OPINION: Let The FDA Approve Medical Marijuana, Not Our Politicians

Mike Gimbel
Former Baltimore County Drug Czar

 I realize that the majority of adults believe that marijuana is harmless and should be made legal for medical use as well as for recreational use.  

Being a recovering addict who smoked pounds and pounds of pot in my days, I ask all those in support of medical and recreational pot use a few simple questions.

1. What is the goal of smoking pot?  

Obviously if you are going to smoke pot, you want to get high, stoned or buzzed, even if you use it for medical use there is a level of impairment.  Unlike alcohol there is no grey area when smoking pot, you are either high or not.

2. When a person is high on pot are they impaired?  

I don't know about anyone else but when I was stoned, I was pretty messed up and impaired. People high on pot get what we call "tunnel vision" where they really get into what they are doing but aren't able to make adjustments quickly enough to prevent an accident.  Again I wrecked many cars high on pot.

3. Does marijuana really have a medical value?  

I am not sure about this, but I do support the Food and Drug Administration researching this and if it is found to have medical value, it should be distributed like every other drug by a prescription and a pharmacy, not from a marijuana dispensary or as in the Maryland law, a Compassion Center.

Politicians should not be deciding on what drugs are safe and valuable for medical use by humans.  This is the function of the FDA and we should allow them to do their job. Finally, Would you take a drug, which the Maryland legislature said cures cancer but the FDA never approved it?  

I don't think so. Think, why pot?

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