Here's your Irony Alert for the day/hour/minute:
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/...
Sheldon Adelson, the mega-rich casino magnate who last week donated $2.5 million to the anti-Amendment 2 group Drug Free Florida, also happens to have his own medical research group.
And according to that group's own studies, medical marijuana has been shown to aid those who suffer from multiple sclerosis.
Though I used to post a lot of marijuana reform diaries back in the day, I've been more involved recently in the industry itself lately, and not so much the politics of it. However, the recent passage of the pro-MMJ bill in the House of Representatives, of all places, has given Obama political cover to stop dithering and procrastinating on re-scheduling marijuana to a Schedule II substance.
Oregon currently has over 100,000 signatures and is (hopefully) seeking more as a buffer for its November ballot, while Florida appears to be in good position to pass its medical amendment this fall.
There is certainly something absurd about guys in their 20s like me trying to convince old people in USA to legalize something that will help them in their old age. It's like dragging an old, senlie horse dying from dehydration to water and hoping it will somehow manage to stop being stubborn and sip the damn water. Nevermind the fact that me and my generation keeps racking up criminal convictions for a plant that scientists have already designated as medicinal.
Then again, generation after generation of old, white Americans have died without the palliative assistance of cannabis, so it's possible that one or two more go down that same path.
Meanwhie, Republicans like Rick Scott are taking credit for recent CBD-only bills in South Carolina, Alabama, and Florida. [CBD is one of the cannabinoids that I blogged about on dailykos as far back as 2008 and predicted its future importance in medical applications. I also bloggged about GW Pharmaceuticals quite a long time before they became the hugely capitalized corporation that they are now).
Why are Republicans doing exactly what I predicted they would do, i.e taking the cannabis torch from Democrats and using it to their PR advantage? Because of Democrats like Cuomo in the state of New York, who do everything they can to flip flop, backtrack, and double-talk on the issue of cannabis. Had it not been for a shit Democrat like Cuomo, medical marijuana would have been legal in New York weeks and weeks ago. One brave Democratic woman is leading the good fight in NY---State Sen. Diane Savino.
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/...
I selfishly hope, for both my sake and my friends in my generation, that we can break the USA govt's blockade on cannabis research so that we don't die from cancers that THC or CBD can help cure. Perhaps if we can get Government out of the way, we'll be able to help folks sooner than later.