What's eminently rational from one point of view, is a sure sign of moral degeneration, and descent into hell from another point of view. So much of what passes for public discourse and debate these days is the loud repetition of a set of mythologies that each group (and on this there are more than two sides) holds dear as the gospel truth. Inconvenient facts are dismissed as unsubstantiated, or even manufactured. Harm and benefits are exaggerated, to the point that they often lose any link to the underlying experience. All of which is a shame, for as any psycho-active drug, there are both pluses and minuses; issues of potency, purity and individual reaction; short-term action and long-term habituation; questions about the dosage, delivery methods, and side-effects. It seems hypocritical that tobacco (as a nicotine delivery system), alcohol (ethanol delivery), and coffee (caffeine delivery system) are accepted by our society as "normal", each of which comes with a host of issues that are pretty well documented, yet are allowed to be freely available. If the same rhetoric (and fear-mongering) was applied to these as is applied to marijuana, then these would all be schedule 1 drugs.
In Canada, the use of marijuana for pain relief is more or less accepted, requiring a certificate from a doctor that such a use is medically-approved. The current legislation allows individuals to either grow their own or to buy it from designated sources for that purpose. Trafficking, is still prohibited and has criminal penalties. Recreational (as in non-medicinal) use is also prohibited, but the enforcement and prosecution is somewhat inconsistent. The law is being changed by the Federal government, to remove the "right" of an individual to grow their own, and to allow designated suppliers to produce it in the model of production of drugs by pharmaceutical firms, ostensibly for the purpose of controlling potency, purity, distribution and dispensation. However, this is seen by many as a way for the current government to tax the product, and promote the large pharma industry, with the consequence that prices are going to go 'way up. One of the current issues for the medical profession that is still expected to issue prescriptions for marijuana, is that there are few (if any) extensive double-blind studies that allow the calibration of potency, dosage, short-and-long term habituation, side-effects, biochemical basis of action, individual variation, specific contra-indications, and degree of effectiveness of various delivery mechanisms. Yet without the availability of some kind of standardized dosage and delivery mechanism, it is very difficult to conduct a serious, scientific study. These measures do not deal at all with the issue of recreational use, legality of possession of small amounts, cultivation of the plant by individuals, effects of long-term use and the quality of the supply.
Perhaps this measure in Maine will help to reduce the fog of misinformation surrounding marijuana, and allow a more nuanced and informed discussion about the effect and consequence of the use of this product, whether it be as a drug, or as another ingredient that interacts with the central nervous system. One can hope.
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