posted here - http://www.democraticunderground.com/1170125
Abstract: Given the very limited toxicity of marijuana and the growing appreciation of its therapeutic value, it will undoubtedly find increasing application as a medicine in the coming years. But there is uncertainty about the forms in which it will be made available. Governments are hesitant to approve it because of concern about its use for nonmedical purposes and the difficulties of distributing as a medicine a substance that is already easily available. An alternative is the development of commercial cannabis pharmaceuticals that can be regulated and controlled. But pharmaceutical firms will be reluctant to invest the necessary money if they believe they cannot compete successfully with marijuana. Some of these products may have advantages over whole smoked or ingested marijuana, but most will not, and they will all be quite expensive. Ultimately, we can anticipate two medical distribution networks, a legal one for cannabinoid pharmaceuticals and an illegal one for street or homegrown marijuana
Marijuana will never be classified as a drug in its natural state... because it's not. And I don't think it should be.
What pharma cos are trying to do, however, is to pretend that their whole-plant cannabis meds are not cannabis and that synthetics that isolate molecules are just as good - and, for some people at least, they're not.
The only way we're going to have sensible cannabis policy is to remove it from the Controlled Substances Act, which is what Polis' legislation intends to do.
Just as people may use valerian root instead of valium or St. John's Wort instead of an SSRI, some people may prefer to use an inexpensive but less potent form of what will become a synthetic medicine for other applications.
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