cannabisnews.com: Sober Reflection is in Order
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Sober Reflection is in Order
Posted by CN Staff on June 10, 2010 at 10:05:02 PT
By George Ball 
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
USA -- We live in a time that merits a new edition of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Charles Mackay's classic 1841 study of human follies and frenzies, including witch hunts, alchemy, and bursting financial bubbles. One delusion now in full bloom is the movement to legalize medical marijuana, which is proceeding apace without significant care or consideration on the part of the government, the medical and scientific community, or the public. 
With California leading, 14 states have legalized medical marijuana, and 11 others are considering doing so. New Jersey's governor and lawmakers recently wrangled over implementation of its new medical-marijuana law, while Philadelphia's current and former district attorneys argued about a push to lessen penalties for possession. This rampaging weed of a public policy seems eerily immune to the kind of scientific testing and review routinely accorded to the regulation of food and medicine. You might think marijuana - classified as a federal Schedule I drug, or one with a high potential for abuse and "no currently accepted medical use" - would get special scrutiny before it's approved as medicine. You would be wrong. On this issue, the public and policymakers have thrown caution to the smoke-filled winds. California's medical-marijuana laws are a hodgepodge, changing from county to county like something dreamed up by Cheech and Chong. Today there are reportedly about 600 marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles alone. Far from being clinical, some feature carnivalesque hucksters who stand outside and lure in new clients. And pretty much anyone claiming a headache can get a prescription. As a horticulturist, I worry that these patients are using a garden-grown substance whose dangers are greater than its benefits. They are the subjects of a loopy social-policy experiment. I do not propose denying medical marijuana to those in chronic pain from cancer, AIDS, or other ailments. Marijuana's value as a pain reliever, as well as its overall safety, deserves investigation. The American Medical Association has sensibly urged the federal government to loosen restrictions that impede serious research. But right now, the scientific findings are far from conclusive. Yet the same people who want their food grown organically and sustainably - and who flee from corn syrup, butter, and salt as from a plague - blithely ignore pot's provenance. They seem indifferent not only to where it comes from, but to who sows and grows it, and what manner of fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and growth stimulants are used. Today's pot is far stronger than the weed that gave young boomers a buzz. Those seeking pain relief from a few puffs of marijuana can experience anxiety, panic, and hallucinations. Some help! While there is limited evidence to support marijuana's medical benefits, there is plenty confirming its dangers, substantiated by significant increases in mentions of marijuana as a reason for emergency room visits over the last 15 years. And pot messes with your head, impairing short-term memory, verbal skill, judgment, and perception. Anyone who's talked to a pothead will testify to that. Pot-using teenagers have poorer grades and poorer attendance. One study found that among those arrested, 41 percent of men and 27 percent of women tested positive for marijuana use. Another found that 6 to 11 percent of fatal-accident victims tested positive for it - a painkiller indeed. Since pot's potency can vary dramatically, patients have no guidelines for dosage, so you might say it's hit or miss. This and many of marijuana's other perils can be effectively addressed by Marinol, an approved prescription medicine that offers calibrated doses of a synthetic version of pot's key ingredient, THC. Medical marijuana deserves serious attention from the Obama administration, Congress, the FDA, and the AMA. What are they waiting for? Unchecked, this latest extraordinary popular delusion will have serious social and medical consequences. George Ball is a past president of the American Horticultural Society and the chairman of W. Atlee Burpee & Co. in Warminster. Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)Author:  George Ball Published: June 10, 2010Copyright: 2010 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.URL: http://drugsense.org/url/3ZLzcRqUContact: Inquirer.Letters phillynews.comWebsite: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #12 posted by rchandar on June 11, 2010 at 12:14:12 PT:
JoeCitizen
I was merely implying that smoking pot is good in a modern world, because the characteristics of modern life preclude true happiness. By that, I'm referring to the "Information Age"--where some bit of information, or the sum total of it, tends to work toward depressing and isolating people.So if you flip the channels like most of us do, perhaps you should keep it on mute. Or you'll find out something that's either against you, or put you in contact with something you always hated. Or something you recently hated and have been trying to get rid of.I'm not referring to any politician: still, the promises politicians extend to people presume that life should be good, all the time, for everyone. It's the nature of the animal, but far from what most of us experience.We used to watch "Miami Vice" when we were kids. My father used to turn the set off and explode:"that damn television is ruining your life, you're like a psycho!"I didn't know what he meant then, at least not very strongly. Now I do.--rchandar
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Comment #11 posted by JoeCitizen on June 11, 2010 at 09:35:36 PT
rchandar-???
I really didn't understand your comment, rchandar. What politician? Who is talking about life being good?Your comments seem unrelated to the article, I was wondering if you were posting about something else.
