A Little Honesty Would Have Been Nice

Apparently the federal government is not yet ready to remove cannabis from the Federal Drug Register. NORML is reporting that the Feds aren’t going to reschedule cannabis after all. Never mind that a profit motive put it there, because it was never about truth. I guess they’re going to allow universities to “study” it now. As if that’s never happened in kitchens across this country, or in Israel and other countries around the world. Evidently Americans aren’t capable of using cannabis responsibly, whatever that means. At least not without years and years of “acceptable” research.

You’d think cannabis would be illegal because it’s dangerous and addictive. But all the hysteria surrounding cannabis’s so-called addictive nature was founded on a lie. Cannabis isn’t addictive, nor is it dangerous. It is, however, the source of healing for all sorts of people, myself included.

Cannabis is an effective treatment for autoimmune disorders (rheumatoid arthritis in my case), epilepsy, diabetes, pain, PTSD, cancer, and any number of other conditions that arise when our endocannabinoid systems have nothing to interact with. Our receptors need the cannabinoids found in cannabis so that our bodies can handle the stresses of daily life that all too often result in chronic illness. When the cannabinoid receptors are firing properly our bodies are healthy, when they’re not, illness results. So it would seem the issue is a simple one:

The government has lost its mind and still cannot find it.

It’s embarrassing, really, to think that we have some of the most intelligent people in the world working for our government yet the truth is still not important in the final analysis. Instead people are still arrested for a plant that heals. But then there’s no money in health, only chronic illness, because truth is irrelevant when profits are at stake. I mean, if we actually stopped locking people up for cannabis, we’d certainly see a reduction in the prison population, a job-killer for sure, so we can’t have that. What on earth would all those private prisons do without potheads taking up space?

CNN did an excellent three-part documentary series called Weed with Sanjay Gupta, but I guess a brain surgeon’s investigation isn’t enough to sway the DEA. Various states have legalized the recreational use of cannabis, my state included, and others have legalized medical cannabis use. I think half the country or better has done one or both. Every poll I hear about says that the majority of Americans believe cannabis should be legal, so how is it that the DEA can override respected scientists and the majority of citizens who want legal cannabis? They look like fools.

If alcohol and cigarettes are legal in this country, then cannabis should be as well. This notion of legalization with extensive restrictions isn’t legalization. It’s still control. Alcohol isn’t restricted, nor are cigarettes, and cannabis should be no different. If it’s legal, it’s legal. And in the case of cannabis, it’s safe to use unlike alcohol and cigarettes.

Aren’t we tired of crap that makes no sense? I sure am. And I’m pretty certain that everyone sitting in a jail cell for cannabis is as well. All the lives ruined by unnecessary prosecution and prison sentences, and for what exactly? Increased profits for Big Pharma? Asset-forfeiture? All over a little weed?

Cannabis makes us feel better. It heals not just our bodies but our emotions and our minds. There’s nothing like it and to think our government would rather lie about this plant than treat the American people with respect and dignity by telling us the truth is shameful and appalling.

Enough is enough. Come clean. Do the right thing by all of us. The American people will begin to heal and we’ll do that on our terms, not defined by and built upon a lie. Chronic illness will give way to actual health. I know because I healed with cannabis and I’m healthier now at 58 than I’ve ever been in my life. And that can happen for others.

All we need is a little honesty, a little truth, and then for our government to step out of our way.

 

Links:

1. DEA Reaffirms ‘Flat Earth’ Position With Regard To Marijuana Scheduling