Medical Marijuana a Threat to Nation's Well-Being and Health
By Barrett DukeThe decision by the Obama administration to surrender to bad state policies on so-called medicinal marijuana will have disastrous effects.
Medicinal marijuana is the Trojan horse of the marijuana decriminalization movement. The movement sees it as the means to appeal to people's compassion in order to change public opinion about marijuana and ease the way toward decriminalization of marijuana. The Obama administration's decision to cave on enforcement of federal drug laws against marijuana distribution represents the dropping of the first shoe on decriminalization of marijuana and signals the next one is coming.
With the federal government out of the way, we can expect to see a rapid rise in marijuana distributors and marijuana demand in states that have fallen victim to the medical marijuana scam. None of this escalation will prove especially helpful to the sick or to society. Those who use medicinal marijuana will pay the price first, and then everyone else will. Marijuana is not a necessary or particularly effective pain-relieving aid.
For years, the pain-relieving ingredient in marijuana has been available by prescription. So, one cannot make the argument that medicinal marijuana is a new addition to the pain-relief arsenal. In fact, it isn't even that useful for pain relief. Most people who use marijuana to help them cope with severe pain take other stronger pain relief drugs in combination with marijuana because the pain relieving properties of marijuana are not that potent.
On the other hand, smoking marijuana threatens to make bad situations worse for many users. Marijuana introduces multiple toxic chemicals into the systems of people whose bodies are already weakened from their ailments. Not only might these toxic chemicals hinder people's ability to fend off the cause of their pain by weakening their defenses, but users risk developing additional problems related to their use of marijuana, including respiratory ailments and addiction.
In addition, the public's acceptance of marijuana as a medicinal aid will weaken resistance to its recreational use. As it becomes more entrenched in our society, it will be perceived as less dangerous. This will likely lead to more experimentation with marijuana by our nation's young people. Since marijuana is undoubtedly a gateway drug, we can expect to see even more of our nation's youth lose their lives and their futures to drug addiction.
The last shoe to drop will be the legalization of marijuana distribution for recreational purposes. As marijuana use becomes part of the culture, we can expect to see a movement toward decriminalization of all marijuana use and distribution. If marijuana is decriminalized, we will see the rise of every kind of drug related problem, from performance impairment to family disruption to addiction to crime to premature death. This is not the kind of change America needs. What we need is the enforcement of laws that protect the vulnerable and that help all Americans achieve their greatest potential. What we don't need are more threats to that goal.
Medicinal marijuana is a threat to our nation's wellbeing and health, not a prescription for a better life. The Obama administration has just made life more difficult for many of our fellow citizens and threatened the future of many millions more. (Barrett Duke is vice president for public policy and research for the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.)
Click here to read former Director of Drug Free America David E. Krahl's opposing view.
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Medical Marijuana a Threat to Nation's Well-Being and Health
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update your information
Anyone that takes a stand on something at least should know what they are talking about and not just use the standard out of date
propaganda that has been crammed down peoples throats for to
long.
There has never been any study to date that has stated that marijuana is addictive. There has never been death certificate
with marijuana as the cause of death. There has never been anyone
treated for an overdose of marijuana. And yet our government has
it listed as a more dangerous drug than heroin.
The legalization of marijuana would not cause a rise in criminal
activity,in fact,it would have the opposite effect,because the only
danger of marijuana is that it is against the law. Our prisons are
full of non-violent criminals and more going in everyday,while
politicians and executives of financial institutions steal millions
and walk free.
There were 800,000 drug arrests last year,and there will be more
this year. The War on Drugs has proven they can't stop the flow
of drugs into this country,and our laws have created a market that had a member on the Forbe's Billionaire list this year.
And our own law enforcement agencies have proven that they can't stop the demand,no matter how many you put in jail.
How long do we continue this insanity? When you lock up
everyone that does drugs? If 800,000 people were arrested,
8 million weren't,so we need to get busy building more prisons to
lock all these people up. It would probably be cheaper to lock up the Baptists.
- Clay
March 23, 2009 4:59PM
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Cannabis prohibition is the threat
Leave it to the religious to tout tyranny's societal benefits...
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." (C.S. Lewis)
When I commenced daily enjoyment of cannabis in 1968, my asthma mysteriously subsided after plaguing me through adolescence. Now I have glaucoma and I find the 25% reduction in IOP to be of significant value.
To keep Cannabis illegal while tobacco and alcohol are dispensed freely is murderously stupid.
http://tinyurl.com/Henningfield-Benowitz
http://www.google.com/search?&q=tashkin + cancer
Richard Steeb
San Jose, California
- rsteeb
March 24, 2009 8:33AM
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Ok With It
"Leave it to the religious to tout tyranny's societal benefits..."
Not all "religious" people agree with the authors conclusions. I support ending the prohibition of cannabis . I do not use it or any illegal drugs and I absolutely oppose 99% of the policies of Obama.
As a "religious" person I had been strongly opposed to ending prohibition - for many years. That changed these past few months when the violence on the Mexican-US border reached new heights. I decided to rethink the benefits to prohibition.
I now believe that the war on drugs is completely un-winnable and also immoral. None of the benefits that were promised to us by our government materialized. All it has done is imprisoned millions of people, who if it were not for prohibition, would not be considered a criminal; and also created out of thin air a murderous black market. Peaceable people who are incarcerated for simple possession come out as criminals. They are all at risk of rape, stabbings, or murder .
