First Pharmaceutical Treatment for PTSD Within Reach

[RainDog]

31. You know what's funny, politically, about this issue?

Not funny-ha-ha but funny ironic...

Jimmy Carter, who wanted to decriminalize marijuana when he was in office, was also the president who made it possible for the craft beer brewing market to exist.

Since that time, Americans have created brews to rival those in Europe produced over hundreds of years. What a great way to open up the American market to better products and small businesses!

(My ex is from Belgium, where they have 100 different "craft" beers from those monks back in the day with a lot of time and hops on their hands, so I really appreciate the use of beer, like wine, to accompany foods - and just like the variety. My former s-i-l went to cooking school, so she taught me lots about this, at least from the taster's pov. lol. oh, and interesting aside, too - cannabis is related to hops used to brew beer.)

Anyway, Teddy Kennedy undermined Carter's re-election campaign and, of course, his family's vested interest was in distilled spirits. And now one of the biggest voices from the Democratic Party to maintain marijuana prohibition is Patrick Kennedy. The alcoholic beverage industry doesn't want the competition from boutique marijuana, in the same way they didn't want the competition from craft beer breweries. I wonder if that has anything to do with Patrick's "principled stance" on this issue. lol.

I agree with you that a better approach to addiction is to treat it as a health issue rather than a criminal issue, all around. I also think that all drugs should be decriminalized and those hard drugs that really disrupt people's lives should be available cheaply, clean needles should be free, and the same place where addicts get drugs could be the same place where they can sign on to an addiction treatment program - and these should be readily available. We would save lives and would save millions of dollars by dealing with secondary illnesses related to addictions by making it possible to acquire them without resorting to an illegal market. Take the mystique of being an outlaw out of the life surrounding such drugs and view the people who use them as someone with a sickness whose illness can be treated or, at the least, ameliorated without as many problems from criminal activity, etc. Get it off the streets and make the streets safe.