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@erikaharris, I totally agree with your self-experiment approach to cannabis.

Every body is different, which is precisely why doctors experiment with dosage for every patient. Doctors are obligated by legislation to experiment on patients with specific pharmaceuticals for specific ailments. So, even if a doctor knows of a good, natural remedy, it is quite possible that the legislation they work under will not allow them to prescribe it.

"But, why would legislators do that to doctors?" I hear some people ask.

GREED

Government overreach is detrimental to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

I don't know about you, but I don't need Big Brother watching over me. In fact, I don't trust the government to put my health ahead of their pocket books. I've seen the way they care.

I am an adult. I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions regarding my health care. That said, the truth of the matter is simple: legislators use their power to control citizens based on big monied interests.

Think about it. Who benefits from prohibition?

As real journalists will tell you, when investigating, "FOLLOW THE MONEY."

1. Big Pharma — the entire pharmaceutical industry is complicit in paying legislators for laws that benefit chemical concoctions created in laboratories. The monies spent, on both sides of the aisle, aren't even a drop in the bucket compared to what they make from the extortionist practices that some asshat named "insurance."
2. Militarized Police Forces — receive federal grants for military equipment so that they can be better armed to fight the War on Drugs. This so-called war was started by racists intent on persecuting People of Color via the 13th amendment which allows for state and federal prisons to be the last bastion of slavery in the USA.
3. Weapons Manufacturers — receive tons of monies from federal and state governments for military grade weapons. If the War on Drugs ended, then these companies would lose significant domestic revenues.
4. Big Government — the various departments of the bureaucracy receive funding for their "missions." If the War on Drugs were to end, any departments that were created to persecute drug users (DEA, etc.) would be defunded, those bureaucrats (and enforcement officers) would lose their jobs and thus their benefits.
5. Lobbyists — these people are the voices of the companies that stand to directly benefit from laws that maintain the current state of affairs. Lobbyists are paid to harass (and/or bribe via campaign contributions, etc.) legislators into creating laws that benefit the businesses that the lobbyists work for.
6. Legislators — are more concerned with maintaining their position as a legislator, hence the intense amount of time they spend on "campaigning." A process, which in its current form, takes a significant amount of time and money. Where's the money come from? Some comes from average voters, but significant amounts come from companies who have lobbyists stationed in Washington D.C. and the state capitals. These lobbyists wave their check books as they ask for legislative compliance.
7. Prisons — The prison industry is a business. And, business in America is good. After all, we're known for having 5% of the world population and 25% of the world prison population. This means that non-prison companies can minimize labor costs by utilizing prison labor. Meanwhile for-profit prisons charge less than "industry standard" for the labor, while not passing those wage earnings on to the prison laborers.
8. Legal Industry — every person who is incarcerated for drug use has gone through the court system. Every case that comes to court has court costs. Additional fees include paying for lawyers, bail bonds, the salaries of police who execute warrants, the local prison system (jailers, etc). As @thecleangame mentioned (see below), the civil forfeiture laws are state-based theft of private property.

The Money Trail Is Ridiculous

The slew of people who benefit from the wholesale persecution of drug users is disgusting. Prohibition has nothing to do with whether or not a drug has health benefits and everything to do with whether or not that drug user can be fed into the Prison-Industrial Slavery system.

Laws are arbitrary rules put in place by legislators based on factors that have nothing to do with "justice" as a concept of right and wrong.

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That Ain't Legal, Either

"Lets not forget Dude that keeping wildlife, um... an amphibious rodent, for... um, ya know domestic... within the city... that ain't legal either." ~ Walter Sobchak

Take it easy, Dudes!

Follow me on Twitter: @cosmo_crator :)-~

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Cosmo's Other Cannabis Posts

The Cannabis Talk
A Stoner on the Oregon Trail
Wake Me Up Before You Stone Me
The Conditions Talk: Schedule 1 Narcotics, Anyone?

[NOTE: Click here for an archive of all The Talks]