Are recreational users really medical patients?

[palmspringsbum]

July 10, 2006
OpinionsEditiorials.com

Medical Pot
Kenneth Michael White

There is a legal difference between a legitimate medical marijuana patient and a “pot smoker.” The former is a person with a serious illness who uses marijuana for medical purposes under the supervision of a physician. The latter is a person who does not have a doctor’s recommendation to use marijuana for medical purposes. Under the law this difference is one of kind, but in the real world it is merely one of degree.

Under the law, the non-medical use of marijuana is generally viewed as a crime. In theory, this means that the collective finger of society—in the form of the police and a prosecutor, and in the venue of a court—gets pointed directly at an individual “pot smoker.” In practice, this theoretical “finger” imposes real punishment, i.e., fines or imprisonment for those who possess, manufacture, or distribute marijuana for non-medical purposes. “Pot smokers” beware!

Life is not much better for a legitimate medical marijuana patient. While some States have passed laws that decriminalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes, to date the Federal Government has not shown any comity towards this experiment. The possession or manufacture of small amounts of marijuana for private, non-commercial medical use has never been the basis of a Federal drug charge (yet), but under current law Federal prosecutors may file such a case at any time if they wanted. Medical marijuana patients beware!

On the one hand, legitimate medical marijuana patients and “pot smokers” are viewed differently under the law in various parts of this country. On the other hand, there is little real-world difference in the way the police in practically all parts of the country view both medical marijuana patients and “pot smokers.” Considering that the police in this country have been trained for at least 69-years to view all marijuana as contraband, it is not too surprising to learn that even in States that have passed medical marijuana laws there are officers who have (unlawfully) been resisting medical marijuana on the basis of a conflict with Federal law. Old habits (like old-school police training) are hard to break.

Of course, if the local police were aware of the history of Federal medical marijuana prohibition, then things might be different. The police are decent human beings before they’re officers of the law, and no decent human being wants to enforce a policy that started in 1937 by the 75th Congress on the basis of blatant racism directed towards Spanish-speaking immigrants in the Southwest. Unfortunately, not too many people are aware of the racial animus behind the beginning of Federal medical marijuana prohibition, which is, in part, why there is still even a debate about medical marijuana in this country. If the truth were widely known, then we’d all be free to focus on other fights. Until then....

Beyond de jure and de facto racial discrimination, another obstacle to the end of medical marijuana prohibition is the association between “pot smokers” and the 1960s counter-culture movement. The assumption is that today’s legitimate medical marijuana patient is merely yesterday’s dropout looking for a free ride from society in order to pursue a life of pleasure and sloth. This explains why the Office of National Drug Control Policy spends millions of Federal tax dollars on advertising designed to encourage Baby Boomers to be a “hypocrite” when it comes to marijuana “for the sake of the children.” The message? Don’t let your children be hippies like you were.

The present circumstances speak for themselves in terms of whether hypocrisy makes for sound public policy. America needs to come to terms with the reality of medical marijuana and the fact that many people currently labeled as “pot smokers” are actually legitimate medical marijuana patients in disguise. It is likely that a significant number of people taking advantage of the various States’ medical marijuana laws were self-medicating before those laws were passed. It is reasonable to believe that more “pot smokers” might become medical marijuana patients if they had the choice. Remember, before the 75th Congress criminalized marijuana, the American Medical Association considered the plant to be medicine. Old habits (like using nature to heal the body) are hard to break.

Who is the Federal government to tell people with a serious illness that they cannot grow a plant to ease their pain? More States ought to allow their doctors to handle the use of medical marijuana. Congress will eventually (hopefully) catch up with common sense. Granted, the abuse of marijuana—in this sense, defined as the use of marijuana that causes tangible and verifiable harm to the un-consenting and un-informed—will always be a matter for the police. But the police cannot protect fully informed adults from themselves, no matter how unpopular “pot smokers” may be in any particular community. It is time to realize that the habitual “pot smoker” might just be a doctor’s point-of-view away from being a legitimate medical marijuana patient. Think about it.


Kenneth Michael White is an attorney and the author of “The Beginning of Today: The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937” and “Buck” (both by PublishAmerica 2004). For more information please visit: http://www.thebeginningoftoday.com