Pot breaks the age barrier

Pot breaks the age barrier
Legalization might be a bigger issue for boomers than for others.

March 29, 2010|Sandy Banks-LA Times
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  Los Angeles Times

Its name might be its strongest asset: The Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act, a marijuana legalization effort that goes out of its way not to say the word "marijuana."

I suspect its organizers learned something from the failure of predecessors -- like the Inalienable Rights Enforcement Initiative, a name that sounds like it was dreamed up by a bunch of guys passing around a bong.

The Cannabis Act, which qualified last week for the statewide November ballot, ran its first radio ad Sunday: a former Los Angeles deputy sheriff explaining "why cops support Tax Cannabis 2010, the initiative to control and tax cannabis."

Never mind that the state's law enforcement organizations are already lining up to oppose it.

Supporters, bankrolled so far by an Oakland marijuana dispensary owner, plan to spend as much as $20 million to convince California voters that legalizing marijuana will help solve the state's budget woes and blunt the reach of drug cartels.

The initiative would move the battle over marijuana modestly forward by making it legal for anyone 21 and older to possess an ounce of marijuana and/or grow whatever can fit in a 5-by-5-foot plot. It would allow cities and counties to decide whether to allow sales and tax the proceeds.

That feels to me like a natural progression of California's cannabis policy, which essentially decriminalized possession 35 years ago -- an ounce gets you a $100 fine -- and in 1996 deemed pot to be medication.

The premise of the proposed law: Marijuana has more in common with alcohol and tobacco than with heroin and cocaine.

Or: Is there much really much difference between going home and smoking a joint and going home to a glass of Merlot?

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Polls suggest that mothers in their 30s and 40s -- who are likely to have teenagers at home -- might side with law enforcement against the proposal. I understand that reflexively. It's hard to say yes at the ballot box when you've spent years telling your kids to "just say no" to marijuana.

But the reality is that any 18-year-old with a hankering for pot and $100 can head to Venice Beach and be legally smoking within an hour.

Acne, anxiety, an ankle sprain -- virtually any ailment qualifies for treatment with medical marijuana.

"It's easier now [for 18-year-olds] to get cannabis than booze," said Dale Sky Clare, spokeswoman for the cannabis campaign. "Our current policies have failed to keep cannabis away from our kids or to educate them about the dangers of dependence."

Health Insurance and Medical Marijuana in America

Health Insurance and Medical Marijuana in America

Politicians and decision makers seem to be worried that if we make cannabis legal for medicinal use, then it will become in higher demand and people would abuse the drug more than is happening now. The Institute of Medicine (someone I’d be highly included to trust based on name alone) released a report in 1999 on medical marijuana examining whether the medical use of marijuana would lead to an increase of marijuana use in the general population and concluded that, “At this point there is no convincing data to support this concern. The existing data is consistent with the idea that this would not be a problem if the medical use of marijuana were as closely regulated as other medications with abuse potential.” The report also noted that, “this question is beyond the issues normally considered for medical uses of drugs, and should not be a factor in evaluating the therapeutic potential of marijuana or cannabinoids.”

This reminds me of the drinking age here in the United States versus other countries around the world, and rates of death and accidents caused by minors abusing drinking. If you look at statistics, young people under the legal drinking age of 21 here in the US tend to drink more excessively than youth in other countries, and I believe that is because alcohol consumption is considered to be so much more taboo here. In European countries, for example, wine will be served at family dinners, and it doesn’t seem that teenagers having a glass is a big to-do at all. This may be true for some American families, but I don’t feel it’s the norm across the board. I digress, but this example is meant to show that I think that legalizing cannabis can actually help take the taboo and stigma off of using the drug, and hopefully make people less likely to try and get their hands on it illegally.

The Health Insurance Angle

Although we’re certainly not there yet, seeing as there are still 35 states which have yet to legalize medical marijuana, it does make you wonder if cannabis can and will ever be covered by health insurance plans. This is an interesting pickle, and doesn’t seem like it could be feasible unless cannabis was legalized at the federal level. This is because health insurance plans usually cover a specific service area within the country (for example, Health Net offers coverage in California, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Arizona, and Connecticut), so if even one of the states an insurance company offered plans in didn’t have legal cannabis at the state level, then the plan couldn’t cover the drug at all.

A more radical way to get cannabis covered by health insurance plans would be for insurers to change the way their plan worked. Assuming that cannabis legalization stays at the state level and a health insurance company feels very strongly about giving medical marijuana coverage to its patients, they could choose to alter the states in which they offer coverage to coincide with states where it is legal.

There are always so many things to consider when thinking about health insurance. Some things are covered, others aren’t, and navigating the mess can seem like a hopeless pursuit. Special insurance is also something to learn about the particular types of special coverage and the conditions you may find yourself in. Arming yourself with knowledge around your health is crucial, so treat your body and mind well.

Can Medical Marijuana Help Relieve Symptoms of Fibromyalgia?

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Can Medical Marijuana Help Relieve Symptoms of Fibromyalgia?

Beneficial Effects of Marijuana

According to the National Institute of Health, when medical marijuana is consumed properly, patients can find relief from a number of medical conditions:

1. Marijuana is an excellent analgesia for chronic pain due to a variety of conditions.
2. It controls nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy.
3. It helps with neuralgic and movement disorders, such as muscle spasticity and seizures.
4. Bon appetit-Marijuana stimulates appetite and relieves Cachexia (the physical wasting away of AIDS and cancer sufferers).
5. The drug decreases intraocular pressure inside the eyeball for relief of glaucoma.
6. Marijuana has sedative effects to reduce anxiety and depression.