Reducing the Prescription Drug Epidemic
Yes,there really is an alternative to reducing the prescription drug epidemicfacing our country & FYI it isn’t one to be fearful of…The truth & reality of
Marijuana and healthcare reform.
March 31, 2009
I’d like to know why it is that there is no high profile spokesperson when it comes to legalizing Marijuana, primarily medicinally speaking to offset the growing epidemic of pill addiction in this country.
There is so much confusion in the general public (non-smokers of cannabis) who have no idea what it really is, what the effects really are, what the variations in strains are and what they represent to the medical community at large. I have heard people genuinely ask if it has the same effects as alcohol when driving and the answer is a resounding NO…. Alcohol is a menace and a danger, Marijuana is not. You dont drive fast or crazy, much to the dismay of those of us driving behind you at 4 mph …. no joke, I knew an older man mid 60′s driving a $90,000 porche and he always drove it barely 5 miles per hour…enough to incite road rage, let me tell you.
There’s also a very big difference between a sativa plant vs. an indica plant. I would say Sativa for anxiety, wont make you tired or feel overwhelmed. Yet if the problem is insomnia then definitely indica plant, makes a person sleep like a baby. It’s time people realized this isnt something to fear , it is something to embrace and utilize for health purposes; and to control for public purposes; as one can control the potency amount sold to the public vs. at the pharmacy level.
First and foremost there has to be some attention brought to this that is consistency , PR , in a structured way. Someone needs to explain to the public, up close and personal what the benefits are medicinally speaking and how it measures up to the pill addiction which is epidemic in this country. Someone needs to make clear the facts, make clear that it’s time for the public to look at this with a clean slate; in part by explaining the history behind how it got the “rap” it has.
Someone has to clearly define how much of a disservice to the American people has been done to them by false propaganda and prohibition.
Clearly there are two main issues;
Legalizing medicinally, as an alternative to highly addicting meds such as Ambien, Xanax, the list is huge, but to name two of the most cotammonly abused and addicting drugs on the market. Insomnia, mild anxiety/panic attacks, nausea, cramps, muscle aches, arthritis, etc…there is a healthier alternative to all of the pill’s that are being handed out like candy. There is an alternative that is NOT addicting. To keep this drug from the American people is an injustice that simply HAS TO BE CORRECTED. A spokesperson must make the conservative, anxious public aware of what this drug really can do for our people and our population. In my mind, this is part of healthcare reform; offering the public alternatives that may suffice rather then automatically having doctors prescribe medications we know are highly addicting. If there is an alternative that will offer the patient relief, such as insomnia, cannabis vs. Ambien. Ask any Physician if he could offer between those two types of medications which he feels is the best for the patient and just as effective. I have asked nearly every physician I have met over the last decade and every time the answer is the same. FYI…it is available in pill form, edible form, spray form, etc…one does not have to smoke it. There’s education on that topic as well, it’s time the public was informed why they developed a spray; there’s a reason; it was found that for pain management such as aids/cancer the drug loses potency and is not as effective once it has gone thru the digestive tract, therefore they have now developed a spray to try and circumvent the digestive acids by going thru the saliva and hopefully directly into the blood stream. The hope is that the effect will be as beneficial as when the drug is smoked. We are on the right road but there isn’t enough public relations. What I see, is embarrassing . We need a poster child , this is not just for aids and cancer patients and its time the public became aware. Consider the rehab statistics to prescription drug addiction…how much of that could have been avoided.
The 2nd major issue; Legalizing it to control it like alcohol and to tax it; proceeds to be used to benefit the communities and possibly even build more jails for real criminals who are dealing in dangerous drugs. There is also a benefit to our border wars with Mexico, obviously it will not stop the desire to continue hardcore drugs such as cocain, heroin, etc. from crossing the border…but it will give them one less drug to traffic and monitor. The claim that it is a gateway drug can be said more readily about alcohol, far more so then marijuana. It just isn’t a good enough excuse to keep it illegal…fear of gateway, when it’s accessible already. Logically it makes more sense for us to legalize and control it like alcohol or pseudephren. There are ways to deal with this. In time this will happen, when do you want to benefit from it? How long do you want to wait. Another alternative is that when controlled, there can be certain grades/strain potencies available over the counter, vs. a higher potency with a prescription. Thereby having more control over what is readily available on the street. This in reality is a cash crop for this country and we are allowing that money to go towards far more dangerous conquests….all because of a fear that is unwarranted.
Marijuana is in no way dangerous and the conservative populace needs to be enlightened if not dragged into reality for the benefit of the American people as a whole. To continue to only allow addicting drugs to our population when in fact there are alternatives in many cases which are not addicting, thereby reducing health care costs to the overall community and the State.
Please dont get me wrong I love California and here it is legal with a doctors recommendation.
That really isnt the point of this story, the purpose of this story is to bring a spot light to educate the more conservative public; to explain to them once and for all what this herb is, weed, herb, drug, what ever name you prefer. Too many people even in this day and age have no idea what it really is or how fearful they should be of it; as a result they are all too easily accepting their physician’s prescriptions to addicting drugs because they dont realize that there really is an alternative. People need to know that this alternative is less dangerous to them then a prescription benzopine or sleeping pill. There is a shadow and its time to get this issue out from the shadows once and for all. The other point of this story was that I want to know who are the spokespeople for this, the PR people, who do they have that the conservatives will even consider listening to; that’s what we dont have and that’s the voice & the face we need. The time is NOW.
A prime example: There is an organization and it listed the executive director and the spokesman so I googled the spokesman’s name and although there were plenty of stories on him there was not one photo of his face. Now forgive me if I dare to ask a seemingly silly question; Shouldn’t a spokesperson’s face be highly visible, isn’t that part of the point of having a spokesperson? When I stop and try to think of one consistent face that represents marijuana reform I cant think of one and that tells me something is lacking.
Deborah Dunbar, Advocate for Healthcare reform and Marijuana education reform
About The Author
Related posts
- http://www.insomnia-symptom.com/insomnia-drug insomnia drug
- http://copewithpanic.com/ Deane Bucio
- http://www.insomniasleepdisorder.org Natural Cure For Insomnia
- http://www.stopsnoringtips.net/ Gwenda Moerman
