RETHINKING MEDICAL MARIJUANA

This debate over the legalization of marijuana is getting old. If you
take a look at states with legalized medical marijuana, it's pretty
evident that it can easily be cheated.

Under California law, you don't even need a prescription to gain
access to the medical marijuana dispensaries. All you need is a
written or oral recommendation from a physician. The medical
marijuana is not regulated by FDA standards. For obvious reasons, the
FDA must do extensive testing on drugs hitting the market in case the
drugs are potentially harmful or ineffective.

The people who use medical marijuana are at the risk of their
"caregivers" for quality of product. According to NORML, the
pro-medical marijuana organization, only 22 percent of California
medical marijuana users suffer from an AIDS-related disease. The
majority of the rest have subjective disorders like "chronic pain."

Unless this system is reformed, I'd say it's a joke. The U.S. has a
lot bigger problems than the legalization of marijuana, so advocates
should read up on some of those issues and rally in support of
something that is more pressing to our nation.

By Chelsey Johnson - University student