MARIJUANA USERS SEEK ELUSIVE LEGITIMACY

We hesitate to lump the Church of the Universe in with supporters of
medicinal marijuana, but they do have one thing in common. Both seek
to legitimize their use of marijuana by associating it with things
that already have legitimacy. In one case the link is with religion,
and with the other it's health care.

The Church of the Universe was in court this week to argue that church
members' use of marijuana should be exempt from the country's pot
laws, because they use the drug as a sacrament.

Luckily, the Ontario judge who heard the case did not go along with
this blatant attempt at subverting the freedom of religion guaranteed
to Canadians. They're entitled to their beliefs, but they aren't
entitled to break the law.

Supporters of medicinal marijuana also have some odd beliefs, although
they try to ground them in science. There is, indeed, some evidence
that marijuana can be used to relieve pain - or at least some of the
chemical compounds found in marijuana relieve pain.

Unfortunately, marijuana has a multitude of chemicals in it, and many
of them are clearly bad for your health. The drug boosts your heart
rate, distorts perception, creates difficulties for memory and
learning, and impairs co-ordination. Heavy usage has been found to
lead to hallucinations, delusions, impaired memory and
disorientation.

These facts are no secret, which leads to a natural suspicion that the
real agenda behind medicinal-marijuana backers is one of
decriminalizing it for general use by people seeking a recreational
high.

No doubt, many if not most medicinal-marijuana users are honest about
why they want and need weed, and derive real benefit. As with any
privilege, however, there are those who would abuse it.

We've seen where this leads in California. Medicinal marijuana
dispensaries have become so common that the state had to pass
legislation to keep them away from schools. Prescriptions have become
so easy to obtain that many Californians are ready to throw up their
hands and give in to legalization.

Here in Kamloops, the use of marijuana has become so prevalent in some
circles that people will actually express dismay if you dare to raise
its health hazards. Surely, they argue, any progressive thinker would
support decriminalization of pot.

Before we even begin to move in this direction, a lot more science is
needed. Would it be possible, for example, to extract the cannabinoids
that relieve pain and administer them in a way that does not harm patients?

That approach might not sit well with the people who advocate
medicinal marijuana, because advocates for causes seldom want to be
sidetracked with consideration of views that don't jibe with their
own.

But, for society as a whole, its an approach that makes sense..