@Aunty Jane
I couldn't quote your post as it was more than a thousand characters, and it wouldn't post so I had to cut out your post, and just post mine unquoted.
I remember that movie Refeer Madness years ago when I was a teen, while I agree with you Aunty Jane as I always do, you always speak the truth and back it up with facts.
Yes Big Pharma will get you on medications they get Doctors to get you on, they even give you free samples given to them by Big Pharma, I know as I am a walking pharmacy because of my ailments, diabetes, anxiety, cholesterol, even though I'm 6'1" and weight about 177 lbs and eat healthy, I still have to take Cholesterol medication because of my diabetes.
I have nothing against the use of medical marijuana if prescribed by a doctor, the legalization of pot as we call here in the US, is not for medicinal use but for getting high, while Big Pharma makes millions on getting people hooked on meds, there are certain medications that are needed that our government has made it hard for legitimate people in pain to obtain, certain levels of pain cannot be eased with marijuana, the pain I was in after surgery would not have been eased with marijuana, they cut bone out of my shoulder, opiates are a necessary evil for people in severe pain, our government has limited the the prescription of that medication, I've heard horror stories of people with cancer having to suffer because they either cut back the dosage or have cut them off their supply, the suffering I went through was some what of a horror story, 15 measly pills after cutting bone out of someone's body is nothing, especially the low dose they gave me.
I had a friend whose mother had bone cancer and they would have to drill into her bones for samples or something like that he explained to me, and they would not prescribe her opiates, that's how bad it's gotten here in the US, I'm all for natural medications, but sometimes you need pharmaceuticals like opiates, and legitimate people in severe or chronic pain shouldn't have to suffer because of dope fiends who abuse the medication, they'll get their fix regardless while the legitimate person in pain suffers, yet they'll legalize marijuana for recreational use, so people can get high, and when they do legalize it it's only at the State level, technically it's still illegal at the Federal level, the Federal Government is the law of the Country and supersedes over State level, I don't really understand how that is, but that how it works in America.
I've had three surgeries in my lifetime, a broken leg, shattered my tibia and Fibula bone on my right leg, that required four surgeries and the whole time during those surgeries I was on some kind of opiate, they had to insert metal rods which my leg wouldn't take to and kept rejecting the metal so they had to withdraw the metal rods and screws, they had me on morphine drip while in the hospital, then switched me to Dilaudid and then Oxycontin I believe 80mg E.R., which they sent me home with a script for, before switching me over to Tramadol a synthetic opiate, I never got hooked, took my meds as prescribed.
I then had another surgery about three years ago where I had Parotid Tumor removed from behind my right jaw and ear, where I was under for about 8 hours, that's how big the tumor had gotten, I was in the hospital overnight being given a dose of Percocet 10/60 which is 10mg Oxycodone and 650mg of Tylenol, every four hours, a month before I even went into surgery I was given three scripts to fill before I went into the hospital for surgery so I could have them ready at home when I got out of the hospital, one was a script of 90 pills of Percocet 10/650 and the other was an antibiotic to prevent infection and another to prevent blood clots, took my meds as prescribed, never got hooked, I doubt it medical marijuana would have relieved the extreme pain I had with those three surgeries, the third surgery, my shoulder surgery, the government had clamped down on the amount of opiate pain pills that could be given to a patient at the current time, which I had on February of this year, I was out of work for two months and suffering, because of the Dope fiend I had to suffer after my supply of low dose 15 pills ran out.
What I'm trying to tell people on here Aunty Jane, is that people will abuse anything if they have those intentions, be it alcohol, prescription drugs and also marijuana, the government should not interfere in a Doctor's choice of medication nor should the pharmacies, if people choose to be irresponsible and abuse their meds then shame on them, but the burden and suffering should not be put on legitimate patients in pain or mental illnesses and the person be made to suffer because of the addict, who will not go to a doctor if he is cut off but will go see his local dope dealer to get his opiates and so forth.
Despite the government cutting down on opiate scripts, the pandemic is still around, heroine addicts are still getting their heroine, most of the times being substituted with Fentanyl, depending on what part of the country you are in, Fentanyl which is deadlier than heroine is more readily available than heroine in landlocked areas of the U.S., here on the East Coast where I'm from they have the ports, that have a steady supply of heroine so it's easier to get than say the Midwest, don't get me wrong there is still Fentanyl on the streets but the addict who knows his dealer can still get the real stuff.
I've tried natural herb medications for sleep,and they never worked, never, my doctor had to put me on Ambien, I suffer from insomnia due to my anxiety and stress, so I can't sleep and had no choice but to be prescribed Ambien, it's the only thing that works, I'm also prescribed tranquilizers for my anxiety, it's so bad, I have no choice or I'd be jumping out of my skin everyday I have to go to work, it's just how I am.
Am I against marijuana for medical use prescribed by a doctor? No. Am I against the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes? Yes.
Medical marijuana is not something new it's been around for a long time, but the legalization for recreational use is new and people will abuse that too, as they don't have to worry about getting caught with it because it's legal, and from what I heard they have such potent strains being fabricated with a higher percentage of THC, that some people have become psychotic or extremely paranoid to the point they kill themselves.
Opiates are natural too, they are made from the poppy plant, let's legalize that or cocaine that's made from the Coca leaf, we'll be one big Nation of happy drug fiends, getting our fixes when ever we want without worry or repercussions of the law.
