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Feds Close Pot Shops; Is Medical Marijuana Up in Smoke?

MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES; WHO’S ON CRACK?

In a move certain to cause Jerry Garcia to roll over in his grave - not to mention the angering of butt loads of potheads nationwide - the federal government ratcheted up it’s war on “medical” marijuana last week by forcing California’s “medical” marijuana dispensaries to shut down – or face criminal prosecution. It’s about time.

Before we go any further, I am not suggesting there are not people with medical conditions who experience temporary relief from smoking marijuana. (Although studies indicate the use of marijuana vs. medication is not conclusive –  and proponents of medical marijuana conveniently ignore (deny) the potential dangers of psychological addition to pot.)

I am also not suggesting that possession of minimal amounts of marijuana for recreational purposes should be criminal; I am suggesting that the whole “medical marijuana” charade – and its allowed-abuse by state governments has become a laughable farce – and a dangerous one as well.

Now that all that’s out of the way, here’s a memo to potheads:

Your straw-dog argument that “marijuana is safer than alcohol” is fatally flawed for two very simple reasons: First - two wrongs don’t make a right; walking up to an innocent guy in the mall and cutting off his right arm isn’t as bad as murdering him, is it? – does that make cutting off his arm okay? Drinking alcohol is not as dangerous as drinking wood turpentine or gasoline, either; does that make it any less wrong to drink alcohol in excess and get behind the wheel of an automobile?

Recent articles in the Los Angeles Times – not exactly a right-wing rag - have shot down two of your most histrionic arguments: “Smoking pot is not addictive,” and “Smoking pot doesn’t impair one’s ability to drive an automobile.” Yep, the LA Times, (along with multiple studies),disputes your long-standing claims that marijuana is not addictive, and marijuana use does not impair your ability to drive. (Here’s a bit of backup from WebMD on marijuana and fatal automobile accidents that you’ll dispute as well.)

(Potheads are now feverishly googling their marijuana-smelling fingers to the bone, as they search for “proof” that both of these arguments are “wrong” – the links of which they will send along – with condescending comments attached.)

Memo #2 to potheads: 

Federal law supercedes state law; the feds are onto the sham – “medical marijuana” is a joke; hundreds of thousands of otherwise healthy potheads buy pot legally – and smoke it every day – for “medicinal purposes.”

Meanwhile, back to the federal government’s crackdown on medical marijuana; California collectives have 45 days to cease operations or face criminal charges and confiscation of their property – even if they are operating “legally” under the state’s medical marijuana law, which was approved by voters in 1996.

According to the Associated Press, U.S. Attorneys sent letters last week to at least 16 dispensaries or their landlords notifying them they are violating federal drug laws. Medical marijuana may be “legal” in California, but federal law prohibits the use of pot for any purpose.

There is at least one bit of wonderful irony here: After two years during which the Obama Regime said it would not move aggressively against medical marijuana providers who abide by state law, the Regime began cracking down earlier this year with threatening letters from U.S. Attorneys to governors and legislators in states which allow the sale of “medicinal cannabis.” The joke’s on you, potheads; welcome to the club.

Perhaps it’s a “coincidence” that avid proponents for the legalization of marijuana and left-wingers as a whole share this in common: Both groups form opinions and come to conclusions as they see fit. They then go about gathering “facts” and “data” which support those opinions and conclusions. (One should not be surprised, given that “group A” is a subset of group “B.”)

Imagine where the world would be if real science operated this way.

Damn, dudes; bummer. Throw on some Led Zeppelin; let’s get medicinally wasted. 

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COMMENTS

  • Menlo

    The Dutch government has decided to tighten its rules and enforcement for selling the substance.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Sweep away the last remnants of the old Republic!

    DEATH TO THE STATES!

    • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

      he is the single candidate most devoted to the idea of Federalism.

      After Obama, we might need that.

  • steve010

    nt

  • aesthete

    From a medical and social standpoint, that’s pretty much undeniable. You can’t OD on marijuana and the mood changes brought about by marijuana do not lead to the sorts of violent altercations that alcohol does — seriously, when have you ever heard of someone beating his wife because he’s on pot? Your argument vis a vis automobile safety is a canard — as far as I know, no one is arguing that pot use does not impair automobile driving, but that a) the impairment is far less dangerous and well-documented than that of drunk driving, and that b) this can be said of many other legal substances and behaviors, as well — and to a greater extent than can be said of marijuana.

    As far as federal supremacy goes, I find myself continually amazed to see that supposed defenders of the federalist system revert to the grossest and most transparently flawed arguments to justify what is, besides Roe v Wade, one of the most blatantly un-Constitutional policies foisted upon us by the Federal government.

  • aesthete

    That said, I will acknowledge that many who favor marijuana legalization dishonestly blur the line between cannabis and some of the more clearly dangerous substances currently banned, such as crystal meth and heroin. While I believe that a case for legalization could potentially be made for the latter two substances, it is much more difficult to do so, and those substances are clearly more dangerous than marijuana. (The reverse tendency — conflating pot and heroin — is of course common among drug warriors, as well.)

    I will also say that many, if not most, of the clientele of “medical marijuana” outfits are indeed looking to acquire the drug for recreational purposes. I don’t believe that using marijuana for such purposes should be banned, but I’ll definitely agree that medical marijuana, while legitimate, is often dishonestly used as a stalking horse to promote full legalization.