Quote:Do you honestly think marijuana is a suitable substitute for prescription pain killers?

 

It depends. In my case, it does not mask or numb the pain, like narcotics, it affects the way my body deals with the pain. It is 100% effective, and it only takes a small amount 2 - 3 times per day. Studies have shown that, while tolerance does build for the "stoned" effect, it is much less dramatic with the pain killing effects. That is certainly not true of narcotics. Sooner or later, if the source of the pain is incurable, a stronger narcotic will be required.

 

As for the root reasons cannabis use is still illegal in most of our country, it's a combination of factors. In the states where it is now legal, one of the biggest group of opponents were black market dealers and growers. The ease of which it can be grown for personal use makes it an unpredictable source of tax revenue. One of my friends works for the local county weekly newspaper and accompanied DEA agents at the growing site where the 37,000 plants were discovered. One agent told her this is all he does, destroying grow sites in Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky and Georgia, and it's a full time job. New sites are discovered every week. Consider the cost of manpower and equipment, as well as potential revenue literally gone up in smoke, ironically in front of a county jail in such bad need of repair all prisoners were transferred to a neighboring county facility after an inmate was nearly fatally electrocuted by a faulty outlet.

 

It's pure madness. I can imagine every one of those agents relaxing after a hard days work with one or more ice cold beers, the irony not lost on them.

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