The Top 5 Myths About Medical Marijuana

By Old Hippie

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2011 Old Hippie.

All Rights Reserved.

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Introduction

As a legal medical marijuana patient in California, here’s how I start my day.

First, I pour myself a mixed bowl of two different whole-grain cereals and some nonfat milk (to eat). Then I begin my drug ritual by taking precisely 14 grams of material, derived purely from natural plant sources, out of a special container designed to keep out excess oxygen. The plants themselves are generally a mix of different strains for their different effects and taste, and grown to exacting specifications as well.

I put all this plant material into a special grinder, just long enough to get it down to the exact size I prefer. Then, using a number of devices which under other circumstances might be classified as “drug paraphernalia”, I prepare a liquid infusion at the proper temperature, for I much prefer to drink this substance rather than smoke it.

While happily drinking it, I feel calmer, even though I know it will mildly energize me soon once it take effect. I can’t help thinking how this simple, basically safe plant was historically made illegal in many places, and even denounced by religious leaders. And even though I know it is mildly addictive, I’m sure I could quit at any time, although I haven’t really tried because it makes me feel so good.

And that pretty much describes how I make my first cup of coffee in the morning.

Considering that the two puffs of medical marijuana from my vaporizer, also taken several times a day, affect me in exactly the same way – without getting me “high” or “stoned” or impaired in any way – what is the big controversy about, really? Sure, I could sit here and take a larger dose and get high...but then I wouldn’t be able to do my job (writing), so that would be stupid.

And the same thing goes for coffee. If I drank a few cups at once, this larger dose would also adversely affect me. I’d be very nervous and jittery, spend a lot of nonproductive time in the bathroom, and possibly have a tachycardia episode.

For the purposes of this discussion, let’s consider “abuse” to be equivalent to “deliberately taking a higher dose than necessary just to make you feel good or high”. Sure, some people do things just like this to get “high” (cocaine is a good example for this one), and many abuse coffee or caffeine itself (some to the point of death).

But nobody is considering making coffee illegal just because lots of students and other people on deadlines abuse it. Nobody is considering making alcohol illegal just because a lot of people abuse that (they actually tried that awhile back and it didn’t work very well, although they clearly haven’t learned their lesson yet). And although people abuse and get addicted to prescription painkillers of all kinds to the tune of a billion pills a year, nobody is seriously considering taking those away from the people who really need them.

So why is the Federal government trying to suppress medical marijuana just because recreational users abuse it?

The clear answer is that it’s because the Federal government – and the 30% minority that doesn’t support medical marijuana – don’t have the slightest clue of what they’re dealing with (or they actually do, and they’re corrupt enough to try to keep it from helping humanity, but that’s a different discussion altogether).

That’s why I’m publishing The Top 5 Myths Of Medical Marijuana – to clear up misconceptions held by a lot of people…some even marijuana users themselves.

More importantly, I’m hoping it will be the springboard for some positive discussions that will help us make progress towards a world where people can use their own choice of medicine without fear of either prosecution or bankruptcy.

– Old Hippie, November 2011

P.S. Thank you for buying this ebook. Nugs and hugs!

The Top 5 Myths About Medical Marijuana

You have to hand it to the U.S. Government. Without the money, might, and monotony of this monolith, it would have been impossible to suppress and distort the truth about cannabis – a plant used beneficially by humans for the last 5,000 to 10,000 years.

But that’s in the past, because the truth — like a plant — has the habit of coming to the surface no matter how many times it’s stepped on. Thanks to the Internet, the greatest information sharing and publishing facility in history, we now have access to a wealth of historical records, medical research, and user experiences about cannabis. The net result of all this information is that everyday people, not just people involved in the medical marijuana community, are starting to learn the truth.

So this essay is a way to counter “official” lies, propaganda and misinformation about Medical Marijuana with the kind of hard-hitting facts that just might change some minds, and perhaps save some lives in the process; maybe even yours, or that of someone you care about. Use it for talking points when your well-meaning friends and relatives try to “get you off that bad stuff”…when the “bad stuff” is merely the medicine keeping you sane, happy, and alive.

Myth: “Medical Marijuana” is an oxymoron at best...

...and a joke at worst.

This is the easiest lie to tell, because frankly, common sense and life experience seem to agree that a “weed that gets you high” has nothing to do with medicine or healing sick people. I must admit, that was my reaction when I first heard the phrase “medical marijuana” myself…and I started smoking marijuana almost 45 years ago!

But in the 15 years since the people of California voted to make medical marijuana in that state legal, there’s been ample time for patients, researchers, and medical professionals to get some real-world results. Cannabis can – and does – relieve symptoms of cancer, multiple sclerosis (MS), and AIDS. It also shows proven potential in totally relieving the symptoms, or outright curing of Crohn’s Disease, depression, and glaucoma, and it has helped people with arthritis, obesity, and even Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). In fact, according to the Marijuana Medical Handbook, there are 40 million Americans who could be helped by medical marijuana.

It’s just as unfair to run around saying that “marijuana can cure everything”, as some critics like to claim medical marijuana supporters do, in their blog comments and letters to newspaper editors. The thing is, I have yet to hear of any legitimate marijuana doctor, researcher, or organization actually saying that. This claim is essentially a bit of hyperbole, based on the fact that cannabis is indeed proving effective for a wide variety of ailments.

There’s no better source of information about this than the legendary Granny Storm Crow’s List (which you can download right here in PDF form). Granny Storm Crow updates this compilation of links to medical studies, abstracts, and news articles about medical marijuana every 6 months or so, and it currently weighs in at just under 550 pages (as of July 2011).