…Whether We Like It or Not

…Whether We Like It or Not

By Ralph Hardin

Let me just go ahead and get this out of the way. On a serious note, if medical marijuana will accomplish two much-needed goals, I’m all for it. One, there is no doubt a severe opioid addiction epidemic, and if marijuana can be used to reduce the number of people dependent on opioids, then that’s fine with me! And two, there are a number of severe, crippling conditions out there that many people have, and if smoking pot improves their quality of life, then fire it up, man!

Now, let’s jump right into this, shall we, Michael?

You’re right. I’m pretty sure that if I wanted to spark up a dooby right now, I can think of a few people that I could probably call up and be toking it up within the hour. And let me assure you, I would not necessarily have to go to the sketchy part of town to fill my dime bag.

And you’re also right about this being a big deal. The web site I go to for the State News column every morning has six “top stories” at the top of the page every day, and yesterday four of those six were about Arkansas’s push ever closer to actual implementing the medical marijuana program that voters approved… more than two years ago!

The “top” top story is the one you reference… more than three dozen additional diseases, conditions and afflictions would be added to the “approved” list for medicinal cannabis, or as you might know it, wacky weed, Maui Wowwie, reefer, the ganja, pot, Mary Jane, or whatever.

With 18 medical conditions already on the list, and 40 more potentially being added, it’s fair to say there will be a whole lotta tokin’ goin’ on in the Natural State.

So, let’s not kid ourselves, Michael, this really is all about the “green,” and I don’t mean the distinctive leaves enjoyed by the 4:20 crowd. I mean money! Yes, there’s a lot of money to be made off of the sale, distribution and use of marijuana. You might want to buy stock in Taco Bell, because the munchies are going to hit Arkansas hard.

Sure there’s a lot of negativity historically concerning marijuana use… number one being that it is illegal. But putting that aside, are we really talking about anything here that is any different than the way we have regulated, taxed and controlled (or attempted to control) tobacco and alcohol. Look at alcohol and tobacco related health issues, death numbers, and overall impact and tell me marijuana will be any worse. And it’s important to remember that we are still (for now) talking about medical marijuana, not recreational marijuana (again, for now).

And yes, 57 conditions are a lot, so there’s potentially a lot of folks that are going to be card-carrying members of the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Club.

Have you seen the list? I don’t even know what some of these things are, but they sound terrible… Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy? Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease? Well, the word “chronic” is right there! I do know what Parkinson’s Disease and traumatic brain injury are and I’m not going to shame those folks for wanting to smoke a joint to take the edge off.

I am a little worried that ADHD and general anxiety disorder are possibly going to be added. I have a grown son with ADHD and I can tell you that pot would not have been the answer to his problems in school. Are we going to give joints to fifth-graders? And generalized anxiety disorder? I’ll be just about everyone in the state could qualify for that one! That’s kind of a slippery slope.

There are a lot of legitimately devastating conditions on this list (but they want to take glaucoma off?) One that did jump out at me, though… restless leg syndrome. I’ve got one! I’ve got one!

I’m not saying I want a prescription, because I don’t.

Full disclosure: Like my man Bill Clinton, I tried it back in the day, but I guess didn’t inhale either (or just didn’t do it right). I didn’t do anything for me. Maybe I’ll give it a shot. If I do, these editorials are going to get a lot more interesting…