Iowa Board of Pharmacy to hold medical marijuana classification hearings

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Board of Pharmacy voted unanimously on Tuesday to hold public hearings on the topic of medical marijuana.

Last year, a marijuana activist asked the board to reconsider how it classified marijuana, which the Board initially denied. But later a judge ordered the board to justify its decision one-way or the other, which the Board is now doing.

The Board will hold public hearings once a month from August through November, and then make a recommendation.

Some people with chronic diseases said lighting up is their only relief from pain, chemotherapy or radiation.

Opponents said they’re educated enough to know marijuana is part of the war on drugs and other, legal drugs are already available to deal with chronic pain.

State Rep. Clel Baudler adds legalizing medical marijuana is the first step toward legalizing marijuana altogether.

“I have a tremendous problem with anyone or any group of people that would like to legalize marijuana,” said Baudler. “It’s absolutely ridiculous to think Iowans need something like that.”

We have a tremendous problem with state legislators who favor imprisoning sick people seeking relief from a plant.

This “other, legal drugs” part always gets me.  So what?  Let’s even cast aside the fact that these “other, legal drugs” are toxic – they can kill you, they have a detrimental effect on your liver and other organs, and they have a list of side effects a mile long that you need “other, legal drugs” to mitigate! 

Prescription Cursitol* is not for everyone.  Side effects include an allergic reaction, hives, night sweats, or trouble urinating.  In rare cases, anal leakage, nosebleeds, butterflies in the stomach, purple nurples, and painful rectal itch have been noted.  Tell your doctor if you are taking nitrates for chest pain, MAOI inhibitors, Maori tribesmen, Flinst0nes chewable vitamins, or tap water for dry mouth, as cerebral hemorrhage may occur. Do not take Cursitol if you are nursing, pregnant, may become pregnant, have ever been pregnant, or would like to get someone pregnant.  Do not take Cursitol with alcohol, aspirin, acetaminophen, or any other substance beginning with the letter “a”.  Prescription Cursitol – when you’ve got cancer, what else are you gonna do?

Let’s forget about that for a moment.  Let’s just imagine there is a prescription drug out there exactly as effective and exactly as safe as cannabis.  So what?  Who the hell has the authority to tell you, “No, you mustn’t grow that plant and treat yourself.  You must pay my company for that privilege.  If you disobey, we will arrest and cage you.”

Medical marijuana is such a threat not because anybody’s really afraid of the effect on children – their rates of marijuana use have gone down in medical states.  It is the threat to the very structure of health care capitalism.  If people are growing their own cannabis and dropping demand for NSAIDs, opioids, and benzodiazepenes from one-third to one-half, that’s not good for shareholders.  If people are treating themselves for wellness instead of desperately seeking treatment for sickness, they don’t need as many doctors, nurses, Medicare/Medicaid bureaucrats, insurance company bureaucrats, and the food/laundry/janitorial/construction services that work for them.

Seriously, one of the biggest reasons marijuana is illegal is that it cuts out the middleman.  One of the objections I’ve read repeatedly is “There is no control over the dosage or potency of the medical marijuana.  You’re relying on the patient to dose himself whenever and however he wants!  What other prescription would we treat that way?”  Well, none, because they can kill you!  Heaven forbid we allow a free man or woman in the United States of America to use a non-toxic plant anytime anyway they wish in their own home.