Morning Read: Medical marijuana dispensaries right next door?
The Burlington Free Press is reporting that Vermont’s Senate is poised to legalize dispensaries for medical marijuana. If that happens, a lot of North Country families would have fairly convenient access to the drug for the first time.
Here’s how Burlington resident Shayne Lynn described the operation he’d like to open, in an interview with the newspaper:
There’d be a waiting room. Clients would be seen by appointment only. There’d be security. He might also offer clients yoga, acupuncture and Reiki. He’d probably grow the marijuana somewhere else, at an indoor facility.
Lynn could become one of the first people to run such an operation in Vermont if proposed legislation the Senate is expected to consider this week passes.
New York’s legislature again failed to take up a medical marijuana measure this year, with advocates blaming the bottle-neck on Republicans in the state Senate.
So what do you think? Is this an idea whose time has come? As always, your comments welcome.
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“If that happens, a lot of North Country families would have fairly convenient access to the drug for the first time.” ????
Oh, you mean legally.
KHL – Yes, good point.
Brian, NCPR
um… does this mean that if NY residents drove across the border to Vermont to get “treatment”, we could bring our “medicine” back legally?
I wonder if “legal” MJ is less or more expensive than “illegal.”
Probably more expensive, considering how the government loves to tax everything.
If it ever happened in NY, likely the fees, taxes, and regulation would make any business-model impossible. Probably, the Liquor-store lobby would also make a fuss.
On the other hand, if Schumer and Owens are willing to stimulate hidden potential in Maple Sugar production, this could be a logical next-step.
Tourpro – there are many medical marijuana businesses in California that do quite well. That is a high-tax, high-regulation state as well. I would guess that the Vermont legislature is looking closely at the experiences of other states.
California is an interesting model, but like everyplace – the medical rationale is a canard for legal distribution. Sure, there are a small percentage of “the ill” who benefit, but let’s recognize it for what it really is.
tourpro – its no carnard; there are clearly medical benefits to marijuana which is why it IS legal as medicine in all states. The only difference is whether the ill can get it as a synthetic pill form of natural form. I have seen the difference is a sick friend. The pill is hard to control dosage and its easy to take too much. Inhalation allows the patient to take small dosages, get the benefits and still function. Plus you sidestep big pharm.
I would be curious if the illegal MJ trade has gone down in CA since the medical MJ business was legalized?
Great for Vermont. This is the sole reason I did not vote for Cuomo, he is against medical marijuana. Had he supported it, I think the chances are good we could move toward a similar model as that utilized in other states. At present, it seems the only way we’ll get to medical marijuana is via a ballot initiative.
And I like the business plan Mr. Lynn is suggesting. There’s many people making lots of profit, creating jobs, and generating income and sales tax revenue for local, state, and federal governments at a time when they sorely need it. At the same time they’re helping many people get the medication they need in a much safer and legal manner. In addition, there’s less wasteful expenditures of time and money within the legal system on things like prosecution and incarceration.
Finally, I think it’s time New York had a serious political debate about marijuana prohibition here in the Empire State. Perhaps this latest development in Vermont will eventually move such a discussion forward given the proximity of Vermont to New York and the problems that can create.
tourpro,
I’d love to see the data you obviously have to support your position that med. marijuana is primarily used by unauthorized people.
The agenda for those who push for decriminalization/legalization is to have an honest conversation, without the typical strawman arguments and misinformation that have governed our drug laws since the 1930’s. Med. marijuana is a chance to show that people can use the drug responsibly.
I agree Verplanck. A big problem with honest debate about marijuana prohibition is those who support the status quo always seem to rely on the same falsehoods that led to its prohibition in the first place. Despite much of those falsehoods having been proven wrong.
And it’s also strange how the vast majority of these same proponents (at least the one’s I’ve had this discussion with) have no experience with the drug itself any only know the myths surrounding its use. An example would be an advocate for prohibition that uses the sole rational of “smoking is bad for you” when smoking is but one way to ingest marijuana. It’s as if their entire vision or attitude toward medical marijuana, or frankly, recreational use of marijuana, is straight out of a scene from “Reefer Madness.” Like any issue, having some direct experience and understanding is far more helpful no matter what your stance on the subject matter.
Time has come – absolutely. This ridiculous 80+ year old government “war” on marijuana needs to end. Between the billions spent on enforcement, extreme sentencing for violators and pure lack of fact to support any of the illegal arguments, this issue should be addressed at the Federal level instead of waiting for the states to pave the way. Encouraging to see it happening, though.
