Pubdate: Thu, 10 Oct 2013
Source: Tucson Weekly (AZ)
Contact:  2013 Tucson Weekly
Website: http://www.tucsonweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/462
Author: J. M. Smith

THE LOVE AFFAIR IS OVER

Mr. Smith Is Fed Up With This Country's Confusing and Overlapping 
Rules About Medical Marijuana

I have a confession to make.

I've been writing about medical cannabis for just over two years now, 
meting out 650-word snippets of weekly wisdom (sometimes) on the 
topic, but my affair with medical cannabis seems to be running its 
course. I've tried to love it, tried to advocate and pontificate 
effectively on the merits of a well-regulated system that connects 
patients with meds and disconnects them from law enforcement, but 
ultimately I guess I'm just not that into it.

I'm a fan of cannabis, to be sure, and its numerous medical benefits, 
but the MedicalLegalBusiness paradigm we're struggling with across 
the nation is a painfully crippled latticework of ad hoc rules and 
controls that seem to funnel power and money into a few hands at the 
Little Guy's expense. I don't know about you, but I'm a little guy.

When I started this column in 2011, there were 14 medical marijuana 
states. Our state law was a year old, but Gov. Jan and her henchmen 
were keeping our meds behind a phalanx of lawyers led by 
Generalissimo Tom Horne, almost certainly hoping the feds would storm 
in and stomp on the emerging market.

Now there are 20 medical cannabis states and two recreational ones. 
The feds are demonstrably not stomping on things, and vow to keep not 
doing it. Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and 
Delaware all jumped on the MMJ ship, and Washington and Colorado 
bypassed the entire MMJ shitstorm. Four of those seven cannabis laws 
came from legislatures, not voter initiatives. Six of the first seven 
MMJ state laws were passed by voter initiative, so it seems the 
lawmakers are catching up with voters.

But only two of those medical cannabis states accept my Arizona 
medical card, and each has its own set of nitpicking rules and 
regulations and stops and starts that will surely lead to lawsuits 
and generally to Suits. A Big Time Investor is already maneuvering to 
create the first national brand, which will bring dubious benefit to 
us Little Guys. It's starting to feel a little like Big Cannabis.

It would be easy to descend into my bitter Mr. Smith alter ego, 
hacking and slashing at the issue with a bunch of Fuck Yous and 
Fucksticks, to write about the slippery jizz of the soon-to-emerge 
BigCannabisBankUs orgy, but I won't.

So anyway, I don't think we need any more cannabis laws. I'm tired of 
all that business. What we need is fewer cannabis laws, or at least 
different ones that strip away all the controls in the medical 
paradigm. I've said before that I don't think Safer Arizona's 
legalization effort will pass, but I do think they'll get enough 
signatures to put it on the ballot next year.

And I'll vote for it, and so should you.

The law would take away all kinds of restrictions and let us grow in 
the privacy of our own guest bedrooms. Nobody cares if I make beer, 
so why should they care if I make cannabis? The medical benefits of a 
garden are clear, but no one is coming around your house counting how 
many carrots or green beans or heads of lettuce you're growing.

At the beginning of this year, I said I was going to shed any 
pretense of objectivity and be an advocate for medical cannabis. I 
still am an MMJ advocate, in much the same way I am still good 
friends with my ex-wife, but I am stripping away a little more 
pretense to say I'm no longer a fan of medical cannabis. Two years is 
a long time, MMJ, and I'm afraid we've grown apart.

I'm sorry, but I'm with Legalization Now.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom