In Mrs Ethridge case I would have to agree that treatment with medical marijuana would be successful. In the bi-polar case, treatment with medical marijuana would be an incorrect treatment. Bio-polar disease is a chemical imbalance in the brain and would have to be treated with chemical replacement drugs. In this case the manic behavior she experienced was the lack of the chemical not produced in her brain. Had nothing to do with the medical marijuana. Any doctor would tell you that bio-polar disease not treated properly leads to manic behavior.

yes it should be legal but goveren by state and federal goverment

This story with apparent opposite outcomes of the medical marijuana debate made absolutely no sense. Since when in a report like this do you compare apples to oranges? The woman with bipolar used medical marijuana for a diagnosis it's not meant to be. Medical marijuana is used and benefits; nausea, anorexia (which means lack of appetite), controlling muscle spasm, chronic pain, and decreasing pressure in the eye for patients with glaucoma. Even though beneficial for some patient for these diagnosis it is still a mind altering drug; the last thing you need is mess with your perception. Marijuana has never been intended for depression or any other psychological disorder. Of course Lisa and Melissa had different experiences. Lisa didn't use the drug correctly. Lisa's problem with Marijuana has much more to do with her condition then with the drug. Marijuana is a mild drug. Addiction is possible but not likely. Unlike cocaine, crystal meth or heroine it doesn't have such a strong chemical compound to which people become addicted.
If you want to display opposite outcomes on the medical marijuana debate then you need to use example that are comparable. This report is as useless as giving a report on the benefits of Viagra on the male sexual experience compared to Viagra used for enlarging breasts.The outcome of Viagra would indeed be disappointing for some of us.

Melissa so clearly speaks from her heart & clearly shows how an individual can benefit from medical marijuana. She is a textbook example of a patient who was prescribed the usual schmorgasboard of addictive toxic medications only to find relief from medical marijuana.

When you hear opponents of medical marijuana discuss the issue, I certainly have never gotten that genuine "spoken from the heart" feeling. Kudos to Melissa for having the courage & compassion to share her story with us all!

Hi Anderson, This is referring to a article Sunday June 14,in The Asheboro Tribune Asheboro , NC . Dr. Alicia Lilly of Asheboro, NC died May 29 of a sudden illness in South Africa. The paper has a picture of you and her when you were interviewing her in South Africa didn't know if you knew about her death or not. We are from Asheboro and watch you every night if possible. Mae Shaw and Pat Cole

As a pot user, i would like to see it legalized. but for the government to legalize it, produce it, tax it, and see profit from this result is somthing i would stand strongly against, especially using the shape of the economy as a deciding factor.

In the past ten to fifteen years more people have been flipping out and killing a bunch of people and then, themselves. I wonder if that has something to do with the abuse of anti-depressants. If it was legal to grow and smoke cannibas, maybe the country would be a less violent place. You never hear of a marijuana overdose. The side effect if you do too much you fall asleep, which is what most patients want. Legalize it and tax it. or better yet let insurance companies pay for it. Addicted to cannabis, like being addicted to sex, ?huh?

Pot/weed should be legalized. It's like any other drug some people have good results some people have bad results. To each his own as the expression goes. Some people get "hooked on prescription drugs" which is worse?

if you need it you need it no one should tell you dont much beeter then alcoholic it should be legal

i smoke everyday and never had any promblems...but i dont foresee them making it legal...but if i had my say about it..in the mean time they definetly have to dicriminialize it..like she said its not a drug thing its a people thing

Surely it is time to legalize marijuana and start emptying the prisons of petty crimes.
...and please do not compare "medical marijuana" with a bipolar person. I'm bipolar and tea and coffee affect me hugely. Mental illness is not a physical illness...this was a very poor comparison ...apples compared to oranges.

Meilissa is so right. We need to start with mariwuana as a legalized drug and pick 1 or two states where mariuna is legal, and eventually all other illegal drugs. Mr Bennett is so wrong with his wqr on drugs.

Why is it such a big deal if people want to smoke pot?

I'm sure people that want to control the lives of others have hundreds or retarded excused of how it COULD harm them or their children.

Take some accountability for your own lives and quit trying to dictate the conditions in which others must live theirs to satisfy you own ridiculous and false moral views.

I think all drugs need to be legal. That way the government can get revenue from the taxes and the mystique will be gone and the violence from street drugs will lower. I t has worked for other countries so why not here?

Cant we just be real? Someone with bi-polar disease does not represent an argument against legalization of marijuana...a daily pot smoker is the equivalent of joe 6 pack...beer is a gateway to alcaholism for the very same person who moves from canibus to whatever choice of a higher high this same personality pursues...at the same time, the person smoking marijuana doesn't go home and beat up the wife...he just wants to share a snack and have some good conversation

Yo Andy...how's about losing that stupid grin while you are reporting on this issue? Your smirk biases your reporting...where's your producer???

The doctor who was interviewed by Anderson Cooper after the clip was shown about the woman with bi-polar disorder stated that those with bi-polar disorder are prone to addiction. This is absolutely not the case and I object to her statement. Those who have bi-polar disorder and an addiction are identified as dual-diagnosis. As someone with bi-polar disorder I am not addiction-prone and have never been addicted to any substance even though I have had one drink usually at Thanksgiving and Christmas, I never had a problem with alcohol. I don't drink now because alcohol is a depressant as is marijuana and is contraindicated for my condition and so of course nullifies those mood stabilizers I take to counteract depression. I am just surprised that the woman interviewed did not have a more immediate reaction to the marijuana resulting in depression. While I am definitely not for the legalization of marijuana, if it is legalized is is necessary for anyone on any kind of medication to make sure that their medications are compatible with each other and also with any herbal supplements they might also use. St. John's Wort, for example, should not be used by anyone who is on an anti-depressant. I think that the doctor who spoke with Anderson missed an opportunity to point out the medical facts I have outlined above which are important for anyone with a psychological disorder to consider before they ingest any substance that is potentially mood-altering.

The people who want to control the lives of others have hundreds of retarded excuses of how marijuana could harm them or their children.

Take some accountability for your own lives and quit trying to dictate the conditions in which others must live theirs to satisfy you own ridiculous and false moral views.

This is a substance that has been too long demonized. By enforcing any law regarding it has done far more harm than any sale and consumption. It is completely out of reason and a complete waste of resources and tax dollars to prosecute the use of this plant. I don't smoke, however have many friends who do and do so without any ill effects. This fear mongering regarding this plant is absolutely ridiculous and takes much needed attention from the real problem substances. Alcohol is a widely used, abused and overly promoted substance. Easily taxable and much more harmfull. Give me break!

It Would be OK to legalize marijuana here for medicinal purposes if that were the only reason people used it. But we have an opportunistic society,so its that we keep things as they are and don'Tt legalize marijuana.Don't open that can of worms.

I concur with Melissa in that the Rx of marijuana for cancer and aids patients in gives them an appetite, relieves pain and is effective in the treatment of glaucoma, lowers intra -ocular pressure in the eye.

The legalization of marijuana is way overdue. It is a less harmful drug than alcohol on a personal and societal level. The recent violence occurring in Mexico and the U.S. because of the drug trade of which marijuana accounts for 70% is solely due to the prohibition which creates immense profits worth killing over. Besides all of this imagine the tax revenues that would be created, possibly enough to bring the U.S. out of this recession, instead of the tax resources squandered on the incarceration of non-violent offenders.

canabis helps everyone we know that uses this product, my wife is a user and let me tell you, without it she can not eat, relaxe, and she is bipolor and with mood swings and one joint she is fine. And legalizing it would help the United States pull out of debet . It helps me sleep after taking care of her and my stepson. I'm not in good health myself, and I'm pst, myself it helps me sleep all night, there for a while I had trouble falling to sleep and stay a sleep. But the canabis stores are to rich for poor people to get, and if you don't have a green tumb or a lpace to grow it your up the creek with out a paddle.

I am 60 years old, I have never been a marijuana user. I am suffering from a very painful disease. I am never without pain. I tried a couple of puffs of Marijuana on a suggestion from a friend and I could not believe that it worked. I was able to cook dinner for my husband instead of sitting in my chair moaning. I am finding it difficult to get a doctor to prescribe it for me. I am afraid to try illegal sources.

William F. Buckley was against drug prohibition for many convincing reasons. Those reasons are intelligently presented in a book written by a judge and that book is: Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It – A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs by Judge James P. Gray. This is an "eye-opening" book, I dare you to read it.

why are people have such a big problem with marijuana when alcohol and cigarettes are the two most destructive substances in our society. Think about the number of deaths on our hwy because of alcohol. Think about the number of spousal abuse because of alcohol. What medical benefits come from tobacco?

think about it.

I was quite pleased to hear Ms. Etheridge make the point that using medical marijuana was not about getting high but rather seeking pain relief. Anyone who has experienced the mind-bending pain that some diseases can bring understands this point. Unlike Ms. Etheridge, I do not use marijuana but our diseases are dissimilar. She was dealing with the aftermath of chemo with its painful side-effects as well as lack of appetite .I have been prescribed morphine for the past 7 years for an excruciatingly painful disease and I can say with complete honesty that I have never gotten high from this notorious drug . I can also affirm that I have never taken extra to get high. The reason for this is simple and is the same I assume for Ms Etheridge. When you smoke pot or take a pain med without being in pain, you will get high. Conversely, use marijuana or other pain meds for pain and you will hopefully find pain relief.

I think they should definately legalize marijuana. It relaxes you and mellows you out. Of course, everything is ok as long as you don't abuse it, make it your God. People think that worshipping God is burdensome until they try it. I've been putting God first ever since I found out that he was real and that's what he commands us to do. As long as we can put him first, before anything else, everything we want, within his laws, of course, he will give us. I know because he has blessed me so many times that it's almost unreal how things happen to me all the time. I have some stories on my website that I know you will relate to. The main thing is that Matthew 15:11 in the Bible Jesus said, "It's not what goes into a mans body that defiles him, it's what comes out! Does that make since? The government thinks that they make more money making it illegal than they would legalizing it and taxing it but i beg to differ. I know that legalizing it would get rid of all the crooked dealers killing people that ripped em off. The cops jobs of course would be in jeopardy but whats more important? If everybody followed Gods 2 Commandments we wouldn't even need the police because people wouldn't care about material things because God gives us all that when we believe in him and have faith that he has our back in all that we do. Matthew 22:36-40, "Love God with all your heart, might, mind & strength and Love your neighbor as yourself. On these two Commandments fall all the law.....

My name is Angela I am for pot and against synthetic drugs which are complete poison.These drugs should be against the law not pot its natural.As for cancer it is a hormonal imbalance,environment and what we eat.The hormones and chemicals in our food if it is not taken in right amounts can cause problems.I have done endless hours of research regarding hormones and bio-identical hormone replacement therapy and its the best route to go.As for the pot I do support it I wish the government would get off there high horse and spend our money wisely they have no problem supporting these synthetic drug companies.Sincerely Angela

My wife had brestcancer and during chemo none of her medicine worked we had to turn to Marijuana seconds after she smoked she was able to eat and sleep i belive it was the only thing that helped her make it through those times !!

I was pondering on the statements by etheridge then I was comercialized by the smooth away and found that worse. Thanks for looking at this george

Legalize it if you have problems with pot don't use it

Marijuana should be treated like alcohol and tobacco. Grown, distributed, sold, taxed and regulated. There are people who should not smoke marijuana. Or drink alcohol, smoke tobacco or even have sex. So what's new. We waste way too much money on trying to stop people like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama from having access to marijuana. They both used it, have you?

Marijuana causes people who have the propensity for mental illness to develop schizophrenia or bipolar. I would rather not see marijuana become legal. We have more people developing mental illness and becoming highly addicted from marijuana. If you use it for people undergoing chemotherapy that is fine. The doctors in CA perscribe medical marijuana for anybody and for anything. They have no idea about the person nor do they follow the person.

Marijuana is the gateway drug for other drugs.chat abt the meth or heroine user Im guessing they started with marijuana

I disagree. I also think that if married the spouse needs to be informed. My husband of twenty four years became addicted secretly for over a year, hiding it from his family and me. He lost his job, could not see how his lying was damaging his relationships, became abusive, now homeless and divorced. He has spiraled down in a dark way and lost his life as he knew it. It has ruined my family and credit as he stole to get his needs met.
I' m stuck paying his debt in my name, and paying for his addictions. I do not believe that anyone with addictive behaviors or A.D.D. should have marijuana.

Medical Marijuana should be legalized. When you use any drugs for pain you do not get the high like you would for recreational use.
This is a brain fuction. The pain receptors in the pain are on overtime and they need help to combat the extreme pain. Therefore the pain receptors are using the effects and not the pleasure center of the brain. The addicted brain is different and uses drugs in a different way. The addicted brain sends the drugs to the pleasure center while the person with pain and/or nausea, the drug is sent to the pain receptors. This is the easiet way to try and explain this.
Politics and unnecessary drugs are used to make decisions about medical necessity. They have not made alcohol illegal and there are alcholics.

I have been waiting for 40 years for it to be legal and I still do not think I will see it in my lifetime..I lived in Indiana and moved to Florida 15 years ago both states are way to conservative for it to happen...Yes it should be legal for medical reasons only....

Im pro choice in legalizing marijuana and i would just want to say that marijuana isnt a bad thing. people are just brainwashed to think marijuana is bad. As a user of the drug I claim that i have not lost intelligence or have been gatewayed into other drugs. im just a human trying to make it in the world. just as we all are. think of the lives and children that would be saved from legalizeing marijuana. Screw the money. Cops, kids, fathers and mothers getting shot over a dime of weed is not worth it. kids dropping out of school cause they were caught with possesion of gaunge. i know what happens on the streets and in schools from drugs and i beleive if it were legal we wouldnt have any of the negative causes and effects, it would be positive. crime wouldnt be as much of an issue if weed was legal. too many moms and dads are in jail for weed which leaves there kids homelss and without parents. is that fair? too many kids getting caught in the wrong crowd because weed being illegal creats the wrong crowds. im seventeen years old i started smoking weed when i was in the sixth grade and the only reason i changed was because i tried to hide the truth. so i cover it up with lies which made me a bad person not the weed it was my own lies to my family that changed me. weed doesnt change people its the fear of getting caught that changes people. this comment may be long but i stand for what i beleive in. p.s i think homosexuals should have all the same rights as a male heterosexual or whatever is considered dominent.....go weed!

Marijuana is not, and never has been a mainstream "DRUG". It is in any category of use a personality inhancement. It is also a downer. If you are a person who is lazy, down, depressed, insecure, unmotivated, Marijuana will undeniably amplify these traits. If you are Bi-Polar, you should not be prescribed Marijuana. Marijuana is a take you down a peg or three drug. It always has been. If you have a Cancer that requires chemo-therapy. Which in essence, is basically an amplified hell that leads to relief of the cancer hell, pot is for you. Bipolar people are not and should never be candidates for pot treatment. The effect of pot on a depressed person is like handing a suicidal pacient a gun. Downer equals downerrrrrr. It's as simple as that. Cancer patients on pot should never be compaired to depressed patients on pot. It's not the same.

Good Evening, you stated on tonights show that one marijuana user (the bi-polar) lady admitted she "smoked to get high" and "melissa" did not meaning that that wasnt "melissa's" intention,,then why after now the cancer is gone she is still smoking,,,She indeed wants "to get high" she just wont admit it because it then wont look right for those who you could say will only smoke it because they "medically need it" . Supposedly she still smokes now because of "acid reflux". Come on,, I have Migraines let me go get me "medical Marijuana". Marijuana is much worse than cigarette smoke and here we are again trying to allow something in that will "destroy lives".

Hey there Anderson, I want to first thank you for putting in the time and effort into doing a story such as this. I have a rare cancer JAK2 mutation called polysythemia vera. I hope that one day that weed will be legalized for every one. It's not just medicine for the body but also the spirit. It opens the minds eye, and with proper education, discipline, and a healthy diet. This God given plant would help society, not destroy it. From thc free foods to thc free alternative fuel. I believe that the day will come when we will find the cure to many ailments if we could study this plant on a broader scale.( Even the economy.)
Thanks agian.
p.s. I would like to give you and the world a look into my life, if possible. I want to give up my chemo, but I know the risk if I look for another treatment.

please mr obama get a grip on this problem ... too many people are in prison for smoking or selling a small amount of marijuana. the violence in mexico is crazy...if it were legal i think it would eleminate lots of problems

the "gateway drug" argument is bogus. 95% of heroin users tried tobacco first...therefore tobacco is a "gateway drug" and should be made illegal...the correct logical argument is more than 90% of pot and tobacco users DO NOT go onto using heroin. therefore neither is a "gateway drug".

I think it was a great show. Just because u smoke pot it dosen't make u a lazy bum. I work ,pay Taxes and need It with this econmy.I don't drink .So I love that the Goverment tells us how too relax Thanks let's get this right. right Know

Melissa Ethridge's views on Medical Marijuana (MM) is spot on but the other guest who suffered from depression and bi-polar did a disservice to MM as the show was edited. I would argue that her time using MM is why she is alive today. Her stated use at $1,000 a month is roughly 1/4lb at $30 1/8th. So her 7 joints a day amounts to .15gram joints which is extremely thin. Now her point for the show was obviously to show how dangerous MM is but in fact she actually helps the case that MM is not as dangerous as the Federal Government wants you to believe. She used during the time she was teaching and it went undetected. The reason is because she was medicating not getting stoned or high. Just like how Melissa explained her doses as to get up to a normal functioning level. I suspect the real reason she went off the medication of Cannabis is the cost. I recommend she learns how to grow so this is'nt an issue and she can get back to living the rest of her life in a way that she can handle the stress's.

Read these articles.

Among psychotic individuals, the vast majority of whom were inpatients, lifetime cannabis abuse/dependence and panic disorder were associated with earlier age at onset of psychosis.

Compr Psychiatry; 50 (January-February): 13-19

Cannabis use is associated with an increased risk of developing psychotic symptoms.

Lancet; 2007; 370 (July 28): 319-328

Cannabis-induced psychotic disorders were suggested to be of great clinical and prognostic importance.

Br J Psychiatry; 2005; 187: 510-515

Cannabis appears to be a significant correlate of risk of relapse or failure to achieve remission in patients treated for alcohol and cocaine, but not opiate, dependence.

Am J Psychiatry; 2005; 162 (August): 1507-1514

People who choose to smoke weed will. However to buy it most places you go have much harder and more dangerous drugs for this gov. calls it a gateway drug. Legalize weed lower prison and jail spending. Tax it and let Americans live in a society of freedom and choice.

I'm a retired Federal Narcotics Agent and marijuana is so harmless that if you have any worries about it simply don't use it. It's obviously a wonderful medicine and pot users should not be punished. If anyone would like to persist in punishing pot smokers, look a little closer at who reaps the benefits from such actions. I'll answer that for you, no one benefits but the bad guys.

Melissa Etheridge seems to have her act together. The other woman interviewed has acknowledged she is bi-polar. Who would prescribe pot for someone with a mental illness? I believe the woman was a teacher. Do you mean she never did research on her own illness? Doesn't research suggest that a lot of individuals with bi-polar illness (or manic depression as it was formerly called) have addictive personalities. They have highs and lows how is pot going to help that?

Her suicidal tendencies have nothing to do with pot. Wouldn't she have had those tendencies even without pot? That's the depression part of bipolar disease.

Had a knee replacement and surgery on my right knee,took medication like skelaxin,oxycodone,anthrotec and lyrica. But none of these medication that i took just relieve the pain for a while,but started smoking marijuana and the level of the pain is lower than when i was taking all of those pill.I smoke half of joint in the afternoon and the pain is control. There are so many people like me who has to buy it to be able to function day by day,would to see the government of puerto rico legalized it for medical reason. Thank you robert rios from cabo rojo puerto rico.

Melissa Etheridge had some excellent points. I wish other celebs who partake would step it up like her. But then society would judge them b/c of the devil weed and they would lose their audience.

And yet everyone can advertise, talk about, and promote alcohol. But you can't talk about that scary devil weed.

Come on Hollywood. Get involved....

I'm currently watching last night's AC360, and I personally do support the use of marijuana. What I found more interesting than Melissa Etheridge experience, was the woman "Lisa". I am not a "know it all" when it comes to diagnoses, but I have a lot of experience working with patients with mental health issues. From acknowledging the effects of marijuana, it is not going to change a person's state of depression. It is a sedative. Not to mention that not every person has issues with addiction. Aside from the law, many people are using marijuana across the United States. I personally don't think that marijuana is going to have stronger negative effects on our society if legalized, than alcohol already does. It is one thing to use a alcohol or marijuana, another to abuse it.

I watched this interview and Randi Kaye's piece on the woman who was prescribed medical marijuana and became addicted and suicidal. When the stories ran last night, they were followed by brief discussions and disclaimers by AC and Randi where we learned that the woman in question was in favor of medical marijuana, and in my view, should have taken the advice of her own doctor or therapist rather than searching the internet for a doctor who would just write a blank prescription for as much pot as she wanted. Here's my problem – when it ran this morning, it wasn't shown back to back with the Melissa Etheridge interview, and no disclaimers were given afterward, leaving the piece looking like a scare piece biased against medical marijuana. It's fair and balanced on AC's show, but it turns into Reefer Madness when the demographic doesn't support it.

Melissa Etheridge should be commended for speaking out about the medicinal uses of the "evil weed" that many people use for pain relief. We legalized alcohol years ago, and that, in my opinion, is one of the worst drugs in our society. I know of many marriages, family relationships, and lives that have been destroyed by alcohol. I also know a few harmless "potheads" who have very loving and lasting relationships with their spouses and children and they hurt no one. Wake up America! We need to tap into this product as a revenue source, if nothing else. As a voter, if given the choice, I would vote for pot and against alcohol!

In a recent article in the Economist Magazine entitled "A Pot of Gold", a case was made for ending our counterproductive "War on Drugs". In a manner that is intuitively understandable, the article lays out the many benefits that would accrue, from saving the $40 billion we spend every year trying to eliminate the supply of drugs, to eliminating the arrest of over 1.5 million citizens each year and the incarceration of over one half million of them. Treating the cultivation of marijuana the same as we do that of our wine industry would reduce by 70% the flow of money to the Mexican cartels and save over 6,000 lives being lost each year to drug violence. In addition, the benefits to local economies and the tax revenues gained there from would be huge.
Why then, don't we turn our crisis in Mexico into an opportunity to change a failed policy?

All of Melissa Etheridge's points were very well put together. Thanks for interviewing her.

The "Lisa" deal was annoying. That is a very random statistic to use for an example. People have bad reactions to things.... It happens. And she's the dummy for waking up and smoking or driving in her car and doing it. It wasn't the pot that was bad, it was her.

And people against pot (that don't know anything about it but it's the devil's herb) are going to run with it and see "see it's bad!".

Lisa was not a good argument why it shouldn't be legal. And unfortunate some people will think pot is that much scarier.

As interesting as it is to discuss the pallative effects of marijuana for those undergoing chemotherapy for cancer I find it much more interesting to look into the research being done with marijuana as a cancer cure. I would love to see an indepth story on the research being done by Shawn McAllister at California Pacific Research Center in San Francisco using breast cancer with mets to bone as his model, (the cancer that Elizabeth Edwards is suffering from) and the research of Manuel Guzmán’s research teams at Complutense University and Autonoma University in Madrid, Spain. Guzmans research found that cannabis’ active ingredient, THC, killed tumor cells in advanced cases of glioma, a quick-killing cancer for which there is currently no effective treatment. This is the cancer that Ted Kennedy is now struggling with.

I have to hand it to PAT LAVERY's Outstanding Blog-comment about AC presenting "A BIASED Anti-Pot" piece on the "Re-Run" of last night's show airing this morning (It did change into "Reefer Madness" overnight)... Shame on you Anderson! Can We expect more of this from YOU on your "Fair & Balanced show?" I'm loosing trust in you bud! Don't wus out on America now... Home of the Brave, Land of the free, remember them?

Please tell me why my comment on medicinal marijuana is not being posted? I think it is a great message for patients with Multiple Sclerosis and the doctors treating these patients. Upset in Indiana!

Due to the fact that Marijuana helps the sick feel better and the depressed be happy, stressed to relax, the no appetite to have appetite and not starve of nutrition should be grown naturally like any other food or teas. It is a medical herb with nutrition to aid sick people. They just need to stop adding chemicals to everything naturally healthy for us because it strips the vegetation of all it nourishment's of vitamins and minerals

Thank you Anderson for bringing this topic up and addressing it from all angles. Mellissa speaks from the heart, from the KNOWING how in sickness and pain mairjuana is a powerful medicine.

Make it legal, tax it state by state regulate it as we do with dont drink and drive. The law should focus on the DUI's and repeat offenders killing people, using Legal Alcohol mixed with stupid.

Cannabis / Hemp outlawed in 1937 for what reason?
Figure out a way to tax it, supply it legally, and keep it away from kids / schools.

Now that would be a powerful stimulas package, and get our deficit under control!

Bless
The herbal supplement made just for Marijuana Users

I am a 54 year old female who has smoked pot for almost 40 years. I have always held a good job, bought my own home, pay taxes and raised a daughter who is going to school to be a nurse, and she doesn't smoke. For several years I drove a semi, and long hauled across the U.S. (I did'nt smoke at this time) and later became a Safety Director of a trucking company. One thing I found ironic was that you could loose your job for something that you did on your couch a few weeks ago, but I knew many drivers who took various drugs because they would leave your system in 72 hours and thry could pass the drug tests when they got back home. Other drugs never interested me, nor do I drink. I think that it is a shame that good people have to worry about what they do in in the privacy of there own home. I told my daughter when she was growing up that I would much rather her get in a car with somebody that has smoked a joint than someone who has drank a couple beers, maybe that is wrong , but its my opinion, and I stick to it.

It's not that the people abuse the system, it's that the system abuses the people. So, yes, please throw it out. People seem so ignorant on this issue, the plant is ancient, cultivation going back 6,000 years. look up irvin rosenfeld, though i believe it should be available for anyone to grow tax free. (though any transactions made on which profit is garnered can and should be taxed).

MARIJUANA= a propagandic term spewed by Henry Anslinger in 1937: the term marijuana doesn't mean a damn thing. Made illegal with fear tactics, reefer madness, racism. Not to mention DUPONTS role in fearing the direct competition for their paper making process which has nothing to do with medicinal cannabis. But they put HEMP and pot in the same category and called it "EVIL"... HEMP and pot would save the economy, and the millions and millions wasted on prosecutions and keeping non violent offenders in jail. A guy raped a 4 yr old got 1yr in jail. Get busted with a seed get 10 yrs in prison with rapist, murders, and violence.

Did recreational marijuana use stop USA Champion Michael Phelps from winning an all-time Olympic record 8 gold medals in one summer? No.
Did recreational marijuana use stop Jamaican Champion Usain Bolt from setting the all-time world and Olympic record 100 meter sprint?
No.
Did recreational marijuana use stop Barack Obama or Bill Clinton from becoming president of the United States of America, and leaders of the free world?
Absolutely not.
Stop the lies! Legalize!

Everyone will continue to keep using it as much as they want if it is legal or not. It just makes it harder to obtain and costs a lot more. It even gets involved with other drugs because a lot of people have to go through drug dealers to get their pot. The usage will not rise much because a majority of the population has been using it and will continue to so why would you be punished for using it. If it is what the people want and keep fighting it it will be legalized one day.

One must first ask why pot is illegal in the first place?? It was made illegal at the time of Prohibition for religious and political purposes – definitely not for medical reasons. How could they have even known its effects on the body at that time when the structure of DNA had not even been elucidated? Since then, our government has fed the public propaganda against it. Maybe that is why the DEA still stands by these lies (they probably would lose some jobs if it were legal). The truth is that it binds to 2 receptors in the body – CB1 and CB2. CB2 is on lymphocytes in the body, and by THC binding to it, it reduces inflammation in the body....good for autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases but bad for those with acute infection. CB1 is in the brain, and THC binding to this receptor induces an intracellular cascade of events that results in the production of euphoric chemicals. People make a protein called anandamide that binds these same receptors, for these same reasons. We would not make something that will bind to our own cells and kill them. Weed does not kill neurons in the brain – these are government lies! There are valid medical reasons for THC usage. Marinol does not work as well as Nature's version. I am glad to see the significant financial and medical benefits are finally being discussed here.

Thank you AJ Caterine, for pointing out that most doctors who are opposed to legalization are psychiatrists, ie. the doctors who prescribe the most dangerous, harmful, pharmaceutical drugs. This group of pill pushers is the only group of doctors who collectively oppose legalization. Coincidence? I think not.

Anderson,

I hope all the media attention about Iran's revolution will
not put a damper on the revolution that is about to take
place in this country, i.e. health care. The people of
Iran would agree we have to slove our domestic
problems first and bring to closure the two war fronts
our troops are involved in.