I read in another Sun story about the so called 'horrors' of California's medical cannabis distribution system. There are no true 'horrors' only exaggerated hyperbole by those who are convinced that allowing doctors and patients to make medical decisions is somehow wrong, and idiotic city and county officials who either bury their heads in the sands like those in LA and those who actively work against sane implementation of the law. There are no horror stories coming out of Oakland, who's city officials took their duty to implement and regulate the distribution channels seriously.

Demanding that patients have a 'long standing' relationship with their doctors and not allowing personal cultivation only put relief out of reach for poor people who can't afford to see doctors regularly and can't afford to pay the absurd prices that is charged for medical cannabis. If the California Medical Board took its duties seriously the very small percentage of doctors who are quacks that run recommendation mills wouldn't be in business for more than a few months. This isn't a failure of Proposition 215, it is a failure of the California Medical Board.

Cannabis just isn't a dangerous drug, and there's no reason that MD needs to set such stringent rules. Not only will it result in the poor being unable to access needed relief, it will continue to promote the black market. Let's put this distribution chain in the light, and quit sending the sick and suffering to criminals to obtain their medicine.

So far it appears that far too many miss the whole point of the proposed laws or actually believe the propaganda movies.

Hopefully wiser heads than the ones with this wrong-headed thinking will prevail.
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As to how the system should work... the loosest regulatory approach possible that still respects the doctor-patient relationship which is the whole point of these (compromise) medical use laws.

This natural state agricultural product should never have been made illegal to begin with and the sooner a general legalization is again the norm the better it will be for all concerned.

It's appalling that anyone would try to interfere in the doctor-patient relationship over something as benign as marijuana. Marijuana arrests, prosecution, prison, and forced "treatment" costs the U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars every year, billions that are therefore NOT available for schools, health care, repairing our roads and bridges, and a hundred other vitally important social needs. Surely no one believes that imprisoning Americans for using a plant is a better use of our limited resources than educating our children, maintaining our infrastructure, and keeping our families safe from foreign terrorists?

Let's put the drug dealing criminals out of business and free up our tax dollars to meet America's real needs. Let's tax and regulate marijuana, and let's let ordinary Americans grow a little marijuana in their own back yards, for medical, recreational, inspirational or other personal use; maybe $100 a year for a permit to grow a dozen plants. It's a win-win.

"The Maryland effort may also prevent people from growing their own drugs. "

marijuana is not a drug, drugs are not grown, except in the mind of a lab geek or a pot nazi that wrote this article.

1. I would make it legal for patients with the top 10 medical problems including chronic pain and muscle spasams. A standard state medical form would need to be provided by filled out by any legal doctor. The issueing doctor would collect a 50.00 fee for himself plus a 100.00 registration fee paid to the state. The doctor would then forward the 100.00 and patients reg. form to the state.

2. Patients or patients caregiver would be allowed to grow up to 12 pants. (6 seedling or in vegatative state plus 6 flowering).

3. Patients may not use their medicine in any public place.

4. $5,000.00 fine if patient is caught selling any amount and medical permit revoked on first offense. $10,000.00 fine and 6 months mandatory for sales to a minor.

5. All sales would have a state and local tax not greater than beer or wine.

6. Patients would be allowed possession of a 2 month supply of not greater than 24 ounces or dry cured useable marijuana.

7. Money received for the permit process would go towards local drug treatment programs.

We need to take a look at the past at a time when marijuana was legal and legalize it again, once and for all, for all purposes. Crime and addiction didn't seem to be making the news as much. The same restrictions that are in place for alcohol should be placed on marijuana. If considered for medical reasons, one very important condition is being totally ignored: insomnia. Marijuana is the only substance, prescribed or OTC, that doesn't affect the user with disabling morning-after grogginess. Another condition where marijuana would be beneficial is anorexia. If the illegal marijuana trade wasn't so lucrative for certain officials in high places (no pun intended) this issue wouldn't exist.

The idea that there is a backlash against medical marijuana is almost certainly mistaken. Support for safe access to marijuana as medicine remains incredibly strong, as high as 80% nationwide. What you see happening in Los Angeles reflects the intersection of two phenomena. First, the offices of the County DA and the City Attorney never accepted medical marijuana, and have spent the past two years pushing local governments to subvert the state law. Second, local politicians over-reacted to a situation they themselves created when they failed to implement the types of sensible regulations and controls that responsible medical marijuana providers had been advocating.

A second point I would make is that you should have fact-checked your article. You state that "storefront dispensaries with on-site doctors flourished across the city" of Los Angeles, but this is just plain false. There is, in fact, strict separation between medical marijuana collectives and physicians who recommend marijuana to their patients, so please get your facts straight.

Don't Do Drugs!

Marijuana should be as legal as or more legal than alcohol. Medical Marijuana laws are stepping stones in the right direction, but until Citizens can go buy bags of pot from 7-11 we're not there yet.

Why does our country always wait for the most uneducated and bigoted to follow suit?

It took 13 years for the public to decide that it is wrong to make some use different bathrooms or sit in the back of the bus based off their skin color. (this was just the civil rights movement)

It took 113 years to let Women vote.

Interracial Marriage wasn't allowed until 1967.

There are so many dumb laws and most of them have taken a lot of years and a lot of money until they were overturned. Looking back on all of our sordid history you really have to wonder "what took so long for people to see what was right in the first place?"

