Sorry, I have no problems. Society might well benefit from medical benefits derived from the marijuana plant but smoking it in one study demonstrated a 6 times increase in respiratory complications. The problem is not with the plant marijuana, but with marijuana users. Only a very small fraction of marijuana users have AIDs, cancer, or glaucoma, therefore the "medical" term attached is being used inappropriately by those that would love to have free and easy access to what has been determined by the US Supreme Court, the US Congress, and several US Presidents to be an illegal illicit drug. The way to change laws is not by deciding which US laws are worthy of our following, but are through petitions, contacting your senator, use of data demonstrating efficacy in medical situations, engaging in activism to change the law. It is doubtful that even 0.1% of those desiring to have marijuana legalized for medical use have engaged in any of these forms of change, but had decided on their own to ignore the US laws, just as illegal aliens ignore US laws. The appropriate place for marijuana used for medical purposes is not on the local street corner where you can hang out with potheads, and those that would sell you harder drugs, but is in the drugstore. If the US is to adopt a "medical marijuana" policy then it should be in the form Canada has adopted such as Sativa, and not as an excuse to open the floodgates to anyone who wants it. If you think marijuana use is pervasive now, examine the correlation of another drug that was once illegal, alcohol, and check out its use. It is used by over 50% of the population monthly with tragic results that tens of thousands lose their lives each year because of uncontrolled use.
I am happy homerx found something that works for him. It is doubtful that all other available and demonstrably effective treatments were tried....an illegal drug happened to be available and it was used, and was claimed to be effective. I wrote nothing "mean spirited" but absolutely believe it is imperative that when one is being falsely accused of doing something illegal "hate mail" that the person making such accusations demonstrate to the forum and to the administrator the veracity of their accusations. There was no proof here because it didn't happen. What you perceive as "huffy and ugly" was merely defending the right to post without being falsely accused of illegal activity in violation of federal law. Resorting to false accusations in order to defend a viewpoint is unacceptable on this or any other forum.
Those that are really interested in the use of marijuana products for the treatment of specific diseases will call their senators and representatives, start petition drives for responsible use of marijuana, talk to their local TV stations, do their research on the subject using accepted medical journal articles and abstracts freely located on
www.pubmed.com , and will use LEGAL means to make their point instead of deciding that traditional medicines won't work before even trying them and engaging in illicit drug use in violation of US law. Hopefully these useful suggestions will not be perceived as too "mean spiritied" or "hateful".