Mike Gimbel
Former Baltimore County Drug Czar
I realize that the majority of adults believe that marijuana is harmless and should be made legal for medical use as well as for recreational use.
Being a recovering addict who smoked pounds and pounds of pot in my days, I ask all those in support of medical and recreational pot use a few simple questions.
1. What is the goal of smoking pot?
Obviously if you are going to smoke pot, you want to get high, stoned or buzzed, even if you use it for medical use there is a level of impairment. Unlike alcohol there is no grey area when smoking pot, you are either high or not.
2. When a person is high on pot are they impaired?
I don't know about anyone else but when I was stoned, I was pretty messed up and impaired. People high on pot get what we call "tunnel vision" where they really get into what they are doing but aren't able to make adjustments quickly enough to prevent an accident. Again I wrecked many cars high on pot.
3. Does marijuana really have a medical value?
I am not sure about this, but I do support the Food and Drug Administration researching this and if it is found to have medical value, it should be distributed like every other drug by a prescription and a pharmacy, not from a marijuana dispensary or as in the Maryland law, a Compassion Center.
Politicians should not be deciding on what drugs are safe and valuable for medical use by humans. This is the function of the FDA and we should allow them to do their job. Finally, Would you take a drug, which the Maryland legislature said cures cancer but the FDA never approved it?
I don't think so. Think, why pot?
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In 2009, over 26,000 Americans were killed by prescription medications. Deaths caused by marijuana: NOT ONE in recorded history. Several years ago, I had surgery on my right shoulder. Pain medication was prescribed..."take one capsule every 4 hours." I took one capsule. I was down for over 20 hours. When I came to, I felt like I had been hit by a truck. The next time I felt discomfort, I smoked a small amount of marijuana ...pain gone, no after effects. I threw the pills out. Then I wrote: Shoulda Robbed a Bank My contribution to helping point out just how ludicrous our pot laws truly are. I would be honored by your review.
I'm with you.
You're not sure about the medicinal value ? Then you either are biased against this particular plant or you're not ignorant of the facts. We continue to let folks with an alternative agenda dictate what grown adults can put in their body ... Shameful You have historically done positive work on keeping kids of drugs, but you're on the wrong side in this discussion. Any reasonable person knows that alcohol is far more dangerous. Antiquated thinking begets a stagnate society.
It's time to take back our right. It's a plant. Legalize it, and love it.
Obviously sir you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Go ahead and walk around any infusion center in the country and ask the patients this question, especially those who are terminal. Let's see if they agree with your moronic response. Your ignorance is disgusting.
You speak the truth...