Last year, I wrote strongly in favor of the full legalization of cannabis, but might have seemed to be also in favor of legalization of other substances.
I am greatly in favor of the progress that has been made to legalize marijuana medically, but I argue here that it only should be for those that need it for treatment.
This is one of the two groups that need this:
1) medical patient using it for healing from life-threatening conditions,
2) treatment for people in need of recovery for life threatening disease and injury related to addiction to narcotic substances that are life-threatening.
If drugs that save lives like CBD, hemp, and those that people and governments can decide for themselves as having more benefit than harm, then those substances should be legal.
However, public debate must be free and open and debates about the harm that these substances do must not be censored from the free and open debates.
A set of easy examples of how not to act in good faith in medicine are the pharmaceutical companies, companies in an industry that routinely lie about the benefits of their products without showing any of the debate or publicity surrounding the negative effects or side effects of their products, usually in deliberate efforts to obscure their benefits.
McKesson lied about how addictive were the opioids to everyone, pushed them, and threw healthcare and treatment for addictions out the window. They made millions in states like West Virginia.
Using cannabis recreationally is addictive and has damaging effects to children’s brains if used before age 23. If one is addicted to cannabis, it ruins your judgement and makes your hand-eye coordination weaker and your mind weaker. People are more impulsive when using cannabis.
The medical cannabis industry needs to be regulated. It should be managed by government agencies responsible for public health. The state legislature did well in putting the regulation in the hands of the Department of Health.
That is a good example of democracy, wherein the legislature decides the laws and public health agencies are delegated by legislators to enact the policies.
What isn’t a good thing is if legislators or state agencies choose to act against evidence. An example would be denying treatment for addiction to people addicted to harder substances
A truly just medical drug system would provide for clean drugs, meaning that the hemp and CBD would be provided as pure as possible and checked for more deadly narcotic substances before distribution. Fentanyl and other substances are extremely dangerous and are often found outside medical settings.
People need to have the ability to test drugs for all other narcotic substances and life-threatening additives. We should promote drug checking methods such as fentanyl testing strips and re-agent testing kits. These should be fully legalized along with non-coercive treatment for patients suffering hard-core addiction.
Treatment for addiction must also be provided free of charge and include grants of reimbursement for costs of transportation and stipends for time away from work for such treatments. Mississippi must take care to treat patients suffering from addiction and substance dependency with free and ethical healthcare and medical service.
John Emmerich is a Northsider.