One approach I recommend when deciding the better side of a debate is to ask yourself 'what do the criminals want?' The drug gangs want all illegal drugs to remain illegal. They most certainly do not want prohibition to end. If/when it does then they will loose a ton of money .
I also recently came across what appears to be a reference to cannabis - Exodus 30:22-33. I was not expecting that. Google "kaneh bosm" to see what I mean.
Barry Cooper is a former highly regarded DEA agent who used to bust people that used marijuana. He is trying to end prohibition and shows people ways to not get busted. http://nevergetbusted.com
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is another good resource http://www.leap.cc /.
Finally, for those you hate "religious" people please keep in mind that they honestly believe what they are saying when they support prohibition. If you want to change their position on this (and you will need at least some to end prohibition) then use logic and reason and avoid any emotional rants about their other beliefs or position. You will not win the hearts and minds through vitriol.
- OkWithIt March 24, 2009 10:56AM
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Gateway to nonsense
I will add another comment agreeing with the other commenters.This is 'ethical' rubbish.The RAND corp. has stated there is no scientific correlation available for the "gateway" theory. Prohibition is the real gateway ...to tyranny...undoubtedly.
- REDGREEN
March 24, 2009 1:49PM
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7 Deadly Good Intentions?
I wear hemp from my hat to my shirt, pants, socks and ecodragons or organic hemp hiking boots. Because it doesn't abort babies like the 90 million pounds of chemical poisons used on cotton each year. I try hard to keep cannabis inside and out...
Ganja/Hemp
or the poly fibers that come from crude oil spilling out of tankers,
or traded for young blood stuck in foreign quagmires.
The Hempseed is nutritious, EFA's all in human balance.
Food Grade Hemp oil for salads and smoothies or Industrial Grade for lubricants, paint or plastic not from Middle Eastern Boosh Inc. fascist oil converted for Chinese sweatshop children , sewing those flags chickenhawk popriots jerk at the American kids losing their limbs and eyes in the desert. Pro Life?
Starving babies and illegal food ...
Spraying more babies with Monsanto "poison products".
From Kentucky to Colombia, where no one snorts coca leafs...
Or 98% of Czar Waldo's confiscations is pheasant habitat . Protecting those kiddies from burlap and canvas. More poisons running down into the aquafer.
Hempseed protein or factory cows eating chemical grain sucking up humans drinking water . Ogalala Aquafer feeding Micky D profits. Dung piling up shipping meat out or cutting down Amazon air supply rain forest. We once thought bottled water was a joke. Bottled air can't be too far behind. Dust Bowls aren't good for playing football.
Hemp for mudslides or for bed bugs or border crop weed deterrents. Hydrocarbon or Carbohydrate Homegrown, White Powder Drugs or FARMaceuticals. We have choices but the choosers are snoozing losers. Why dig out mountains for filthy coal products. Boilers run on many things. To make the electricity . Biodiesel and the stalk scraps for paper or biomass fuel with more cellulose than trees and especially corn.
High on Hemp
If the ancient Temple incense was made with hashish, did Jesus inhale?
Truth is the way to save the children. The classic and diet Prohibitionists and Religionists have nowhere to hide. Soon they will be called upon the Ganjawar Tribunal and tried for Crimes against Sanity. Reaping the rotten fruit they've sewn. Convicted for their... Pride kicking down doors, telling war stories about gun battles with old ladies and beating up hippies. Or just passing unsubstanciated rumors to fit in. Envy of the fact "these people" are making money selling weeds, Gluttony hogging half the budget to wage wars for vested ignorance. Lust before each bust, can't hold back on caging a sick person finding relief illegally. Anger and Wrath spewed over the Faux news and Yellow Journals stigmatizing a culture choosing a natural alternative.
Drug worriers Greed and Covetousness confiscating personal possessions, houses and children. Bloated budgets and Forfeiting Rainbow Farms for retiring Sheriffs. Banksters and Korpses bilking the workers while Politikops rake in more taxpayers dollars. Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work. Continuing a deadly atrocious prohibition on a staple for the poor and a remedy for the drunkard and sick. While the lazy timid sheople go along with all of it... 75 years. Ridiculing the questions, censoring the media and selected lobbyist slaves legislate profit. Sourder Axing education , Grassy slicking in Gutter Science and old Biden bills based on false testimony to deter Ganja gatherings. Substances scheduled in political order denying the citizens a crop they can utilize or sell to manufacture millions of jobs. Poisons pushed over organics.
Now if I was a religious person I might think twice about the logic behind saving the kids from smoking a doobie by sodomy and a life of PTSD, not to mention STD's, 3000 a year raped while serving time in juvi. Mean, Nasty or just the 7 Deadly Good Intentions?
- DdC
March 24, 2009 2:59PM
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Propaganda alert
This just in: weed is less harmful than alcohol .
Legalise and tax it, so we can move on to the more pressing issues.
- Edan
March 25, 2009 2:22AM
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get your facts straight
Marijuana isn't only used for pain relief . It's major benefit is in nausea reduction and appetite stimulation. It does have some marginal benefit as an analgesic, but it is far from the most effective. Additionally, the prescription synthetic THC is lacking in the several dozen other cannabinoid compounds that are present in cultivated marijuana , which might explain why some people claim that it is not nearly as effective as the real thing. Plus, it takes an hour to kick in. An hour is a long time when you're puking into the toilet because of chemo treatments.
