Too much medical reefer? More government is not the answer.

There is a problem with the over prescripion of medical marijuana in Colorado. Fortunately, the solution to the problem already exists.

The pro-big government statists in both major parties, however, can not let the "crisis" go to waste. The boom of medical marijuana providers in Colorado gives the statists another opportunity to create another layer of government bureaucracy and government control over individuals and the doctor/patient relationship.

He complains that

That presents a problem. It must be addressed.

However, Dr. Thurstone loses some credibility when he declares "Now, almost every day, a kid asks me, 'Doc, how can marijuana be bad? It's a medicine.'"

The good doctor is exasperated that he has to answer this question, as if the kid has a good point he can not refute.

That is an absurd conclusion. The kid does not have a good point. The doctor should tell the kid that valium, vicodin and oxycontin are medicine, too, and the kid should not be doing those things either, unless he has a medical need for them.

Of course, to answer in such a way is place marijuana on the same legitimate medicinal grounds as these prescription drugs. Dr. Thurstone does not wish to do this, and his bias is apparent.

(Of course, valium, vicodin and oxycontin are all more addictive and dangerous than marijuana, but let's not confuse the issue with clarity).

Dr. Thurstone has a higher opinion of his ability to determine if patients need medical marijuana than his fellow MDs. He disagrees with many of them.

He probably has a point. But let's not pretend that this is a new situation. Unethical MDs have wrongfully prescribed all kinds of medicine ever since the first prescription pad was printed.

Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson's doctors immediately come to mind.

The problem is not medical marijuana. The problem is its inappropriate prescription by licensed medical professionals. There already exists a way to deal with incompetent and/or unethical doctors.

Anyone, even other doctors like Thurstone, can file a complaint with the Colorado Board of Medical Examiners if one believes a medical doctor is acting in an unethical manner.

I found the form online in about five minutes.

The checklist of potential complaints includes "overprescribing of medications." It seems like Dr. Thurstone is in dire search of a solution that already exists, and it's as obvious as a bong at a baptism.

It appears that the good doc's real problem is that medical marijuana exists at all.

If one believes that a medical doctor is overprescribing a medicine, any medicine, report him to the board that already exists. There is no need to lobby the legislature for more government intrusion into citizens' lives.

Physician, heal thyself. And leave the legislature out of it.

1.   Chris Maj
     January 31st, 2010 @ 6:56 pm

   What’s this about a doctor’s permission slip?

   By what right does the government intervene in free market interactions between consumers and pharmacists, except to prevent force and fraud?

   Who ceded to those in uniforms this authority over decisions about what free people put into their own bodies?

   Where in the constitution is marijuana prohibited and why did it take an amendment to do the same for alcohol?

   Why is the topic of limited government discouraged from entering the debate over the War on Drugs by many of the same individuals who see no fault in brandying about the argument in the context of general health care issues?

2.   Med Pot
     February 1st, 2010 @ 11:08 am

   Great article. Anything out there with a negative twist about medical marijuana is propaganda and BS. It has been far too long that it has been illegal. Too many people’s lives ruined by arrests. 800,000 plus people in the US last year were arrested for having a joint or similar. That is BS.
   I don’t think the physicians should be involved at all. The rapid medical marijuana movement going on right now is just our Trojan horse to have it out right legalized for everyone that is an adult.

   I would like to see the federal government pass a law making marijuana legal for anyone just like cauliflower and leave it up to parents to keep their kids from smoking it. They will make billions and also save billions. It’s really a no brainer.
   The trick is that the movement has to deal with old school people like the doctor in this article. The old school Reefer Madness people need to let it go. The long overdue legalization wave is already on it’s way and the older generation is sipping Mai Tais on the beach in horror seeing this wave that is coming. What they need to do is grab a surf board and join them. Because the cat is out of the bag, they can’t put it back now. Thank god.

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