily to help with pain. Yet I am sure that
those who really do have medical marijuana cards for a legitimate
reason don't say things like "It's 420. Hit it!!"