Pubdate: Tue, 18 Jun 2013
Source: Prince George Citizen (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 Prince George Citizen
Contact:  http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/350
Author: Neil Godbout, Managing editor

PUSHING USERS UNDERGROUND

There is the stereotype that someone who wants to take pot for pain 
relief of their medical condition must have another agenda, must want 
the government to endorse a pre-existing habit, must want to make 
money selling the excess on the street, must be someone trying to 
trick the system when there's perfectly good pain medication on the 
market and so on.

As Christine Hinzmann shows in her feature today about Tom, a local 
man who grows and uses medical marijuana to deal with the horrible 
and permanent side effects of his cancer treatment, stereotypes 
aren't always based in reality.

Tom is a responsible senior who researched the good and bad about 
taking marijuana for pain extensively. He liked what he read.

Prescription pain medications are dispensed carefully by doctors 
because there is a long history of addiction attached to powerful 
drugs that dull pain. Marijuana, on the other hand, is nowhere near 
as addictive to many pain killers and it has several other positive 
benefits for someone like Tom. It helps him sleep, which became a 
major issue during his cancer treatment, and it soothes his feelings 
of anxiety.

Tom is aware enough to know it does affect his ability to 
concentrate, which is why he takes his dose of marijuana in the form 
of a cookie in the early evening, when he's settled in the for the 
night and isn't going to be driving or doing anything else that 
requires a sharp mind.

Tom's research included figuring out what the best daily dose was for 
him and the best format for him to receive it. As a sufferer of 
throat cancer, smoking a joint was not an option. After more study, 
Tom found a detailed recipe to create a marijuana butter infusion 
that works great with cookies.

Tom's responsibility extends to growing the marijuana. He only grows 
what he needs and he brought in an electrician to make sure the 
wiring in his garage could put out enough power for the lights and 
heat needed to produce his supply safely.

Unfortunately, the federal government doesn't trust responsible 
adults like Tom to take care of themselves and make good decisions 
about the production and administration of an already easily 
accessible drug. Instead, they will drive citizens like Tom 
underground. He's prepared to try the government's new rules next 
spring to see if he can meet his needs but if it doesn't work, he'll 
just acquire marijuana illegally, either by growing it himself or 
just buying it off the street.

The feds don't want to take the time and the money to weed out the 
responsible users like Tom from the ones abusing the system, so Tom 
is being lumped in with the bad apples, possibly forcing him to skirt 
the law in the process.

Registering all users and growers of medical marijuana with the local 
police and with municipal government and/or regional health 
authorities would allow for proper oversight and better protection of 
the community, without violating privacy. It's a simple, local 
solution to address legal growers and then deal with problems on a 
case-by-case basis.

Sadly, this seems like a classic case of throwing out the baby with 
the bath water.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom