All the RAve - the RAnts of RA

The Supreme Court recently ruled that the federal government can still ban possession of the drug in states that have eliminated sanctions for its use in treating symptoms of illness.

The ruling does not overturn laws in California and 10 other states, mostly in the West, that permit medical use of marijuana. In 2003, Maryland reduced the maximum fine for medical users of less than an ounce of the drug to $100.

But the ruling does mean that those who try to use marijuana as a medical treatment risk legal action by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration or other federal agencies and that the state laws provide no defense, according to an article which ran in the Washington Post.

One has to wonder why so many are dead set against old folks and sick folks smoking a little dubage to alleviate the pain and discomfort of illness. The DEA has actually incarcerated cancer patients and other terminally ill patients for possession of this dastardly weed. What's all the fuss and why do so many have a stake?

Current healthcare trends have seen costs of medical insurance skyrocket in recent years. Pharmaceutical companies have a huge lobby in Washington D.C., to make certain that natural methods of healing and pain relief remain regulated and out of reach of those who need it most.

If everyone were simply allowed to grow a plant or two, they could just head out to the backyard and pluck a leaf or two, instead of spending big bucks on an office visit and the resulting prescriptions.

Law enforcement agencies would be forced to make drastic cut-backs if marijuana were to become legal, even if it were simply for medicinal purposes. More people are put in jail and in prison for having or using marijuana than for the use of any other substance. Just think of all the prison guards who would be jobless if they stopped locking up grandpa and grandma.

For those of us who have serious illnesses: such as fibromylgia, degenerative disc disease and arthritis; few options remain. We are being held hostage by the medical community. Either we pay the exorbitant prices demanded of prescription drugs and suffer the consequences of taking them, such as: addiction or lifelong dependency, not to mention the fact that taking one drug almost certainly leads to the taking of another, just to deal with the side-effects of the first drug or we face jail time for self-medicating.

This is simply wrong! Changes must be made.

I am certainly not an advocate of universal medical insurance but if an individual in this country is not free to make appropriate medical decisions for themselves, then the burden falls on the government to make certain people aren't suffering needlessly.

Too many are suffering needlessly today because of lack of affordable medical care and archaic laws, which limit the ability of a free society to properly care for themselves.

Either we are a free nation or we are a nation of slaves and from where I'm sitting freedom looks a long way off.