Ben,
Personally I think the feds should just reschedule marijuana and completely end the federal prohibition entirely. I assume that would leave breathing room for the states to proceed any way they decide regarding legality, regulation, taxation, etc. This is one topic where Obama could show true leadership and push this issue. Thing is, he’s proving to be no less a pawn of corporate interests than his predecessor. Whether that be Big Pharm (probably the most obvious entity afraid of marijuana reform), banks (who also makes lots of money laundering drug money), alcohol lobby, etc…..
too much money in MJ being illegal. Never going to happen. Its a pipe dream. (sorry couldn’t resist that)
I just read Joe Gray’s opinion and it seems that if you have a few drinks and blow below legal your fine. But no such test exists for MJ. How do you know they are driving just a little high (like a little drunk). We all know you won ‘t run over a kid after a few drinks (just to get the taste) but a little high, watch out kids.
I don’t care what people use it for. It’s their choice and shouldn’t be controlled by govt. Either by criminalization or taxation.
Not arguing that there are medical uses. But when I see tourists at Venice Beach sitting outside “the clinic” filling out their “consultation” form and getting licensed in 15 minutes, I suspect there might be some recreational use going on. Call me naive.
They recently had to reduce the 1000s of shops that had opened up for all the “sick” people. Now you have to drive 15 minutes from any point in LA to get to one, instead of 5. Aside from that, now that it’s been “normalized”, most people could care less and it’s become sort of a non-issue.
Can’t speak to the economics, don’t have enough info. It’s probably easy to assume that “street deals” are no longer necessary and most people are doing it the easy and safe way now.
I know look how well legalizing Vicodin has worked out for “medical” uses.
Should probably take Sudafed (sp?) and whipped cream off the shelf as well? I read the other day about some kids that were fermenting their own feces. Plug it up and that problem is solved. How about those kids who choke themselves to get a little buzz. Remove all children’s hands untill they can “handle” them.
You can easily spot who is driving while high on MJ. They are the ones doing 25 in the 55 mph zone. And instead of throwing empty beer cans out the window, they’ll probably be tossing out empty bags of of chips and cheese doodles.
tourpro,
Still waiting for something other than a pre-conceived notion of your opinion on the subject.
Mervel,
Vicodin is harder to find that than marijuana on the streets. A major difference.
Mr Sandwich,
They got to sudafed ahead of you. You need a driver’s license and sign a sheet with your name and address before you get a box of sudafed these days.
I don’t like the hypocrisy of saying this is “medical” although I realize that there are medical uses. If we want to have controlled legalization then we should not use the medical field for an excuse to do that.
It is like opiates for pain, I think on end of life situations certainly opiates can be very humane and useful. However the legalization for wide uses of these drugs has torn a swath through this country that has been and is very damaging. They don’t do anything medically accept make you high, they are not medicine, they have ruined many families right here in the North Country and they did not do that until the last 10 years or so when they became very available and abundant on the street after they were legalized.
When was Vicodin illegal??? When did they “legalize” it?
Alcohol has no medical use and has destroyed more families than all of other drugs combined. How come you prohibitionists aren’t fighting to end legal alcohol?
Mervel,
I don’t get the charge of hypocrisy. If something has a medical use, isn’t a substance, by definition, “medical”?
Are you trying to equate opiates with cannabis? The two are widely different. One can be purchased at any drug store, the other needs to be grown or bought on the black market. I’d agree that opiate use tears apart the fabric of rural culture (we have a big opiate problem in NW Vermont). However, cannabis is a relatively cheap drug that has no physical addictive properties. People don’t break into senior citizens’ homes to steal their pot. However, people have done that for opiates.
Saying that opiates are “legal” is a misnomer. They are still a controlled substance, and need a doctor’s Rx to get it.
And if you have the medical study that says cannabis does “nothing except make you high”, I’d love to see it. Otherwise, that’s just another misconception that has been handed down to us from those fighting the useless drug war.
“People don’t break into senior citizens’ homes to steal their pot.” No, but they break in and steal whatever else they can to buy the pot. Been there, seen it, made the arrests.
Do what you want, but having more stoned, drunk or high people in our society does nothing good for us.
Forget the “medical” cover, just legalize pot and be done with it.
Here’s the thing, we already have high, stoned, drunk people in our society. Ironically, many of those get their substance of choice legally. Making it legal for cannibus users to get their substance of choice is not necessarily going to increase its use. That’s another unsubstantiated claim against reform.
