{"id":35596,"date":"2018-07-12T05:46:37","date_gmt":"2018-07-12T09:46:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=35596"},"modified":"2018-07-11T11:59:57","modified_gmt":"2018-07-11T15:59:57","slug":"medical-marijuana-but-you-cant-smoke-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2018\/07\/medical-marijuana-but-you-cant-smoke-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical Marijuana, but You Can’t Smoke It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The saga of Oklahoma\u2019s referendum legalizing medical marijuana<\/a> continues. . . .The measure requires users and sellers to get a license, but there are hardly any other restrictions.\u00a0 This suggests that the real purpose of the initiative was to legalize recreational use, though requiring a license to do so.\u00a0 Critics complained that the referendum was too vague, but supporters said the state could work out the regulation later.<\/p>\n

And now it has done so.\u00a0 The state Health Department, which was given authority to establish regulations and to administer the licensing, is requiring that medical marijuana only be administered <\/a>as medicine.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>That means, no smoking.\u00a0 The sale of leaves, buds, and other smokable parts of the plant will still be forbidden.<\/p>\n

\n

Nor may the drug be sold in candy\u2013such as gummi bears or chocolate\u2013since that would attract children.<\/p>\n

Also, the drug may only be sold by a licensed pharmacist.<\/p>\n

But where\u2019s the fun in that?\u00a0 Rolling a joint, along with passing it around (presumably to other license holders) is part of the marijuana mystique, as is cooking it up in brownies!\u00a0 Requiring a pharmacist also shoots down the plans of dealers to legalize their operations and who have already been buying up space in strip malls for their dispensaries!<\/p>\n

And yet, if marijuana is to be used as medicine, what\u2019s wrong with these restrictions?\u00a0 Smoking is bad for you, whether it\u2019s tobacco, marijuana, or any other weed.\u00a0 If it is prescribed to treat diseases, the doses and potency need to be carefully controlled.\u00a0 And surely it\u2019s important to keep this, as with all other prescription medication, out of the hands of children, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 So there is no medical reason to put it in candy, and plenty of safety reasons not to.\u00a0 Just take a dose of the active ingredients in a pill, carefully measured so as to minimize side-effects, such as getting high.<\/p>\n

So who could possibly object?\u00a0 But the promoters of the referendum and its supporters are objecting strenuously, offering far-fetched arguments why these regulations are not a good idea.\u00a0 Patients have the right to choose how they take their medicine!\u00a0 \u00a0Inhalation is a valid delivery system!\u00a0 This violates the intent of the bill!\u00a0 That last point is certainly true.<\/p>\n

Initially, Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin had said she would call a special session of the state legislature to work out the details if the referendum passed.\u00a0 But the legislature did not really want to deal with it, so state government punted the task to the bureaucracy, following the pattern of the national government.<\/p>\n

Now there are calls from the referendum initiators and from among the 58% of voters who approved it for the legislature to take up the task after all.\u00a0 Some legislators are invoking the will of the people to smoke and to eat their dope.\u00a0 I predict that the lawmakers, virtually all of whom are socially-conservative Republicans, will vote accordingly.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, another petition has started up for a referendum to drop the pretenses and just legalize the recreational use of the drug.<\/p>\n

Also, read this article<\/a> on the over-hyped and scientifically invalid claims that are being made for marijuana\u2019s medicinal value.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Illustration:\u00a0 Sign for a California medical marijuana dispensary, by Original uncropped image from Laurie Avocado (Cropped version of [1]) [CC BY 2.0 (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The saga of Oklahoma\u2019s referendum legalizing medical marijuana continues. . . .The measure requires users and sellers to get a license, but there are hardly any other restrictions.\u00a0 This suggests that the real purpose of the initiative was to legalize recreational use, though requiring a license to do so.\u00a0 Critics complained that the referendum was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":35602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,26,30],"tags":[3251,3597,7217],"class_list":["post-35596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","category-law","category-medicine","tag-legalized-marijuana","tag-medical-marijuana","tag-oklahomas-medical-marijuana-law"],"yoast_head":"\nMedical Marijuana, but You Can't Smoke It<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Oklahoma passed a referendum to legalize medical marijuana, but the state health department has ruled that it may not be smoked or sold as food and that it must be dispensed by a pharmacist. 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