OpEdNews - Page 4 of Article: Marijuana, Health Care and Obama

The Role Of Marijuana in Health Care

Many of you are probably rolling your eyes right now. "What the heck does Marijuana have to do with health care?"
Well, despite the fact that our government doesn't acknowledge Marijuana as a medicine it is, in fact, humankind's earliest medicine. And despite all of the government deceit the American People have felt so strongly about this that we now have 13 states where "the people" have voted to make sure the sick had at least some access to Medical Marijuana. I made a live video in 2008 which gives a brief introduction to Marijuana's origins in human culture:

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Marijuana: Past, Present and Future from Bruce Cain on Vimeo.
http://www.vimeo.com/2056650
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In terms of medicine Marijuana has been shown to have application as a analgesic, a palliative and has also been shown to be efficacious in the treatment of many diseases including: glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, wasting away syndrome, cancer and cerebral palsy. For more information on this I would recommend reading through the following article and all included citations:

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Cannabis (drug)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_%28drug%29

Medical cannabis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_cannabis
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More recently Rick Simpson has been "illegally" treating many ailments with a concentrated tincture of Marijuana with what can only be described as "incredible results." You can watch the first part of the video series on this through the video below.

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RUN FROM THE CURE - The Rick Simpson Story (Part 1 of 7)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjhT9282-Tw
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So the main purpose of legalizing Marijuana is to allow it to compete in the free market against against the pharmaceutical industry which has long been dead set against legalization for this very reason.
Unfortunately the moneyed drug reform organizations (NORML, DPA, MPP) have been attempting to usher in what I refer to as "Government Marijuana Dispensaries" under a "tax and regulate" model that most closely resemble the current model for hard liquor. In this model you will be able to purchase Marijuana from these GMD's at prices that will probably range from between $300 to $500 an ounce: the same price found on the "streets" in the black market economy. The corporate controlled media has aided this effort with such cable specials as "Marijuana Nation" and "Marijuana Inc."
Not only will this make the government your new Marijuana "Drug Dealer" but it will not allow the sick access to free medicine. You can read about how this is progressing by reading the following article by Marijuana phobic Rachel Ehrenfeld:

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ObamaCare's Medical Marijuana
Rachel Ehrenfeld, 08.13.09
click here
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Here is a telling excerpt:

NIDA's solicitation for marijuana growth for research is nothing new. Marijuana studies have been conducted over decades, and thousands of them document the adverse effects of this controlled (illegal?--its not controlled yet) substance.

Yet, now, for the first time, the government is soliciting organizations that can grow marijuana on a "large scale," with the capability to "prepare marijuana cigarettes and related products ... distribute marijuana, marijuana cigarettes and cannabinoids, and other related products" not only for research, but also for "other government programs."

Since when is the U.S. government in the business of distributing marijuana cigarettes? Is this part of the health care programs the Obama administration is so keen to enforce?
So while I basically think Ehrenfeld is "clueless," when it comes to drug policy, she is spot on in seeing that this GMD system will definitely make the government our new Marijuana "drug dealer." And why would we ever want to allow the same scum bats, that have been busting us, for the last 71 years, to now become our new drug dealer: selling us medicine at a price that most of the sick will not be able to afford? What is far more troubling is that many "activists" are taking the bait in thinking that this is the only solution.

It is also worth mentioning the NORML has done very little to criticize the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) for the great "bait and switch." You see, up until Michigan became the 13th state to Legalize Marijuana, for Medical Use, all patients and caregivers were able to grow at least 12 plants in order to self cultivate their own medicine. But Kampia, of MPP, has been the sponsor of most of the medical initiatives passed by the American People since Proposition 215 was passed in 1996. But there pending initiative in Nevada will prohibit self cultivation unless the patient lives more than 25 miles from a dispensary. Obviously no one will be able to self cultivate once enough GMD's are in place.
It is my hope that none of these organizations -- NORML, MPP or DPA -- receive any more donations once this becomes more widely known.

But there is a far better solution that will not only provide free medicine to the sick and poor. It will also destroy the drug cartels and put an end to the police busting in your doors in the middle of the night to make sure you aren't growing any Marijuana in your home. It is also worth considering that many medical growers are now in jail for growing more than their "12 plant" allotment. The better solution is the MERP Model that essentially treats Marijuana in the same way we treat the home production of beer and wine, which is neither "taxed or regulated."

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