Medical Marijuana In Michigan Is An Utter Mess

[maxmax]

When Michiganders passed the Medical Marijuana Law in 2008, I doubt many could even imagine the impact to our state. In Bay County, 56 percent of the 56,626 voters in the 2008 election, voted for medical marijuana. First of all, I believe the majority of Bay County residents are good-hearted people and passed the Michigan Medical Marijuana law with good intentions. They saw the ads with sick and dying patients and were willing to do anything to help an ailing person, never dreaming that the system would be abused. However, the majority of patients for whom the program was intended are not the ones who are using/abusing the Michigan Medical Marijuana Program.

 

A main selling point of the program was to help patients who had cancer and were sick from chemotherapy. The reality is that very few users in the MMMP (Michigan Medical Marijuana Program) have cancer, 3,119 users are in the program due to cancer. That is about 1.6 percent of the approved applications. Out of the 192,176 applications received, 115,461 have been approved, 20,598 have been denied for being an incomplete application and 56,117 are still waiting to be reviewed.

 

The most common condition users in the medical marijuana program receive recommendations for is “chronic pain.” As of Aug. 31, 2010, purported pain is the diagnosis utilized for 99,304 users in the program. With pain being very subjective and difficult to gauge, it opens the plan for a large amount of abuse just with this piece.

 

Most traditional patients who take medication for pain ask their physician how long they will have to take the medication. With medical marijuana users, most want to be involved in the program for the rest of their lives.

 

The second most common box checked is muscle spasms, for 31,779 registered users, followed by severe nausea, for 13,617 users and then cancer for 3,119 users.

 

The marijuana of today is not the marijuana of the ’60s or ’70s. Today’s hybrid plants commonly produce three to four times the THC levels of plants in the past. With the inconsistency of plants and production, the user never knows what dose or level they are getting. The doctor is not able to monitor the actual dose a user is administered. Michigan Department of Community Health indicates that 55 doctors have recommended 71 percent of all the medical marijuana cards in Michigan, which is 1,490 applications signed per doctor. This is just a few of the many reasons marijuana is a poor choice of medicine.

 

The last, but most important victims are the children. Often the drugs and chemicals are left in reach of kids residing in these homes where medical marijuana is used and/or grown. Children’s respirations are faster than adults, thus they potentially take in more of this secondhand smoke, affecting their developing bodies. There are no regulations restricting the use of this substance around children.

 

Medical marijuana in Michigan is an utter mess, a mockery of what most voters intended when they approved the Medical Marijuana Act in 2008. More drug use results in more crime, which requires more law enforcement. And getting high is not a victimless crime — children, families and communities suffer, increasing costs for social services, law enforcement and the community.

 

http://www.mlive.com/opinion/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/12/another_view_medical_marijuana.html

[nexplosion]

What this article really says:

 

People are no longer using body destroying narcotics to treat their pain. Compared to the 60's patients have now have a much better quality of medicine. Kids are also still doing what they've always done, getting into their parents stash, be it the liquor cabinet, the pills behind the mirror, or the medicine/pot in their dressers. Only 55 doctors have brushed aside the federal nonsense to acknowledge that marijuana has a wide range of medical applications.

[maxmax]

You are right lets let the news paper know it

[Inepsa]

lol. Where did these numbers come from? Didn't know this sort of information was being released to just anyone . . . .

[maxmax]

lol. Where did these numbers come from? Didn't know this sort of information was being released to just anyone . . . .

let me say this to the people that don't know if you have a Marihuana card they know you have it so we can no longer hid from that

it's not right but thats just the way it is for now

[Inepsa]

let me say this to the people that don't know if you have a Marihuana card they know you have it so we can no longer hid from that

it's not right but thats just the way it is for now

 

Who is "they"? Some more info on this would be quite useful.

[Kingdiamond]

let me say this to the people that don't know if you have a Marihuana card they know you have it so we can no longer hid from that

it's not right but thats just the way it is for now

No one outside of LARA knows of your legal status hippa laws prevent law enforcement from knowing who is legal or not so whomever "they" are is just a fiction of your imagination.

[greenbuddha]

To hades with them and their BS..

 

Let the voters 'LEGALIZE IT' for anyone over eighteen and let 'Goldie' and the rest of them deal with THAT.

[maxmax]

No one outside of LARA knows of your legal status hippa laws prevent law enforcement from knowing who is legal or not so whomever "they" are is just a fiction of your imagination.

i just belive that they do know its just only my opinion

[CleanD]

lol... max, thought you were the original author through that read... pitchforks & torches... ;-)

 

 

i always take offense to the 'save the children' pleas... to most any argument anymore... it's become disingenuous. and with those claimed harms... please validate them... to no avail.

 

 

BUT... it does make sense to find the false presentation to be a bit upsetting. not discounting the legitimacy of the patient rights, the argument for an adult, rational approach to marijuana & prohibition is necessary... and i too would prefer to address it openly & directly. indeed the current laws are unjust & immoral... too bad we can't have adult conversations, rather it becomes necessary to cloak the entire issue under 'medical' this or 'medical' that. lets address the wrongful prohibition, for everybody, not just the medical patients.

[kruztydj]

Yeah I had to leave her a comment too. What a idiot........ keep the comments coming and don't let stories like this go by without setting them straight.

[Kingdiamond]

i just belive that they do know its just only my opinion

I hear ya man juzst trying to ease your mind.

[Ms Chocolate]

There are far no many media stories that speak of the recreational use of medical marihuana. NPR has informative stories, but how many common people are turned to NPR? Independent newspapers like the Metro Times are good for positive insights. Some of our local stations offers “off the mainstream” stories.

 

With the public here, in Michigan, being told of fakes, there is a need to tell of the real. No one considers the person suffering with chronic pain and muscle spasms. This person has Parkinson. Parkinson is not an exact disease listed as part of the MMMP, but is something that is covered.

 

Those suffering with IBS and other conditions will have severe nausea, but those conditions are not listed as part of the MMMP.

 

You can only check the application boxes that are there. If, as demanded under the MMMA, other conditions were accepted and approved, we would see less pain, spasms, and nausea and more diseases and conditions.

 

Marihuana is a poor choice for medicine because the plant itself has no Big Pham patent appeal. One reason why marihuana is stronger now than in earlier years was explained to me by a long-time user. “I use to smoke the leaves. I didn’t know to use the bud. The plant is not stronger; I’m just using a different part of it”.