The Irony of Medical Marijuana

In the middle of our economic morass, the liberal purveyors of hope have introduced another stimulant to Michigan's struggling economy: medical marijuana.

Proposal 1 (tagged "Stop Arresting Patients" by its supporters) will legalize marijuana as a treatment for a plethora of medical conditions, including multiple sclerosis and any disease the local department of community health deems treatable by marijuana.

Now, I realize that many readers of this blog lean in a Libertarian direction and perhaps are tempted to vote for this. The flaws of this legislation are many, and they are apparent. For example, the list of conditions marijuana would be allowed to treat is practically endless. A decision by the department of community health would allow doctors in that region to prescribe it for whatever they deemed necessary without appropriate oversight, and this proposal could be used for legal defense in any crime involving marijuana. (Drug dealers, I hope your defense attorney is reading this!) So, I think it's a bad proposal.

But, I do want to point out one missing link in this whole debate. The same liberals who want to ban smoking in all public places, sue tobacco companies for all they're worth, and require federal oversight of tobacco are asking that we allow people to smoke marijuana wherever they want to. That's marijuana without filters, without surgeon general's warnings, and without restrictions against marketing to minors.

It's not healthy to smoke anything. Marijuana, tobacco -- inhaling smoke will still damage your lungs and destroy your life.

If these liberals truly cared about people's health, they would be opposing this proposal for what it is: a back door attempt for drug runners and profiteers to escape prosecution for the fallout from marijuana.

We Huckabee Republicans, on the other hand, are on the right side of both issues. We believe the government has a responsibility to guard against the effects of public smoking of both tobacco and marijuana.