Posted on 10/15/2011 11:44:22 PM PDT by OL Hickory
If you legally purchase, ingest, and enjoy marijuana, you are no longer allowed to purchase firearms. A recent ATF memo states that firearm dealers in states where medical marijuana is legal can no longer sell firearms or ammunition to registered users.
Your assertion was that marijuana was made illegal due to a conspiracy by some paper company to cut competition. Which ignores the national prohibition movement that, for one example, criminalized marijuana in California and classified it as a poison in 1915.
The movement to legislate and control and eventually criminalize cannabis began in the late 1800's, washed through most major states in the 1910's, regulated through hefty federal excise taxes in 1937 and then finally made a federal crime in 1970s. I put your theory right next to the 80 mile per gallon carburetor that the oil companies are holding back.
Instead, it's the same old nanny staters who pushed through this legislation over and over and over again for nearly 150 years.
It’ll be even easier than that.
If your mother dies and you go to the doctor with the flu. The doctor will commiserate with you and ask if you’ve been feeling depressed. You’ll answer truthfully, because you loved your mother. The doctor will talk to you about the symptoms that indicate depression.
Emotional Symptoms
constant sadness
irritability
hopelessness
feeling worthless or guilty for no reason
loss of interest in favorite activities
Physical Symptoms
trouble sleeping
low energy or fatigue
significant weight change
difficulty concentrating
These symptoms are so nebulous, that you find yourself thinking that you don’t might actually be depressed and it may not just be situationally related to your mother’s death. You have a few of these symptoms. You know the doctor is concerned.
It’s put in your medical file... even if you don’t ask for a prescription. And at every follow-up appointment you’re asked about how you’re feeling.
Later on, it’s determined by a bureaucrat that you suffer from a mental disorder!
Some conservative estimates for you:
-12.3% of people in the US have smoked it.(1)
-5.8% of people among all developed nations smoked(up to 22%+ in New Zealand).(1)
-1.3% of the US population smoke it DAILY (this is millions of people).(2)
You have MILLIONS of people using it yet there is not a single piece of solid evidence or even a single example that proves it causes any damage to the brain.
Yes, heavy abuse of cannabinoids TEMPORARILY impairs short-term memory in SOME people. But contrast that with legal alcohol abuse- far greater impairment, 100% proven and 100% permanent damage to the brain/liver. Cannabinoids are native to our body but alcohol is a poison. Alcohol abuse is guaranteed, 100% proven damage to your entire body yet it is still legal.
Is cannabis a quick high that has potential for abuse and missed responsibilities among people looking for an escape? Sometimes requiring intervention. ABSOLUTELY, just like some people are addicted to alcohol, video games or porn. Is there evidence that moderate use of cannabis causes any damage? NO. Is there a single piece of evidence showing permanent brain damage once even the heaviest cannabis intake stops? ABSOLUTELY NOT
(1) http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/lif_can_use-lifestyle-cannabis-use
Typical drug war whoredom.
You are absolutely right! I have a girlfriend who was prescribed anxiety medication for a short time. After her second stillbirth (and after three miscarriages), she was not sleeping well and sad. Of course, she was sad. The government can easily see that a 6 month prescription ten years prior could be an “indicator” that she suffers from Depression hence, no guns allowed. IMHO, this type of precedent leads to ALL of us not obtaining firearms.
Absolutely.
And there are millions of Americans that do face challenges with depression who are NOT homicidal maniacs. They suffer from depression, bipolar disorder or dysthymia. They are treated by competent psychiatrists or family physicians. They find relief from their symptoms with competent doctors and medication. They do not present any danger to their families or society in general.
They walk among us. They are our neighbors, our fellow church members, our colleagues, friends and family members. They live productive lives and work very hard to maintain good health and have very full and rich lives.
They deserve their 2nd Amendment rights just as much as anyone.
Or, since the law* they are citing says ‘controlled substance’ just imagine the EPA team-up where they (the EPA) affirms that water is indeed a controlled substance...
*The 1968 GCA is an Ex Post Facto law, and therefore invalid, even under the bastardized Supreme Court definition because it altered the sentences of everyone who, at the time of its passage, was serving their sentence for a felony... in addition to those who had already served their sentence and, in prior jurisprudence, would have been considered to have had their “slate wiped clean.”
This is easily remedied. End the infringements of the
RKBA (which the 2nd Amendment restates) End of conflict.
P.S. I have no useful thoughts on “medical cannabis”
Should all medicines with harmful side effects be banned? Or just marijuana?
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