Is the legalization of medical Marijuana, just the legalization of Marijuana "veiled" with a medical label? And will the legalization of "Medical Marijuana", cost more than the legalization of "The Sensible use of Marijuana"?
My question is, did the the residents of Michigan vote for the legalization of medical marijuana, or for loopholes to be able to kick back and light up?
In Michigan, residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of Proposal 1 (61% in favor). The Proposal will legalize the medical use of Marijuana for patients that experience chronic pain that is not controlled with prescription drugs. It will also legalize the cultivation for personal use of Marijuana, the possession, use and paraphernalia related to the legal use of marijuana. It will also create a registry participation card that will have a fee, a tax and a renewal fee.
Voters in Massachusetts decided (65%, and almost every town) to legalize the sensible use of Marijuana. People in Massachusetts in less than thirty days will be able to posses less than an ounce of weed legally. There will not be any prosecution, penalty or citation, unless you are under the age of seventeen. If you are under the age of seventeen the penalty is a four hour course (which will include classroom and peer discussions) and community service. This mandate goes as far as protecting individuals from being discriminated for having traces of THC in their bodily fluids, that means you cannot get fired for the sensible use of Marijuana in the privacy of your own time.
These two approaches provide with stark differences to the decriminalization of Marijuana. On one side, the legalization of Marijuana for sensible personal use, the other, the medical legalization of Marijuana for pain management. Marijuana legalization is not a new subject; thirteen states already allow the personal use of Cannabis (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon and Ohio have some sort of Marijuana decriminalization provision) and the list will probably grow in the near future. But which is more responsible?
Although many residents of Michigan with chronic disease will benefit; how many of the residents in Michigan will go to a Doctor, get a couple of signatures just to get the "license"? Will this create extra costs for our already over-used health system? Are Marijuana prescriptions going to be prescribed in alarming large numbers by a few physicians? How many physicians have moral objections, and will not offer this treatment to their patients? Is our Health System not burdened enough with questions of morals and legality; and now we add more legal/moral screwballs to make it more confusing and probably (and sadly) more costly.
Or is it Massachusetts who got it right; the legalization of the Sensible use of Marijuana. No prescriptions, no shady doctor visits, no fake illnesses, no begging doctors that believe they have "higher morals" for available treatment. Just responsible citizens, who in their personal time, light up. No "medical" label attached.
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