Also, decriminalizing marijuana for recreational use will probably decrease the use of other drugs. People will smoke marijuana whether it is legal or not. That fact is true. If it remains illegal, they will go to drug dealers to get it. That kind of illicit activity is what can lead people to seek out other substances. If it were legal, and you could pick up some marijuana at a store as easily as you can buy a six pack of beer (a much more detrimental and nefarious substance by any standard) then we would no doubt see less people migrate from marijuana to harder substances. The only way legalized marijuana would be considered a gateway drug would be if they started stocking heroin on the shelf next to it.
Use your head.
- slacker
March 25, 2009 11:24AM
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I Agree! to Parts of It.
I like the way this guy thinks!!
I love his flow chart as to how we will eventually get through this and as he say's, things are going just as planned.
He's right you know. People WILL loose their hopes and dreams over the legalization of the ganja. Take, for example, our illustrious author, young master Duke, he will loose his hopes and dreams of being able to tell all the people of the world how to think and act. I understand that loosing a dream is tough.
My confusion lies in that it seems to be a " health " piece as opposed to the normal moral high ground position.
If Mr Duke is so concerned with the health and well being of our nation why is he not screaming from the rooftops the damage that alcohol and tobacco causes? It seems you would first go against the things that are harming the nation the most.
- Nigtmove
March 25, 2009 11:54AM
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The Spirit of '76 was the Holy Spirit and is our true North.
Of late, our world seems senselessly full of inconsistency, incompetence, ghastly mistakes, atrocious dishonor and horrifying shame. Big government and big churches (in God's name) often do more harm than good. Too, many of these folks want to serve God, but only as advisers. "God loves everyone," but probably prefers fruits of the spirit (those with ethics) over religious nuts and profiteers!
The Spirit of '76 was the Holy Spirit and is our true North. Some feel the need for a New American Tea Party.
http://newamericanteaparty.com /
Many of today's leaders seem to have minds like concrete; thoroughly mixed up and permanently set. Blinded by the light of billions in tax and lobby money ; bleeding leaders, thus corrupted, are blithely unconscious of the societal harm their policies cause. Jiminy Cricket, where is their conscience?
The tobacco, alcohol and prescription drug gangs cause more death annually than all illicit drugs . Current drug policy disregards science and punishes families of citizens,
confiscating their property for making a safer health choice in a social or medicinal drug; that is policy bordering on insanity.
https://secure.downsizedc.org/etp/campaigns/99
Harassing the sick and dying is an un-American activity.The debate over medical marijuana or cannabis is really a scandalous controversy over whether this very easy-to-grow herb should be allowed to compete with pharmaceuticals for pennies on the dollar.
Adult legal social use could cause less alcohol consumption. That would be a good thing for public safety as studies have show alcohol increases violent, aggressive behavior marijuana does not. Maybe it would mean less people driving under the influence of alcohol.
Murderers and other violent predators roam free, while we police nonviolent adult social, medicinal and religious drug use . Limited resources can be better-spent catching pedophiles, rapists and killers. More time could go toward stopping DUI and those selling drugs to minors.
Across America paramilitary drug raids trigger violence rather than lessen the risk. http://www.cato.org/raidmap /
It is really misleading to call it a drug war or drug fueled violence. The horrific carnage is triggered by the new prohibition and fueled by official lawlessness.
This unconscionable bloodshed is on the hands of leadership as much as those who pulled the trigger or did the actual butchering and torturing. It is a policy created problem.
http://oversight.house.gov/contact /
- Colleen McCool
March 25, 2009 12:20PM
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Can you spell P-r-o-h-i-b-i-t-i-o-n?
The controversy over medical marijuana use is another tempest-in-a-teapot promulgated by a well-meaning few. As a conservative Christian with libertarian leanings, I feel that society should grant marijuana the same status as alcohol . We have laws to restrict the irresponsible use of alcohol and law enforcement can use these laws to restrict the irresponsible use of marijuana as well. If you drive drunk and an officer pulls you over, you get a ticket, and or lose your license. The same could apply to driving under the influence of marijuana.
I’ve been listening to the “War on Drugs” drivel for decades and I must say that, if we are in a war , then we are losing it! Why is it so lucrative for drug purveyors? Obviously, it’s because people want them. Making so many substances illegal only enhances their cache. Haven’t we learned a thing from Prohibition?
Am I advocating a free-for-all? Of course not. That’s why we have sensible laws, parents , churches, and civic organizations to guide social behavior. Preach your viewpoint from every street corner if you must, but let’s stop trying to legislate morality at every turn.
- wordworker
March 25, 2009 12:46PM
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Lets try something different
It took 13 years of prohibition , to find out it was never going to work. They didn't repeal prohibition because booze was determined to now be healthy for people. They repealed it to get rid of all the crime & corruption associated with it.
And all the cost in policing, prosecuting, and imprisoning people.
Would you send a buddy that offered you a beer from his six pack to prison for life?
Basically that’s what you are doing with drug laws. Since when is having the punishment worse than the offense done any good?
You can NOT regulate something that is illegal. The only way to regulate something is to legalize it. Like they did when they made booze legal again.
Somehow, we haven't learned that lesson on the "War on Drugs" yet.
Around 80% of people in prisons are there for drug related crimes. States are going broke trying to imprison them all.
We have the highest rate of people imprisoned in the world. One out of every 100 people are in prison.
Police trying to battle drugs have abused citizens rights to the point of battering ram front doors down to enforce unenforceable laws. And this leads to mistakes & corruption in our police forces. And no knock warrants leads to deaths of sometimes innocent people.
Police even had to go to multiple agency busts, to keep from having cops rip off dealers for their money , when they had just a couple cops investigating drug cases.
