IS TENNESSEE READY FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA AND THE PROBLEMS CALIFORNIA FACES?

He's got political backbone. That's one thing you can say about U.S.
Rep. Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Memphis.

He's also wading into complicated territory on the topic of legalized
medicinal marijuana.

A report this week indicates Rep. Cohen will be a featured speaker on
Wednesday at the Marijuana Policy Project's 15th anniversary gala,
taking the stage with advocates of legalized cannabis including Cheech
and Chong, a comedy duo known for joking about marijuana usage.

In a 2007 speech before the U.S. House of Representatives, the
lawmaker from Memphis talked about a Maryland man who suffered from
pancreatic cancer and found relief by using medical marijuana.

If marijuana is proven effective as medical treatment, one can argue
that legalization in Tennessee and other states makes sense. For
instance, morphine, a drug used to relieve pain, is known to have
addictive qualities.

Also, one easily can argue that alcohol and nicotine, powerful drugs
with arguably more addictive and dangerous qualities than marijuana,
are legal for everyday consumption, while marijuana is not legal even
with a prescription.

Legalization opponents argue with good reason that once the line is
crossed with marijuana, boundaries becomes difficult for police
officers to enforce. They point to California, a state that legalized
the medical use of marijuana years ago. Last year, the Los Angeles
City Council was faced with finding ways to regulate dispensaries
popping up everywhere. According to estimates, the city in 2009 had
more than 800 marijuana dispensaries.

Tennessee is not California, of course, and many cities in the Golden
State have not experienced unmanageable problems such as Los Angeles.
Still, one reasonably can assume that if medical marijuana is
legalized in Tennessee, some cities in this state could end up the
same way, fighting an unmanageable problem.