The U.S. Supreme Court did a huge disservice to the American people Monday by ruling to allow the prosecution of medical cannabis.
The 6-3 decision means that the 10 states in which voters balloted for the right to prescribe, use and cultivate cannabis for medical purposes have no legal, federal right to do so. Federal anti-medical cannabis laws trump state laws allowing the use of the substance.
There are many arguments as to why cannabis should remain illegal. We don't agree with any of those, but that's an argument for another day. The main focus here is that American people are being robbed of their right to seek relief from their ailment. And doctors are being robbed of their right, and responsibility, to prescribe the substance best suited to the patient.
Angel Raich, a middle-aged mother, has been a strong proponent of medical cannabis, which she uses to curb the symptoms of brain cancer, so she can live as happily as possible in the time she has left. The California woman was one of many to be raided when the Drug Enforcement Agency (pushed by President Bush) began its war in 2001 against patients using cannabis and the doctors who prescribed it to them.
On the other hand, while a person like Raich lives in agony, college kids, celebrities and even your neighbors are free to abuse prescription drugs such as OxyContin and Vicodin.
These drugs are highly addictive, much more than cannabis, which isn't addictive. Prescription drugs are easy to obtain and abuse, and can function as gateway drugs, more so than cannabis, due to their narcotic nature.
Although cannabis has been stigmatized throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the government and many citizens fail to question the validity of prescription drugs and alcohol, two classes of substances which result in infinite numbers of deaths each year.
Prescription drugs and alcohol are highly addictive, highly destructive - and highly profitable to the government. Heavy usage (which is common) of either substance can result in a person being completely incapacitated and incapable to lead a normal daily life.
It's a shame that even in 2005, we allow stereotypes and stigmas to determine who will live and who will suffer.
Why don't we just rename cannabis and put it in a white bottle - something tells us the anti-marijuana activists wouldn't know the difference.
Unfortunately, a respected doctor's prescription means less than the skewed opinions of a few, elite old farts.
Voters in California, Nevada, Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Maine, Montana and Vermont now know the truth behind the democratic process as it has become during Bush's tyrannical reign. Arizona also has a similar law but no administration program for prescriptions.
It obviously doesn't matter what the people think, nor what's right. As long as pharmaceutical companies support politicians and certain substances remain unduly stigmatized, many Americans suffering from cancer and other illnesses will have to either suck it up or go to jail - or completely deteriorate on OxyContin.