Addicts will commit whatever crimes they have to, in order to get money for drugs.
Disease is spread with dirty needles.
The negatives just go on and on.
All drugs should be legalized.
The knee jerk reaction from people is that everyone would then become an addict. And they think you mean legalized, with no controls.
Everyone didn't become drunks after the repeal of prohibition. And I'm sure that the same is probably true about drugs.
Even as employers don't like you coming to work drunk, they wouldn't be tolerating drug use at work either.
The government has ALL drugs lumped together, like they are all the same, but we all know there is a big difference between some of them.
If they were legalized we could at least get people off the worst of them.
After all if you can get pot , heroin, or coke, why bother with meth, PCP or crack.
LEGALIZING DRUGS WON’T GET RID OF THE DRUG USERS.
That’s not the point of legalizing them.
>>>But it would get the drug money out of the hands of gangs, foreign mobsters, and the rest. <<<
And with taxes it would bring in revenue to pay for programs to control it. And with a new industry we would get much needed jobs created.
And this would get rid of all the other problems associated with them, and it would give us a chance to try to 'control' the problem more, like we have done with alcohol and cigarettes.
We have fought this “War on Drugs” for decades, to continue to do the same thing and expect a different result would be insanity.
- John556
March 25, 2009 1:30PM
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Merinol
I stopped reading the above message as soon as marinol was mentioned.. it sounds like this falla has gotten alot of his information from the movie "Reefer Madness"
Ever heard of the word "Synthetic"
Synthetic THC is what marinol is .. it is a copy of THC in pill form ... that doesnt have all of the medical properties in it...
It has to be swallowed and before it gets into your blood stream to kill any pain.. it has to go through your liver and other major organs. Medical Marijuana if smoked or vaporized is inhaled and goes right from your lungs to your bloodstream.
And lets talk about cost:
The Sysnthetic THC that is called Marinol cost A LOT of money ..
and if a sick person is not insured CAN NOT afford this synthetic beast.
Medical Marijuana is VERY Cheap NOT synthetic. even without insurance. a Poor sick person can still be treated. WITHOUT damaging other organs like marinol does.. (Especially the Liver!)
I must opologize to those that read this.. I'm not a very well educated or eloquent person and my spelling leaves alot to be desired.. But take my above rant for what its worth
http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/?alertid=12671336
- Blackbayou
March 25, 2009 3:47PM
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Reality Check
A lot of speculation and misinformation presented as fact. Since the entire article was all about how the new policy will hurt me personally, I feel like I am honor-bound to defend these lies about me. I'll just go through one paragraph at a time:
1. Opinion (it's fine to state the thesis at the outset, but then it's time to back it up with facts - they're not coming)
2. Here Mr. Duke speaks for a group ("the movement sees") to which he does not belong without any evidence to show that his statements are accurate. He also claims that this fulfillment of Obama's campaign promise is a signal of changes to come that Obama has repeatedly spoken against. Once again, Mr. Duke does not provide evidence because the facts contradict his claims.
3. No evidence to support the claim that distributors and demand will increase. In recent months many dispensaries have closed, and demand has decreased due to the economy . Once again, the Mr. Duke doesn't let the facts get in the way of his scary claims. Here he claims that I will be among the first to suffer as the result of this policy shift.
4. Lots of bad information in this one:
a) Not true that "the pain-relieving ingredient in marijuana " has been available by prescription for years. The most psychoactive chemical (not ingredient, it's a plant) in marijuana has been artificially synthesized at the government's insistence. These pills contain THC only, none of the other cannabinoids that likely have even more pain-relieving properties. We don't know because to do scientific research on cannabis in the United States is virtually illegal due to the government control of the supply available for research.
b) "it isn't even that useful for pain relief ." False. It helps my pain very well, allowed me to get off state disability payments and get a job and pay taxes again. Since Mr. Duke didn't cite any scientific, factual detail about the efficacy of pain relief, I won't either. My personal experience is already more evidence that he supplied.
c) "Most people who use marijuana to cope with severe pain take other stronger pain relief drugs in combination with marijuana..." How many is "most"? There is no percentage given, I suspect because this is simply a fabrication. Again, my personal experience - more extensive than Mr. Duke's - contradicts this outlandish, unsupported claim.
d) Mr. Duke does not mention any other use of medical cannabis besides pain. There are several. Among personal friends who are also medical mj patients, it is used to increase appetite, decrease nausea, improve depression , lower anxiety, cure insomnia, and lower high blood pressure. While there are other safe drugs for hbp, there simply aren't better alternatives for anxiety, insomnia, or nausea. Drugs that treat these problems are often highly addictive (much much more so than cannabis) and/or incredibly expensive.
5. Mr. Duke refers to "toxic chemicals" without naming them, describes the medical condition of patients he's never even met, and completely ignores the technique of vaporization which is quickly catching on in the medical mj community. I give him credit for using the word "might" in one of his unfounded speculative claims.
(to be continued)
- lostlo
March 25, 2009 4:13PM
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Reality Check, Part 2
Sorry this is going on so long, there is even more misinformation in this argument that I realized!
6. Mr. Duke here predicts the future of public opinion. Perhaps he should switch to a career where knowing the future is more of an asset. Or he forgot to use "might" or "may" or "I think." Then he uses one of the oldest unfounded claims, that marijuana is a gateway drug . He does not cite any evidence, presumably because the evidence disagrees with him. He also blames marijuana for hypothetical drug deaths of children , despite marijuana never causing a single documented death in human history.
