Tuesday, November 30, 2004

The Moralists Are At It Again

Oy, these people need to go away. ET, phone home.

The Supreme Court in all its conservative anal-ness has deemed that those with debilitating diseases don't need to smoke pot because the FDA hasn't approved pot as a medicinal tool.

No offense your Honours but I don't put a whole lot of faith in the FDA, they approved Vioxx and now look at the panic Vioxx is causing. The FDA is in bed with the many pharmaceutical companies and pot is a natural source so it's doomed from the start.

This pisses me off as much as the gay marriage issue and assisted suicide. So I rant.

I watched the woman with the brain tumor on O'Reilly last night and I found myself shaking my fist at the television in support of this woman. I can't imagine what it must be like to have to try and raise a family with a brain tumor. Dealing with knowing you're going to die, knowing you'll be leaving your kids without a mother, knowing it's just a matter of time before the physical aspects become crippling. Add to this the pain that she was describing and it seems almost impossible to comprehend the depths of this woman's strength.

So she lights up and smokes pot every two hours. This eases the pain she feels and gives her the appetite the legally prescribed medicines take away. It relaxes her and she is able to be the mother her kids need. She's not out driving around stoned, she's in her own home smoking weed for medical purposes and how DARE the Court or any other moralist moron tell this woman she can't.

I don't have AIDS, I don't have cancer, I don't have MS. I won't be so phony as to say "I know how these people feel." I've seen Montel WIlliams break down in tears as he talks of the pain that comes with MS. I've watched a friend's dad die of AIDs and I've seen cancer consume a person and the chemo take away what was left of the spirit that the cancer didn't get. Yet these holy rollers think it's rational to tell these people they can't smoke.

I'm not opposed to conventional medicine, God bless the treatments that have extended the lifespans of AIDs patients and the new alternatives to standard chemo that make life a little less miserable for a cancer patient. But let's be real, conventional medicine often comes with horrific side-effects. Weed comes in and becomes a supplement to the conventional as say, the chemo patient goes home feeling nauseous and weak. Last thing this person wants to do is eat but what could their body need more at that moment than nourishment? Ok, so they puff up a bit and there it is, an appetite. Even if it's a small one, it's what the body needs. Or the MS patient so overtaken by pain that they can't move, have to be brought to the bathroom by someone else. Or the AIDs patient living on pill cocktails and unable to keep anything solid down.

The moralists don't care, it's a drug, it's illegal, it's going to become interstate commerce and children are going to smoke because of this.

What right does anyone have to tell someone with a disease or condition that cannot be cured and will end up killing them that they can't smoke weed if it helps. The conservatives are so big on quality of life, what about the quality of these people's lives?

This has nothing to do with hypothetical children or any of that crap. I don't want to legalise weed overall but I damn well think seriously ill and terminally ill people should be able to smoke pot if it helps.

I really look forward to the day all the dinosaurs are out of the Supreme Court and the House/Senate. I just hope I live long enough to see it.

Support medical marijuana!