And Mervel, speaking from my own personal experience, marijuana does have medicinal benefits for various ailments. I have a close family member who has Atypical Parkinsonism, which is a form of Parkinson’s disease. This persons doctor has suggested using cannibus as a means to cope with the side effects of some of her medication and direct effects of the disease itself. The same was suggested for my sister who eventually died from lung cancer (started as breast cancer). She underwent chemo therapy for nearly six straight years. During which time she chose not to use cannibus despite the advice of her doctor as a way to deal with the side effects of the very potent chemo. She made this decision solely because she feared the ramifications toward her family if she were caught using it. In other words, the stigma and chance of arrest prevented her from choosing a substance that is known to ease the side effects of pain, nausea, lack of appetite, etc, associated with chemo therapy.
It still angers me to this day that we’re so paranoid about marijuana that we can’t establish a fair and sane system for its use. But yet I can walk to any convenience store, grocery store, winery, or liquor store and buy enough booze to literally kill me.
Bret,
and can you tell me that it was the drug that made them do it, rather than the other circumstances of their lives? I’m sure you arrested plenty of sober people who were stealing for other things, right?
There is a good argument to be made for legalizing all of it. Many in the drug trade and related criminals would be out of work.
Legalization will increase use we just need to understand the consequences of what that massive increase will mean for our families and society.
I am not totally against all legalization, I just think the idea that it will have no consequences is wrong. I was using the examples of opiates to simply show the unintended consequences of other drugs that have become available in the market. Opiates are much more dangerous than Pot I do understand that.
I didnt say drug legalization wouldnt have bad consequences, just that there would be some good ones as well, that might outweigh that bad ones. (might not too)
I guess we’ll never know until we try. And hasn’t that time arrived? Seems to me the majority of Americans support such an effort given the insanity, hypocrisy, and cost of our decades old drug war.
I disagree that reform of at least marijuana laws with lead to a “massive” increase in use. I really don’t know how you can assume that. What I predict would happen is the millions of Americans who currently use marijuana responsibly, but don’t freely admit it or discuss it, or acquire it legally, would be more inclined to do so. This change in behavior, however, does not represent a “massive” increase in use. Truth is, marijuana use, for many, many Americans, has for years occurred in the shadows and reform would only bring it out in the open to a large degree.
And for those who don’t think marijuana has any medicinal properties, here’s a link to an article published recently that relates to research that has isolated the pain killing effects of cannabinoid THC without the psychoactive effects. It’s an interesting article and this research could lead to a compromise for those suffering from some forms of pain:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/04/marijuana-thc-pain/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
Verplank, I dunno, I took it at face value when they said they needed money to buy pot. I suppose if they’d had actual jobs instead of living off relatives or on welfare then maybe they wouldn’t have had to burglarize somebodies house to buy pot. Or maybe if they’d had a little self control, self esteem and self worth they’d have had a goal in life beyond getting stoned. I suppose I could feel sorry for them, poor things, burglarizing someones home isn’t REALLY that big a deal I guess. No….that doens’t work for me. Doesn’t matter if it’s a stoner stealing cans and DVD’s to buy pot, kids breaking into camps to steal the booze or a meth head knifing another head for a hit. It’s all damaging to them, to their victims and to society. Nothing good comes from it, nothing.
In some ways that is where some of the state experiments are a good thing.
I mean legalizing or doing what I would call controlled legalization in a state like Vermont would give us a feel for some of the consequences both good and bad. If states or counties wish to have prohibition they still can have it. There are still counties in the US that have prohibition on alcohol. I think it actually should be left up to the states or even localities.
What we are doing now is not working I think we can agree on that.
It should be a personal choice.
Bret – they were pulling your leg
Mervel,
I’m inclined, as I indicated above, to believe much of what you’re suggesting. To that end, the federal gov’t needs to end prohibition at the federal level thereby allowing the states to move forward with reform if they so choose. The problem with that of course is the politics of such a change and the extremely powerful lobbies in Washington who will fight it.
The great equalizer in this, however, could be our current fiscal malaise. I really don’t see how we can continue to spend billions per year on an obviously failed drug war at a time when we’re proposing massive cuts to very popular domestic programs that support millions of citizens, young and old.
Anyone here for non prescription access to the E.D drug of choice?
By the way, speaking of prescription drugs, with their long list of possible side effects, why would anyone ask their doctor if such and such “is right for me?”