7. Marijuana use is already part of our culture, so it's pointless talking about what will happen when it becomes so. Almost half of the adult population has tried it. Mr. Duke again predicts the future, confidently declaring that decriminalization will increase drug problems - without citing any evidence, because once again it contradicts his claims. Then he makes some vague feel-good statements that contain multiple hidden assumptions - chief among them that our current drug laws protect the vulnerable. Those vulnerable to addiction are not protected by drug laws, they are sent to jail by those laws!
Notice that while he claims to be concerned about my safety throughout his arguments, at the end he claims that a new policy that will protect me from going to federal prison is a bad thing that puts vulnerable people at risk. I'm confused, does he want to make sure my lungs are safe or put me in the slammer?
8. The Obama administration just made life safer and easier for me. He has secured my future by ensuring that I will be able to stay employed throughout this crisis. This is important as my state can no longer afford to pay the disability payments I used to collect. Besides, I'd rather be a healthy and productive member of society . What I don't need are more threats to that goal, Mr. Duke!
- lostlo
March 25, 2009 4:14PM
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Thanks Lostlo
Thank You Dearest Lady for your extremely Concise & Factual Rebuttal to this Doesn't Know What He's Writing about & I Doubt He's a Gentleman, Mr. Duke. As a 62 year old & 44 year Smoker & Advocate I've not Suffered from even One day of Ill Health & I'm not Addicted In any way. The only negative effect I've ever experienced is the all too often busts & being put in jail. I simply enjoy the Short Term Memory Loss that Accompanies my Usage... You Know...Whenever someone upsets me or treats me unfairly or rudely & I'm seriously thinking of getting confrontational, I simply smoke a bowl & quickly forget what or whom was upsetting me....You Know...Short Term Memory Loss. You Have My Love, Respect & Warm Regards. JIM...gomeraman@hotmail.com
- Gomeraman
March 28, 2009 1:47AM
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zero science
I just want to point out that everything in Mr. Duke's article here is just conjecture and opinion. He cites no scientific research. He looks to no botanists, chemists, or doctors. He does not consult anyone but his own mind in this article.
Why?
Probably because if he looked up the actual science , he'd see that 90% of the time it shows the exact opposite of what he says. He knows it, too.
- ebsarver
March 25, 2009 8:50PM
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fascists addicted to prohibition
Cannabis, made known to the US as evil marijuana by an out of work alcohol prohibitionist Harry Anslinger was found in a 2700-year-old grave in China. Guess what Mr. Duke? The dead Shaman's DNA was tested and he was a blue eyed person: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28034925/?gt1=43001
Also Jesus certainly knew about Cannabis because it was well know to the Jews of the time. It was in incense recipes and liniments yet Jesus never spoke badly about people using it as the medicine it is. Also if it was not a useful medicine how come the US government received a patent on it Mr. Duke? The Patent number is: 6,630,507. First you better read Genesis 1:29 and realize that you are trying to take away something that is God given. Then read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John a few times so you learn to judge not lest ye be judged. I have as much a right to the control of my mind and body as you have of yours. Your words advocating the continued prohibition of my use of natural herbs is a violation of my constitutional rights as well as blasphemous to the religion you claim to follow. Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Mr. Duke.
- atliberty
March 25, 2009 9:02PM
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Thanks AtLiberty
Thanks Atliberty...See Also Gen.1:31... EVERY THING THAT GOD HAD MADE WAS VERY GOOD INCLUDING HEMP & CANNABIS.
- Gomeraman
March 28, 2009 1:52AM
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The Weakness of an Unsupported Claim
"Since marijuana is undoubtedly a gateway drug , we can expect to see even more of our nation's youth lose their lives and their futures to drug addiction ."
Faith: The writer simply has faith that this statement is true; and so, has no intention of providing evidence to support his faith. They use to hold the position that their assertion could not be "disproven" as though that makes the absence of proof in favor ok.
Well...now study after study is suggesting the Gateway theory to be unsupported myth. And in fact, if it does exist, coffee, cigarettes and alcohol are bigger "Gateways” than cannabis. *Sigh*
- Harry J Anslinger
March 26, 2009 4:13AM
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First Clue
I wasted a good 2 minutes reading this garbage. You should start anything you have to say about marijuana with "I'm Religious." Because you look certifiable spilling nonsense about medical marijuana you obviously have no clue about.
Any pain reliever that is NOT an opiate is ok in my book. People die from those; nobody has died from an overdose of marijuana.
Marijuana is about as addictive as coffee . Most recreational users smoke only in the evening or on the weekends, like coffee drinkers often only drink in the morning.
Marijuana is the gateway to winning 8 gold medals apparently. Rest assured, all those medical marijuana patients are NOT in risk of going out and buying an 8ball of coke.
- Starlon
March 26, 2009 4:30PM
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Fear
Your bottom line here is little more than fear mongering. What you have failed to notice is the fact that, though marijuana and many substances have been made illegal at one time or another, human beings continue to acquire and use them and yet the nation is still here, the sky did not fall, the constitution is still in effect, people still have babies, babies grow up to become adults, people still grow old, retire and many still lives relatively good lives.
Criminalization has done little more than to unnecessarily make criminals of people doing what they would do if what they did wasn't criminal. The laws have done nothing but build animosities where none should have existed if people were truly free to live their own lives without the unjustified efforts at babysitting by busy body citizens and their government.
The same can be said on the issue of homosexual marriage. Homosexuality has existed right alongside "traditional" relationships since the beginning of the nation. Homosexuals live together, love together, grow old together, and yet the nation goes on.
The sky did not fall.
