Reply #53: Wow! What a conspiracy theory! [View All]

[MercutioATC]

1) Dean said that he would be in favor of the use of medical marijuana if an FDA-conducted study affirmed it to be e better treatment than current, legal treatments. He further said he'd commission such a study. If it's such a foregone conclusion that marijuana is a great medical tool, it should be approved for medical use within the next few years.

2) I'm not saying that marijuana was made illegal "as a random, motiveless act". It is a drug (well, THC is) which has behavior-altering properties and does NOT have a strong lobby. Alcohol also has harmful properties, but it has a strong lobby behind it. From a purely "medical" position, we should probably ban alcohol sales before we legalize marijuana. My point is that marijuana, like opiates and the rest (including alcohol), IS a "mind-altering" substance and DOES have health consequences. Alcohol has been (wrongly, from a purely practical standpoint) treated differently, but that doesn't serve as an arguement for the legalization of marijuana or any other drug.

3) The "Reefer Madness" strategy was meant to address the percieved moral decay of the time (allegedly perpetrated by the younger generation). The target of choice was marijuana; not because of any racial issue, but because it was seeing increased use by young people as a recreational drug.

Were there racial issues being addressed in this country at the same time? Of course. That does NOT make marijuana's legal status a racial issue.

It CERTAINLY does NOT mean that having reservations about supporting the use of MEDICAL marijuana makes you a racist.