How The US Is Changing Its Mind On Marijuana

Today's interesting post from the Australian abc.net.au (see link below) takes a slightly different look at the progress of marijuana legalisation in the United States. The gradual recognition of the benefits of medical marijuana for a variety of conditions (including neuropathic pain) has led to more and more states legalising the herb thus allowing many more people to take advantage. It's one of the few areas where the USA actually seems to be taking a more liberal stand than most of the rest of the world. Worth a read.

The dope on legalising marijuana in the US
Ben Knight reported this story on Sunday, March 23, 2014
Listen to MP3 of this story ( minutes)

Alternate WMA version | MP3 download

ELIZABETH JACKSON: This month in the US, the District of Columbia became the latest jurisdiction to vote to decriminalise marijuana.

There's been a sea change in public attitudes towards the drug in America.

In the space of less than 10 years, public support for marijuana legalisation has gone from around 25 per cent to almost 60 per cent.

Much of that has to do with the medical marijuana revolution, which began in San Francisco back in 1996.

Ben Knight reports from Washington, DC.

BEN KNIGHT: Not surprisingly, there are lots of reasons for the shift in public support for marijuana law reform in the US.

One of them is simply demographics. As the baby boomers get older, there are simply more people who have had some kind of experience smoking dope, including this guy:

BARACK OBAMA: I didn't have a dad in the house, and I was angry about it, even though I didn't necessarily realise it at the time. I made bad choices. I got high, without always thinking about the harm that it could do. I didn't always take school as seriously as I should have. And the only difference is that I grew up in an environment that was a little bit more forgiving. So when I made a mistake, the consequences were not as severe.

BEN KNIGHT: It was a powerful message from president Barack Obama, because he didn't just admit that he'd used marijuana, but that he'd misused it, and that he'd been luckier than a lot of other teenagers - especially black teenagers.

In many places in this country, minorities make up the vast bulk of marijuana arrests. But this is an issue that unites the left and right wings of politics.

Libertarian Republicans look at the amount of taxpayer money that goes into marijuana prosecutions - and the cost to society - and they compare that to the tax dollars they see coming back in from states that have legal medical marijuana.

Others on the right take the view that the government simply shouldn't be regulating what people choose to do in their own lounge rooms.

Now the debate is of course far from over, and there are very real concerns, particularly about the effect of marijuana on young developing minds, and what kind of message legalising it - or even just decriminalising it - sends to teenagers.

But there's little doubt that either that marijuana supporters are winning that debate. And a lot of that has to do with medical marijuana.

(Rabbi Jeffery Kahn enters)

BEN KNIGHT: Jeffery, how are you?

JEFFERY KAHN: Great. Welcome - delighted that you're here.

BEN KNIGHT: Thank you, great to be here.

(Voiceover): This is the Takoma Wellness Centre in Washington, DC.

JEFFREY KAHN: This door leads to the dispensary.

BEN KNIGHT: Wow, look at it.

(Voiceover): There are thousands of centres like this in 20 states across the US. The owner of this one is Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn.

JEFFREY KAHN: Many of our patients are older. They have never had an experience with cannabis.

BEN KNIGHT: He started this business with his wife Stephanie in 2010.

Their only experience with marijuana was through Stephanie's parents, both of whom used medical marijuana but who had to do it illegally.

STEPHANIE KAHN: We really saw what it could do, but we also saw the fear that they had.

BEN KNIGHT: Stephanie's father was first, after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

STEPHANIE KAHN: Back in the 70s, the doctors started saying 'try marijuana.' And this was the 70s - he had a teenage daughter, and he was a very straight-laced businessman - and he was like, 'no, I'm not going to.'

But eventually he ended up trying it and it made a huge difference. It helped his spasms, it helped his neuropathies in his fingers and his feet, and it helped pain - it really helped him.

But we were all scared to death. I mean this was, again, the 70s and my parents particularly were afraid that someone was going to go knocking down their door and arrest them.

BEN KNIGHT: Then, after her father died, the family moved from Miami to Washington, where Stephanie's mother was diagnosed with cancer.

STEPHANIE KAHN: We hadn't been living here, we didn't know anybody, we couldn't get anything for her, she couldn't. And so she essentially was diagnosed in June 2009, and died in august 2009, and she wasted away. And the doctor kept saying 'you really need to try some of this and to use it just so you can take something down - eat something.'

BEN KNIGHT: This was at exactly the time that the District of Columbia voted to legalise medical marijuana. Stephanie and Jeffrey didn't think twice about opening their own dispensary.

STEPHANIE KAHN: I just fell in love with the idea. This would be something in my parents' memory. We can open some place that they could have gone to, that people like them could go to and feel safe and get help.

I get choked up every time I talk about this.

It was really important that we could do something here in their neighbourhood. It just meant a lot.

BEN KNIGHT: Tell me about your patients. I mean, do they remind you of your parents?

STEPHANIE KAHN: Yes, a number of them do, it's really amazing.

JEFFREY KAHN: I think that we're going to find some form of legalisation in just about every state. It's what's happening - there really isn't significant opposition, and I think that the old laws just don't really make any sense to anyone anymore.

BEN KNIGHT: This is Ben Knight in Washington for Correspondents Report.

http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2014/s3969374.htm