It's not going to. Relax ... and mind your own business for a change.
- Naumadd
March 26, 2009 7:37PM
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Prohibition is the real Trojan horse
Prohibitionists are skilled in the art of projection. They claim that cannabis activists "use" medical cannabis patients, when it is medical cannabis patients that are leading legalization efforts, and the prohibitionists are the ones that coldly dismiss their suffering.
Prohibition itself is Trojan horse which allows the government to incarcerate 1 out of every 99 adults in the United States, and fully 10 percent of the black male population.
Does the fact that the US Dept of HHS holds its own patent (#6,630,507) based on the medicinal properties of cannabis figure into Duke's evaluation? I thought not.
By, the way, I thought that opposing views used expert testimony in their opinion pages. How is Barrett Duke an expert on medical cannabis?
- Brinna Nanda
March 27, 2009 12:25AM
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The Truth Shall Set You Free - Part I
“Medicinal marijuana is the Trojan horse of the marijuana decriminalization movement.”
Marijuana has been used medicinally for more than 5,000 years. No one considered it to be a problem when it was the primary ingredient in half of the OTC remedies in the United States. It only became demonized when wealthy industrialists and bankers promoted a campaign of misinformation in the ‘30s. At that point few Americans realized that “The Devil’s Weed” they were reading about in the newspapers was the same as the extract in their health tonic.
“The movement sees it as the means to appeal to people's compassion in order to change public opinion about marijuana and ease the way toward decriminalization of marijuana. “
The movement sees medical marijuana as a means to relieve the suffering of thousands of people. Some people, especially those on the Religious Right, seem to have forgotten Jesus’ compassion for those who are sufferoing.
[QUOTE]With the federal government out of the way, we can expect to see a rapid rise in marijuana distributors and marijuana demand in states that have fallen victim to the medical marijuana scam.[/QUOTE]
Indeed. Once you stop threatening to put people in jail, they’re likely to turn to the medicine that will do the most good, cost the least, and have the fewest adverse side effects. The only “scam” is that of religious fundamentalists and others with an axe to grind who spread misinformation about medical marijuana.
“Those who use medicinal marijuana will pay the price first, and then everyone else will.”
Could you be more specific? What price?
"Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care. ... The evidence in this record clearly shows that marijuana has been accepted as capable of relieving the distress of great numbers of very ill people, and doing so with safety under medical supervision. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record." ~Ruling of Drug Enforcement Administration Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young, "In the Matter of Marijuana Rescheduling," See Marijuana, Medicine & The Law, Volume II, R.C. Randall, ed., (Galen Press: Washington, D.C.), 1989, p. 440.
“Marijuana is not a necessary or particularly effective pain-relieving aid.”
Many people report that it is very effective. It’s certainly much safer than opiates and it’s not addictive.
- Buzzby
March 27, 2009 12:55AM
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The Truth Shall Set You Free - Part II
“For years, the pain-relieving ingredient in marijuana has been available by prescription. So, one cannot make the argument that medicinal marijuana is a new addition to the pain-relief arsenal.”
The majority of medical marijuana patients who have tried Marinol have said that it is not as effective as whole cannabis. For those seeking relief from nausea, any drug that has to be swallowed is useless. Marijuana, inhaled as smoke or vapor, bypassess the digestive system and won’t immediately be vomited up.
[QUOTE]On the other hand, smoking marijuana threatens to make bad situations worse for many users. Marijuana introduces multiple toxic chemicals into the systems of people whose bodies are already weakened from their ailments.[/QUOTE]
The only “toxic chemicals” derived from smoking marijuana are those that would come from smoking any kind of plant material: by-products of incomplete combustion. In the amounts marijuana is generally consumed, the quantities of these chemicals is insignificant. For the last decade, herbal vaporizers have been available which allow patients to inhale the healthy compounds without setting anything on fire.
“Not only might these toxic chemicals hinder people's ability to fend off the cause of their pain by weakening their defenses, but users risk developing additional problems related to their use of marijuana, including respiratory ailments and addiction .”
I read all of the literature and have never seen a single study that demonstrates that marijuana weakens the immune system in human beings. As for addiction, scientists who study the phenomenon tell us that marijuana is less addictive than coffee. Should we ban coffee? (Do Baptists drink coffee?)
[QUOTE]In addition, the public's acceptance of marijuana as a medicinal aid will weaken resistance to its recreational use.[/QUOTE]
I know that as a Baptist you’re against anyone having fun. On the other hand, human beings have always enjoyed recreational drugs of one kind and another. If one is going to use a recreational drug, cannabis is, by far, the safest one on earth. It is impossible to overdose on it. If you use too much, all that happens is that you fall asleep. It doesn’t kill your liver or brain cells. It doesn’t cause lung cancer . Unless you want to ban alcohol and tobacco (and coffee), you should stop worrying about marijuana.
“As it becomes more entrenched in our society , it will be perceived as less dangerous.”
And you’d hate for the truth to come out. It might set people free...
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” ~ John 8:32
“This will likely lead to more experimentation with marijuana by our nation's young people.”
87% of high school seniors report that marijuana is easier to obtain than alcohol or tobacco. Those who are interested in trying it could hardly have easier access than they do today. If marijuana were to be sold with the same restrictions as alcohol and tobacco, chances are they’d have less access.
“Since marijuana is undoubtedly a gateway drug, we can expect to see even more of our nation's youth lose their lives and their futures to drug addiction.”
