You bring up a point that I haven't seen discussed in this thread. The fact that marijuana has some efficacy for a particular subset of medical conditions. Not all pain can be treated with opiate derivative medications and in some cases THC is a viable alternative for these patients. Does THC have side effects? Certainly. Is there a single pharmaceutical that does not have a profile of side effects? I would wager that there is not a single one. The fatality risk for acetaminophen is probably higher than THC.
However, there is a huge stigma attached to marijuana that cannot seem to be shaken. It seems to me that this thread hasn't really differentiated marijuana use from marijuana abuse.
Dave,
As I mentioned previously, the stigma against marijuana is coming from the over 50 age demographic, generally speaking, with intense opposition among the 65+ crowd. The demographic split on marijuana legalization is remarkably similar to the demographic split vis a vis gay marriage, which has seen a groundswell of support in recent years. Demographic trends will change public policy on this issue in a matter of decades.
I'm not a physician, and I don't have much scientific training at all, but I do believe that marijuana is effective for certain medical ailments, especially nausea and pain. Obviously, many people disagree with that notion, but many cancer patients testify that marijuana is what makes them able to eat during chemo. Of course the fatality risk for acetaminophen is higher than it is for THC. The LD50 (median lethal dose) is approximately 1/3rd of your body weight, from what I've read. So a 150 pound man could possibly die if he used 50 pounds in one day. Obviously, this is impossible. Some rodents have died from marijuana use due to massive CNS disruption, but they've also tested it on monkeys, and no monkey has ever died from it.
The dose required for death is impossible for any human to consume, but this is obviously different than acetaminophen. Liver damage can occur at more than 15,000 mg (30 extra strength Tylenols) consumed, and perhaps the level is lower. 20,000 mg (40 extra strength Tylenols) consumed and you're looking at possible/probable death. Alcohol and certain prescription drugs obviously have much lower LD50s as well. College students have died after consuming 20 shots of liquor in half an hour or an hour. Lower levels of alcohol in the blood can cause death when combined with certain controlled substances (benzodiazepenes, valium, etc.) 99% of deaths in which THC is involved are probably the result of behavior while THC is in the system: jumping off a building, getting in a car accident, drowning, etc.
Again, the stigma attached to marijuana is because of the fact that it is illegal. We all know that public perceptions can help shape public policy. More people are in favor of gay marriage, therefore more legislators are voting in favor of gay marriage than would have ever considered it 20 years ago. The war on drugs is obviously a different situation, because you have profit motives at work as well (both for law enforcement as well as for drug cartels), but the fact is this: marijuana is illegal because Americans are not desperate to change the marijuana laws. While polls show that ~50% of Americans favor legalization and ~50% are opposed, prop 19 failed in California in 2010, because young people (who heavily favor legalization) did not turn out to vote, while old people did (as they always do).
So we know that public perceptions can help shape public policy. Conversely, public policy can help shape public perceptions. As I mentioned in a previous post, young Americans know that the war on drugs is a failure, especially when talking about marijuana. It is relatively easy to make arguments for keeping drugs like meth and heroin illegal (although I'd argue that this still does more damage than good, and that we should consider sell meth over the counter to any adult who wants it to eliminate the risk of innocent people in apartment buildings being blown up by their meth cook neighbors. In order to receive the meth, however, I would make the addicts consume it in a designated space in a government building, and they could not leave the building until they were sober. The costs for this would be astronomical, however), given that the relative harm done by these drugs is astronomical. It is difficult to make a cogent argument for keeping marijuana illegal, because the benefits of the war on marijuana are far outweighed by the social costs. There are millions of Americans with marijuana possession records that find it more difficult to get jobs. No one with a drug conviction, even for possessing a marijuana joint, is eligible for federal aid. For a lot of folks with that on their record, going to college to improve themselves is out.
So what do they do? They join gangs and become drug dealers, sometimes selling harder drugs as well as marijuana, and then they get hit with stiff prison sentences. Maybe the cops bust the dealer's boss and the honcho points the finger at the street-level guy in return for leniency. Once these folks get out of prison, there's no way they're getting even a halfway-decent job with their felony conviction, and even McDonald's probably won't hire someone with a felony conviction. In this economy, forget about getting any job with a felony conviction. So they go back to the drug life again, selling drugs, maybe they start carrying a gun, and they end up dead. Americans think felony drug convictions (even marijuana convictions without violence) are bad because the law says they are bad. When younger Americans get into power in the next couple of decades, public perceptions will have changed, and that will guide public policy. law was changed, and marijuana was legal, then it could be sold in a system similar to that available in California and Colorado for medical marijuana patients. Private dispensaries could dispense it to anyone over the age of 18, and it could be taxed and regulated like tobacco and alcohol. Penalties would still be harsh for driving under the influence of it, and should probably be made harsher.