People beating their anti-marijuana drums are ignorant. Plain and simple.
You can now buy Mexican Brick weed in almost any city across the United States. Ounces go for $80 dollars. We can thank prohibition for this. There is a lot of money to be made for teens if they can get ounces that cheap and sell eights for 250% profit.

We might as well just invite the Mexican gangs into our cities and bake them pies and introduce ourselves.

Marijuana prohibition has been a total failure and is perhaps this country's greatest mistake. Not only has it created criminals out of nearly a third of the country's populace, it costs our society billions of dollars every year, creates a strain on our prison system, and has little or no effect on marijuana use in the US. In some cases, prosecuting marijuana use has turned non-violent, middle class kids into violent and unpredictable, career criminals. Once a person has a criminal conviction on their record, they are far less likely to find a good job and become a useful member of society. Other countries with more liberal drug laws have much lower rates of drug addiction among their people. I invite you to my web-page devoted to raising awareness on the assault on our civil liberties:

" Posted by: RevRayGreen | February 1, 2010 9:38 AM

1. I would make it legal for patients with the top 10 medical problems including chronic pain and muscle spasams. A standard state medical form would need to be provided by filled out by any legal doctor. The issueing doctor would collect a 50.00 fee for himself plus a 100.00 registration fee paid to the state. The doctor would then forward the 100.00 and patients reg. form to the state.

2. Patients or patients caregiver would be allowed to grow up to 12 pants. (6 seedling or in vegatative state plus 6 flowering).

3. Patients may not use their medicine in any public place.

4. $5,000.00 fine if patient is caught selling any amount and medical permit revoked on first offense. $10,000.00 fine and 6 months mandatory for sales to a minor.

5. All sales would have a state and local tax not greater than beer or wine.

6. Patients would be allowed possession of a 2 month supply of not greater than 24 ounces or dry cured useable marijuana.

7. Money received for the permit process would go towards local drug treatment programs."

Why in the world do we need even more regulations for using MJ? It is sad that everyone feels we need more and more government intrusions in our lives. If it works for you great, if not don't do it. It is far past time that this silly law is overturned. It has been built upon falsehoods, racism, and has put a lot of unnecessary burden's on our limited law enforcement resources. The time is now for full legalization of this drug and to stop with all the refer madness charades!

Legal or not legal. I will smoke pot every day until i die. I don't see the problem with it. Every problem I've ever run into with pot has to do with the police or the government. But take those two aspects out and what problems are left?

Doesnt make me want to go fight or drive a car and possibly kill someone. And its a plant for cryin out loud. What even gives anyone the right to make a plant illegal?

Alcohol is legal? HA how many people die every year from alcohol? In 2002, approximately 17419 people died in alcoholrelated traffic crashes. Thats just car accidents. Not including sorosis of the liver or other alcohol related health problems, like OVERDOSE.

0 reported deaths from pot. not 1 not 10000, ZERO.

People are just dumb.

As pointed out in a previous comment, cannabis has never killed by overdose. It lacks those "serious and sometimes fatal" side effects that prescription drugs often have. It is safer than aspirin.

Some of the conditions in which cannabis has been shown to be be useful are- Alzheimer's, MS, atherosclerosis, diabetes, fibro, PTSD, nausea, Parkinson's, Crohn's/IBS, glioma (brain cancer) and epilepsy.

Would you like to read the studies that provide the proof about that last claim of mine? And these studies are from reliable sources like PubMed and WebMD. Just run a search on "Granny Storm Crow's MMJ Reference list" and just start reading anything that interests you. There are hundreds of studies and articles for you to learn from. Please educate yourself with the facts about medical cannabis use. Thank you.

Good Luck Maryland!

Californians are firing all their professional politicians and replacing them with those individuals who will restore the power in California back to her people again. Our Golden State is about to be reborn into the 21st century and by starting out with a clean slate politically we feel we can do a better job. Our slogan: Don't pout, don’t shout just vote them out!
On the issue of cannabis we will legalize it by vote this coming November ourselves since talking to the current political regime about legalization is like talking to a brick wall and the wall will come tumbling down after November. Incumbents must go! Every single one of them!

Drug Addiction is now a global problem. This social cancer has spread its poisonous claw all over the world. Frustration is the cause of this Addiction unemployment problem, political cataclysm, lack of family ties, lack of love affection etc gives rise to frustration. Again this addiction gives rise to social crimes. When the addicted can’t afford to buy drugs, they commit many kinds of social crimes. Like hijacking, looting, plundering, killing, robbery etc. Drugs bear a terrible effect on human body. They kill them slowly but surely. No physician can stop the changes that take place in the body of a drug addict. Drug addicted people feel drowsy, lose appetite and sleep. The skins of their bodies began change it’s color. Drugs also damage the brain and all internal function of the body. However this curse shouldn’t be allowed to go on unchecked. At any cost we must get rid of this social cancer by highlighting its dangerous effects on human body and society. The remedy for drug addiction is not very easy. Greed of drug traders has grasped the whole world. Drug business should must be is punishable and the highest punishment is death sentence in any Country. This law must be enforced immediately. Our young generation must be aware of the dire consequence of drug abuse. Parents must be careful of their treatment to children. Feelings of security under loving parents may hinder children from being victims of drugs. Religious and social values must be taught from early childhood. When each and every person is sincere to drive this curse of drug addiction from the society, human beings can get rid of it.