Marijuana's status as a “gateway drug” doesn’t stand up under scrutiny. Almost everyone who has tried marijuana tried alcohol and/or tobacco first, making them the “gateway drugs” - if such a thing exists. Fewer than 2% of marijuana users go on to become habitual users of hard drugs. That being the case, I have a hard time seeing marijuana as a “cause” of later hard drug use .
I perceive the Religious Right to be more of a threat to the American way of life than marijuana could ever be. I grow weary of decisions that should be made on the basis of scientific principles being made on the basis Puritanical religious “ morality ”.
- Buzzby
March 27, 2009 12:57AM
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Safer for Patients & Society
Barrett Duke do you live in the sate of denial or are you another servant of tyranny and oppression?
The tobacco, alcohol and prescription drug gangs cause more death annually than all illicit drugs .
Current drug policy disregards science and punishes families of citizens,confiscating their property for making a safer health choice in a social or medicinal drug; that is policy bordering on insanity.
The debate over medical marijuana or cannabis is really a scandalous controversy over whether this very easy-to-grow herb should be allowed to compete with pharmaceuticals for pennies on the dollar.
Adult legal social use could cause less alcohol consumption. That would be a good thing for public safety as studies have show alcohol increases violent, aggressive behavior marijuana does not. Maybe it would mean less people driving under the influence of alcohol.
Across America paramilitary drug raids trigger violence rather than lessen the risk. It is called, "Overkill" to use such force on a nonviolent health problem. http://www.cato.org/raidmap /
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6476
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is having hearings on the violence in Mexico. Please send them a REPEAL the new prohibition message. It is really misleading to call it a drug war or drug fueled violence. The horrific carnage is triggered by the new prohibition and fueled by official lawlessness. http://oversight.house.gov/contact /
Take away the main tool of servants of tyranny, gun control freaks and racists use these days to extend their agenda, the
new prohibition.
- Colleen McCool
March 27, 2009 10:51AM
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Mr. Duke You Do Not Know Of What You Speak
As a 44 year Consumer & Advocate for the Legalization of Hemp & Cannabis, I am neither Addicted nor have I had even 1 day of Illness in my Adult Life. You are typical of those who speak & write in opposition without having a clue as the the real realities of this issue. First let me say I've been a Devoted Servant of Jesus Christ & Student of His Word for this entire 44 years. & 1) At the End of Creation Week God Looked Down on All He'd Made and Pronounced it was ALL VERY GOOD including Hemp & Cannabis. 2) Stated through His Prophet's that He had Given Man EVERY SEED BEARING HERB FOR THE HEALING OF THE NATIONS. (Most of today's Pharmaceutical's are derived from Plant's found in God's Botanical Kingdom).
Hemp & Cannabis are 2 of the most Amazing Plants in God's Botanical Kingdom with more than 225 know uses including Clothing, Paper, Food, Rope, Building Materials, Bio Fuels, Medicine & Lubricant's & too many others to name here & can also be grown anywhere even on Land of no use for anything else. I fully realize that Men ALWAYS think they know better than God but in this case You & They are Totally Wrong. The real reason that Cannabis remains Illegal is The Fact that the Cotton, Chemical, Timber, Big Oil & Petro Chemical Industries would be soon put out of business should Common Sense & Sanity prevail on this Issue, because Cannabis & Hemp could take the place of all of these Industries without polluting the Land, the Rivers, the Air, the Oceans or Poisoning America's Citizenry. These Industries have a lot to Lose & their Lobbies are some of the Strongest in America. Our Forefather's Knew What They Were Doing When They Included The Right's To Privacy For Adult's In All Matter's & All Things Being Sacrosanct. Stop This Madness as the use of Cannabis is 1000 times safer than the Consumption of Alcohol Which God Did Warn Humanity About: Be SOBER & VIGILANT & To Avoid STRONG DRINK/Whiskey's. Respectfully Submitted By a Man Who Has Chosen To Obey God's Laws Rather Than Man's, as God's Ways Are HIGHER Than Man's. (Isa.55:9).
- Gomeraman
March 28, 2009 12:53AM
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Dumb Americans...
...addicted to ideology and drunk as a skunk.
You got yourselves collectively into this mess. Your forefathers had a measure of pragmatism, and understood the real world, whereas all you do recently is come up with biblical dictates to enforce status quo and contrived conformity.
I suggest face the fact that people can and will use narcotics . And they will use cannabis . Personally I do not use it, but I do live in a country where many do. Cannabis impresses me less than alcohol. I'd rather sit in a bar where people smoke Cannabis, having a conversation, that in a place where people drink beer.
But, many conservative (read: Iwantitmyway-) Americans are incapable of listening, adapting, compromising. It's that lovely little culture war you have been having. Well I know for sure this will turn into a bloody civil war for long. I know which side I will be sending money and arms shipments to.
- Khannea Suntzu
March 28, 2009 1:55AM
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Read the Bible
You bible thumping types don't even read your own bible.. If you did you would help your fellow man in need not throw them in jail and destroy their lives.
I am so tired of the preaching and Hippocratic actions of the christian religion . If you have a religion and a bible to follow why do you preach to enslave mainly poor powerless people? There are a few that may need help with drugs just like the legal drugs you support. But most cannabis users just want to be left alone stop the tyranny. I would not claim a religion that does not even follow its own teachings. How can you advocate support for the war on drugs? Is it because mainly blacks pay the price for the war on drugs are you racist? The one without sin can cast the first stone and it ain't you...
Cherokee Fred Hussein Jesus
- Cherokee Fred hussein April 1, 2009 12:28PM
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geez
"Since marijuana is undoubtedly a gateway drug ..."
