The only thing left to say about the propaganda term “Reefer Madness,” is that it is madness that reefer is not a staple of the American medical program by now.
Because all the lies and propaganda from the corporate-political conservative cadre to aimed at keeping marijuana illegal have been soundly disproven by science and medical research (not to mention by thousands of years of global empirical data), and we’re not talking about alternative practitioners; we’re talking about the most respected science and medical institutions on the planet.
Before the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 passed, cannabis was the number-one prescribed medicine in the United States.
The fact is, cannabis is not only the most effective drug to treat the nasty symptoms of many diseases and pains, but in many cases, it’s the only choice for patients. Cannabis is one-hundred percent natural, it has no debilitating side effects, it is not addictive, it is impossible to overdose, and it has been the most widely used drug on Earth for all of history, with positive writings on the topic from cultures in every corner of the globe across the centuries.
The only reason it’s still illegal in the United States is because of corporate greed and corrupt politicians. Don’t listen to any other “reason” coming from the politicians, the drug czars, the puritans, the paranoid, and even President Obama. They’re all either lying or willfully ignorant. Their one goal is to serve their master, the almighty dollar, via the Big Pharmaceuticals whose multi-billion-dollar bottom line—gained by pushing shitty synthetic drugs with side-effects that are often worse than the pains they’re meant to treat—would be destroyed in competition with legal medical marijuana, which can be grown by anyone for free. Get the picture?
There’s almost no difference between so-called “medical marijuana” and ganja or grass or weed or pot or any other name for recreational marijuana purchased illegally. The only reason we have the term “medical marijuana” is to separate it—politically—from recreational use, because everyone fighting to help patients ASAP realizes that it’s still easier, politically, to try to legalize marijuana for medical reasons than for recreation.
The one slight difference is that medical marijuana has better quality control than “street weed” or anything you might buy from someone you don’t really know. It’s grown under state-approved guidelines, and its sale is regulated by strict rules.
But despite some political gains, medical marijuana is still not easy to come by. Only eighteen U.S. states have passed laws legalizing medical marijuana since 1996, and many medical-marijuana patients in those states can’t even get to a legal dispensary and must buy it illegally from a dealer or other source. Also, federal laws still make marijuana illegal for any use, including state-sanctioned medical use, and the feds can and do continue to disrupt sick patients’ healing by raiding medical-marijuana dispensaries that are operating legally under state laws.
What Does Medical Marijuana Do?
There’s plenty of information available now about the specific health benefits of marijuana—from writings around the globe over the centuries, to recent medical and scientific studies from major institutions all over the world. Scientists have defined the ways cannabinoid receptors work in the human brain, and have determined exactly how marijuana works with those receptors to generate all kinds of physical and emotional benefits.
The straight dope is that marijuana is incredibly effective in controlling the symptoms of many diseases, physical pains, and emotional or spiritual problems. And in many of the most common ailments, the benefits from by marijuana blow away the legal pharmaceutical options in terms of effectiveness, cost, and side effects.
ADD and ADHD
For many years, the medical community has treated ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) with manmade drugs like Ritalin, which has been controversial for its side effects like nausea, headaches, and nervousness. A recent study by the University of Southern California proved that marijuana is a more effective drug than Ritalin at controlling these diseases in adults, while having none of the negative side effects, and costing far less.
Alzheimer’s Disease
Researchers at the respected Scripps Institute in 2006 proved that THC in marijuana blocks the deposits in the brain that cause Alzheimer’s.
Marijuana basically melts away anxiety for many people who suffer from it. (So do pills like Xanax and Prozac and other manmade drugs, but they cost a lot more, are addictive, and can have negative side effects.) Marijuana has no side effects as it soothes nerves, promotes relaxation, and allows better sleep, improving overall quality of life on a daily basis and extending life on a long-term basis.
Cancer
Marijuana haters love to say that smoking pot causes cancer, so it should stay illegal. The facts—proven in studies by top research institutes—state just the opposite. Cigarette smoke causes cancer, for one reason, because the tobacco is radiated when burned. Marijuana is not radiated when burned. In fact, the American Association for Cancer Research has found that marijuana works to inhibit tumor growth in the brain, breasts, and lungs significantly. And for the millions of marijuana users who don’t smoke pot but rather eat or vaporize it, the cancer issue is just completely off the table.
Crohn’s Disease
Marijuana is proven to help patients with this chronic inflammation of the intestines, by relieving or outright stopping symptoms including nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.
Glaucoma
This disease is the one most commonly associated with medical marijuana, whose use is well documented to be the best treatment for this painful eye disease.
HIV/AIDS
Studies at Columbia University (2007), the University of California, San Diego (2008), and others showed that HIV/AIDS patients who used cannabis daily had improved appetites, reduced pain, better mood, and other clear medical benefits that improve quality of life without any negative side effects.
Migraines
Another health issue that affects millions on a chronic basis, migraines are more than just a headache. For many sufferers, marijuana has proved to be the most effective treatment for handling the pain and severe nausea that come with migraines. California doctors have treated over 300,000 cases of migraines with medicinal marijuana since it was legalized in 1996, and since the conventional (high-profit) drugs just didn’t cut it.
Multiple Sclerosis
This debilitating disease that alters normal communication between nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord affects hundreds of thousands of people with painful symptoms from cognitive difficulties to muscle control. Marijuana’s positive effects on MS patients are well known, and have been championed by TV host Montel Williams, who began smoking pot to treat his disease and found it to be by far the best medicine for the job.
PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome)
More and more women are turning to marijuana to treat the painful cramps, general discomfort, and irritability that comes around each month. Queen Victoria was prescribed marijuana for just this reason by her physician over a hundred years ago.
Seizures
Marijuana is a muscle relaxant and has “antispasmodic” qualities which have proven to be a very effective treatment of seizures. There are actually countless cases of people suffering from seizures that have only been able to function better through the use of marijuana.
Spiritual Healing
A majority of stoners now and through time—from Joe Schmo to world-class achievers—have stated that marijuana, like nothing else, can open the mind to new trains of thought that lead to understanding, empathy, insight, and spiritual healing. Neurologically speaking, the THC in marijuana binds to the brain’s cannabinoid receptors and causes you to temporarily lose the pinpoint focus on the moment that dominates sober reality. So the brain on pot gives you a broader relation to what’s going on around you, and opens the conscious and subconscious mind to a different way of thinking, literally. Many accomplished people have credited marijuana with opening their minds to new thoughts that led to great discoveries and creations in science, art, music, and most other fields. The same principle can help anyone have positive insights that lead to great changes in their own life.
The Future of Medical Marijuana
A lot of headway has been made since the first medical marijuana law passed in 1996—there are now eighteen states that legalized it, and other states are putting up bills and propositions to legalize it every election cycle. For the first time since its ban over seventy-five years ago, according to a Rasmussen Poll in 2012, a majority of Americans (56%) believe that marijuana should be legalized for all purposes, not just medical.
As of 2013, though, this is where we stand:
