Don't Get High….. Get Well

Proposition 19 or “Tax and Regulate”, is not really true legalization of cannabis. To me, “real” legalization means that it is treated the same as alcohol. It would mean that it was readily available. It would mean that as a physician, I could openly do clinical trials at GreenBridge. It would mean that I could open a lab and run as many tests as I wanted on as many strains as needed. I would be able to legally do genetic testing, analytic testing and correlating this data with the associated clinical conditions.

With Prop 19, none of these will be the case. So, this ballot initiative is just a step. Nonetheless it means a lot. It means that nobody is ever arrested. It means, our jails will begin to empty and it means anybody can grow at home in a 25 sq ft area. That will take care of most people’s needs.

With regard to Medical Cannabis, if the physician visit offers nothing more than a signed Recommendation Letter, they will in fact go away. We never needed, and will never need physicians to supervise recreational use of cannabis. We all know it is silly and to me, Prop 19′s other significant contribution is formally setting a boundary, even if vague and gray, between medical and recreational use of cannabis.

As I have said before, if my blood pressure medication made me feel better and more social, I very well might take it at breakfast with friends and share the good feelings. Would that make my blood pressure pill a recreational medication? Of course not.

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