Um, except that it's not. Next specious claim?
Others have done fine work debunking this crap, so I won't waste my time. Prohibition did not work then and it's not working now, just like " abstinence only" education increases the rates of teen pregnancy, STDs and abortions. I suppose looking at actual science and statistics comes not one whit into Mr. Duke's thoughts for social change, so perhaps truth and logic have no place here.
- locavore
April 1, 2009 4:13PM
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In the name of GOD
You claim to be a man of God but you advocate enslaving the poor and powerless. Destroying one million non-violent children yearly. Jailed their lives destroyed. Is it the fact that they are mainly people of color and you feel they are not important?
Could you point out in your bible where it says you should do or advocate this destruction on you fellow humans?
The war on drugs does much more harm to Americans than any of the drugs. The church should fight to stop this war and help the people that need help.
Cherokee Fred Hussein Jesus
- Cherokee Fred hussein April 1, 2009 9:05PM
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Legeslating Morality
I am 60 retired a Vietnam vet (volunteered to serve) due to a anonymous call my home was raided by a drug task force. They found nothing but left me feeling violated.
I have done extensive research on the war on drugs for many years since this happened. Every fact I have read indicates this war is a scam. It was started for greed and racism mainly targeting and enslaving people of color. Also protecting the oil and pulp industry. Cannabis could replace oil and wood pulp products. It also is four times more efficient at producing bio fuel than corn. Today more greed is involved to ensure we have no freedom of choice. The major liquor, drug, private jail, drug testing industry and drug rehab, also sad but true the people that work in the jails advocated jailing more to insure they have a job. This is all very sad putting money ahead of human lives.
Now the ones that should be working to help these people the church . Are advocating we put more poor powerless and mainly people of color in jail. I do not find that passage in my bible. If you would please point out the section of the bible that says you should work to do damage to fellow humans?
You sir are a hypocrite you push your religion but use it against the poor powerless and people of color And probably receive money from the major drug companies to help ensure we have no freedom of choice.
Cherokee Fred Hussein Jesus
- Cherokee Fred hussein April 2, 2009 11:11AM
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The God of the Bible Demands Marijuana Be Decriminalized!
What, you say? Don't most people claiming to be fundamentalist Christians favor laws against people using marijuana ? Many do, but those who do are not following what the Bible says about God.
First of all, the Bible says nothing against using marijuana, although the plant was certainly around during Biblical times.
But even if the Bible said that using marijuana is considered a sin , which it does not, passing or supporting human laws against its use would be un-Christian! In fact, using the law to take away a person's life, liberty, or property for using marijuana is itself a sin!
Here's why. According to the Bible, the following is true:
God gave mankind free will. God has the power to force human beings to follow his commandments if he wanted to, but he does not do that, because he wants human beings to *freely choose* to love and obey him. God cares about what is in our hearts, not just what we outwardly do. And he knows that human laws cannot change what is in peoples' hearts. Therefore, even if human laws could successfully control our behavior (which they cannot, as the failure of the "War on Drugs" shows), this still would not result in humans being "saved" by God.
There is much evidence throughout the Bible for this, but it is stated perhaps most clearly in Galatians. For instance:
Galations 2:16 - "A man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."
"By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified" - in other words, no one will be saved as a result of human laws. Jesus repeatedly exhorted his followers to go out and preach the word of God.
Nowhere in the Bible is it recorded that he told people to go out and try to change human laws in order to force people not to sin! Jesus did not want people to interfere with God's gift to human's of free will! Quite the contrary - we all know his familiar words (paraphrased here), "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," (John 8:7) and "Judge not, lest ye be judged." (Matthew 7:1)
Of course this does not mean the Bible tells Christians to ignore sin, or regard it as okay. The Bible clearly tells us that God wants Christians to preach against sin. After shaming those who were to stone her into putting down their stones and departing, Jesus tells the woman who was to be stoned, "Go and sin no more." (John 8:11) He was not saying that what she did was *okay* with God; what he was saying is that humans do not have the right to punish people for sinning.
In Galatians 2:21, the apostle Paul, who the Bible says Jesus raised from the dead, preaches to the Ephesians - "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."
In other words, trying to use human laws to force people to be righteous is interfering with God's grace, his gift of free will, as expressed by Christ coming to earth and asking people to *choose* to follow him.
Therefore the only Christian laws are those which prohibit people from harming others, since to initiate force or fraud against someone else is to interfere with his or her ability to choose of his or her own free will, to follow God or not follow God. In everything else, Christians are instructed by the Bible to let people be free to choose. Including to choose to use marijuana, which the Bible does not condemn.
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." (Galatians 5:1)
- starchild
April 4, 2009 12:52AM
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Re: The God of the Bible Demands Marijuana Be Decriminalized!
P.S. - Don't bother clicking on any of the links in my previous post. I did not put them in. It appears that if you use certain words in your post, the operators of this website will automatically make them into hyperlinks leading who knows where, without your knowledge or consent. Kind of a sneaky practice.
- starchild
April 4, 2009 4:16AM
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The links only go to debates inside OV
Sorry for any confusion... we implemented a feature to create links between text in articles and other articles/debates in the website. They don't go anywhere outside.
We're working to tune this feature, it's supposed to focus on multi-word combination, but it seems to be linking single words as well right now.
It's not meant to be sneaky... it's meant to point you to more information about what you are discussing.
Russell Fine
Founder
Opposing Views
- Russell Fine
April 4, 2009 8:32AM
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