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Comment #10 posted by rchandar on June 11, 2010 at 08:17:49 PT:
My Thoughts
I won't say too much. I guess it could be old-fashioned to think so.But, modern life isn't, can never be, "good". The sheer barrage of knowledges, informations, acronyms, TV programs, the polyglot of information--and the extreme conditions under which modern man lives--quite different from how humanity has been even up to the 20th century, preclude the thought that "life is good." It can't be, because this groundswell of consciousnesses that are linked to politics, economy, diversity--complicate our thought processes and our imagination to a point at which even the most certain and sure of us can easily be felled by doubt, introspection.Religion isn't a "cure" for this. I wish mainstream Americans could see that. Faith in God only focuses and sanctions one's will and actions to some degree. To say that "hallucinations" are of no help is an overplayed statement that is out of touch with what modern man experiences on a daily basis.Humiliated? Shocked? Surprised? Depressed? These are the daily functions of modern life, and no human is excused from their awesome power because one individual seldom has much power over the world of billions. Smoking pot is good for you, if you crave that relief from something that is constantly menacing to even the wealthiest segment of society.The human capacity for endeavor is the basis for culture and society, and the achievement of modern man. To say that we have in place a system that makes life "good" is absurd, it's a non-possibility.On top of that, we die. What makes him think that "life is good?"Damn politicians.
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Comment #9 posted by Paint with light on June 11, 2010 at 00:41:28 PT
so many mistakes, so little time
I think we could all go off on this one for awhile.I will try to restrain myself."This rampaging weed of a public policy seems eerily immune to the kind of scientific testing and review routinely accorded to the regulation of food and medicine. You might think marijuana - classified as a federal Schedule I drug, or one with a high potential for abuse and "no currently accepted medical use" - would get special scrutiny before it's approved as medicine. You would be wrong."This rampaging uninformed horticulturist huckster seems eerily immune to current scientific testing and review........or facts.This rampaging uninformed horticulturist huckster needs granny's list.Isn't 10,000 years use and research enough for him?It would be if he actually knew any facts.He is probably selling hybrid plants that are less researched than cannabis."....these patients are using a garden-grown substance whose dangers are greater than its benefits."Which isn't true.......... as opposed to.....
 
......lots of people taking prescription drugs whose "whose dangers are greater than its benefits", which is true.."......there is plenty confirming its dangers,"There are plenty of lies confirming its dangers."Those seeking pain relief from a few puffs of marijuana can experience anxiety, panic, and hallucinations."Anxiety less than a new job, panic less than running out of tobacco, and as for hallucinations...........where can I get me some of that? 
"Since pot's potency can vary dramatically, patients have no guidelines for dosage, so you might say it's hit or miss."The guidelines are, if you need more, "hit", if you don't "miss".I had to leave a lot alone.There just isn't enough time.Legal like alcohol......or seed companies.
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Comment #8 posted by Storm Crow on June 10, 2010 at 22:16:47 PT
To send a message...
Send a postcard stating the reason you are boycotting them! They should know WHY we are boycotting them- not that there has just been a dip in sales- possibly because of the economy! If you check gardening mags, often there are these little post-paid cards to order Burpee seed catalogs. Why not send them the message on their dime? Just get a black sharpie and write your short message and drop the card in the mailbox!
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Comment #7 posted by BGreen on June 10, 2010 at 16:18:08 PT
BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY!
This is for the search engines.The Reverend Bud GreenBOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY! BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY!
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Comment #6 posted by BGreen on June 10, 2010 at 16:15:17 PT
BOYCOTT BURPEE SEED COMPANY!
If this businessman wants to poke his ignorant old head into my business then I will make sure I never again put one single penny in his pocket.You see, Mr. Ball, you are attacking GARDENERS! Get it, you ignorant fool? You are attacking YOUR OWN CUSTOMERS!Burpee seeds are as undesirable as Monsanto and should be avoided at all costs. Support the seed companies who don't lie in order to have their customers caged like animals.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #5 posted by Micheal Byers on June 10, 2010 at 15:28:21 PT:
Mr. Ball
What an IDIOT !!!!! 
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Comment #4 posted by dongenero on June 10, 2010 at 15:06:53 PT
American Horticulture Society
What a silly man. He had a brief moment of lucidity in the first sentence, he just didn't realize it! I thought he was talking about prohibition!!Of all people, you would think someone in the American Horticultural Society would have some awareness about medicinal plants and their properties. Probably an orchid expert-thanks for your opinion, now get over yourself.Ok, we have many supporters in the medical field, many medical organizations, the antis have the American Horticultural Society and law enforcement.
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Comment #3 posted by Richard Zuckerman on June 10, 2010 at 14:29:46 PT:
Hemp For Victory!
Is the author of the above article aware of the U.S. Department of Agriculture movie entitled HEMP FOR VICTORY!, which urged more American farmers to grow more hemp?? 
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Comment #2 posted by herbdoc215 on June 10, 2010 at 12:51:54 PT
This is why I have no fear from "Big Weed" 
as their "experts" are anything but and their world is as Orwellian as any I've seen? I guess the horticultural society better quit electing dumb asses if they want to be included in training for the only new industry in Cali that doesn't entail receiving food stamps...I'm sure your old society/union members are thrilled by your half-truths and bigoted statements of derision??? Great call runruff as this surely could be Onion material? peace, steve
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Comment #1 posted by runruff on June 10, 2010 at 10:41:14 PT
Great job Onion News!
You really had me there for a second!lol!
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