If people would simply stop lying about cannabis, so much would be resolved. A parent using cannabis for recreation is no different than a parent who has a beer after work. Well, at least cannabis is healthy..not so sure about the beer. But then I'm biased..I've never liked the taste of beer. And I don't drink anymore, so there's that. It's not a hard and fast rule, but I feel better when I don't drink alcohol.
Anyway, I read that in Colorado, our legalization Mecca, a bill was introduced which, if passed, will potentially complicate everyone's lives there. It seems that some lawmakers think that if a parent uses a controlled substance (which unless I missed something, cannabis is just that), medically or otherwise, it's time to take the kids away. SB 178, a gem of a bill, defines a "drug endangered child" and imposes criminal penalties on the child's parents if manufacturing or possessing controlled substances. Cannabis is a federally controlled substance, even though it's legal in Colorado. Although the bill's author seems to suggest that this doesn't apply to cannabis, no one really believes that.
I agree that kids shouldn't be around certain drugs. You know, like heroin, cocaine, meth and drugs like those. But cannabis is not a drug. It's a plant. Yes it has psychoactive properties. It also has medicinal properties. Typically we don't see the level of spousal abuse amongst those who use cannabis that we do with those who use alcohol. Plus, there's the added benefit of no addiction. And we have cannabinoid receptors all over the place that are just waiting to connect with the various compounds found in cannabis. It's what keeps us healthy. It's so funny that since I became a patient four years ago, my health has returned, so much so that I walk eight miles every morning. Right..cannabis is a bad thing..
It seems to me that every time something positive happens with respect to cannabis, some lawmaker finds a ridiculous way to circumvent it. If cannabis is legal in Colorado, then you can't take away kids from parents who use it. You can't make it impossible for parents who are also patients to use cannabis medicinally to deal with their health issues. They shouldn't have to fear losing their kids while getting well. No other patients have to deal with these kinds of things. Cannabis patients should be no different. If SB 178 doesn't apply to anyone using cannabis, then revise the bill to include that specific language. Otherwise, Coloradoans who use cannabis are at risk. Surely there are other laws on the books that define what "drug endangered" children are along with penalties for those who disregard them. Why does it need redefinition?
Last summer, the Oregon legislature legalized dispensaries. We voted them down, but they sprung up anyway, and the legislature decided to do something positive for all of us by legalizing them. And then, just before the application process began in March, they decided to let local areas temporarily ban them for one year. Never mind that they had roughly nine months to get used to the idea. And never mind that they looked the other way as the dispensaries opened without benefit of law. Now they suddenly are so overwhelmed by the possibility of a dispensary opening (or continuing to operate) that, oh my Goddess, they have to have a moratorium on them for a while longer. Spare me.
Washington state, our legalization problem child to the north, has legal patients who are going to trial federally in July, I believe, for following state medical cannabis laws to the letter. So, if this can happen in Washington, it can happen in Colorado as well. I also read an article that suggested the Feds might not deliver water to cannabis growers up in Washington as well. In my opinion, this is chicken shit. The Federal Government is going to have to deal with legalization sooner than later. They know it's safe and they know it cures all kinds of things. People are incarcerated for nothing at all. Lives are continuing to be ruined..all to preserve a lie told long ago.
Cannabis users are not criminals, nor are we unfit parents. Isn't it time the charade stopped?
End prohibition. Live in truth and with integrity. Legalize cannabis.
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