CAN WE LEGALIZE OCTOGENARIAN POTHEADS?

Herb would prefer that I not tell you his last name since he smokes a
little weed every day and doesn't want to talk about where he gets
it.

"It's a ridiculous situation when you think about it because I've paid
my $150 to the state to receive my medical marijuana card but I've got
no place where I can go and buy it -- legally," he says. "Not since
the politicians have decided to try and shut down everything."

I've heard from a number of folks like Herb over the past couple of
weeks. They're regular, hard-working men and woman with medical
conditions ranging from cancer to bad hips who have found that
marijuana eases the pain or restores their appetite in ways that other
medications haven't.

They thought that their lives would be made a little easier after
voters passed (again) a medical marijuana initiative in the last election.

Then, Gov. Jan Brewer and Attorney General Tom Horne prevented
dispensaries from going into operation under the fictitious excuse
that state and county workers could be arrested by federal
authorities.

This has not happened in any of the other states where medical
marijuana is in effect and wouldn't have happened here.

Medical marijuana proponents then set up private "clubs" that allowed
patients to receive the product without involving the bureaucrats, and
instead of celebrating their ingenuity and protecting their rights
Horne took them to court and threatened to arrest them.

"Bunch of hypocrites," says Herb. "But what do you expect? Really, do
they believe that they have anything to worry about from guys like
me?"

By which he means men over 80.

"I've got no complaints," he says. "I've had a really good life, done
a lot of interesting things. And I don't mind at all paying the state
the $150. But there are some silly requirements attached to the
license. For instance, I have to get it renewed every year. Is that
really necessary for someone my age? I'd like to see them fix that,
assuming we get all this other silliness worked out."

The governor and the attorney general (along with Maricopa County
Attorney Bill Montgomery, who has joined the state's attempt to gut
the medical marijuana proposition) were never in favor of the law.

I understand that.

But these same politicians claim to favor "states rights," a principle
that they proudly assert when it comes to discussing immigration
enforcement.

In many ways, the medical marijuana proposition is more of a state's
rights issue than SB1070. The marijuana law was passed by voters, not
by a select group of politicians.

You'd think that the governor and attorney general would honor the
decision of those voters and do everything in their power to see that
the law is implemented.

Instead, they're doing just the opposite.

And people like Herb are kicked to the curb for political reasons.
It's the same treatment these same politicians have doled out to
children, patients needing transplants, the mentally ill and other
ailing and vulnerable individuals.

Herb has a bad back due to old injuries that no longer can be repaired
by surgery. He is in pain all of the time. Marijuana doesn't alleviate
it, but it allows him to deal with it.

"I still feel it but I don't worry too much about it," he says,
laughing.

The pot also has restored some of his appetite, allowing him to put on
some of the weight that he'd lost because of the persistent discomfort.

"I was getting so skinny they could have put a flag on my head and
stuck me in a hole at the golf course," Herb says. "Now, I'm a little
better off."

Because of that, he figures that he'll continue to use his
"medication," and to replenish his supply whenever he runs low.

Although, thanks to our illustrious elected officials, he cannot say
from where.