If you're one of the folks who is behind our continued employment of medical marijuana guy J.M. Smith (i.e., you're not one of the folks Tom Danehy talks to on the regular), this should be relevant to your interests: a veterinarian thinks is OK for you to get your pet high — for medicinal purposes only, of course.

From the Associated Press, via azcentral.com:

Leading the charge is Los Angeles veterinarian Doug Kramer, 36, known as the “Vet Guru,” who felt it was his duty to speak out while he has no family that would feel a verbal or financial backlash.

“I grew tired of euthanizing pets when I wasn’t doing everything I could to make their lives better,” he said. “I felt like I was letting them down.”

Pot eased his Siberian husky’s pain during her final weeks, after she had surgery to remove tumors. Not only did Nikita stop whimpering while using cannabis, but she started eating, gaining weight and meeting him at the door again.

It gave him six extra weeks with his dog before he had to euthanize her, he says. It wasn’t a cure, but he thinks it freed her of pain and improved her last days.

Some other vets contacted said they share Kramer’s view on pot, but they wouldn’t talk on the record for fear of arrest or retaliation.

Huh. Well, that's well and good, but there's got to be a contrast, right? Help us out here, Colorado:

Vets who want traditional testing point to a study by two Colorado animal hospitals that compared the number of dogs treated for what appeared to be accidental marijuana overdoses between 2005 and 2010 with increases in the number of marijuana licenses issued. As registrations increased 146-fold, the number of sickened pets went up four-fold.

“Sometimes public sentiment and activity gets ahead of the scientific background and that can be dangerous,” said Barry Kellogg, senior veterinary adviser to the Humane Society of the United States.

While two dogs with pot in their system died in the Colorado survey, hallucinogenic reactions may make dogs wobbly on their legs, raise their pulse and cause dribbly urine, said Dr. Karl Jandrey, an emergency and critical care vet at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at the University of California, Davis.

Spectacular.

As the AP notes, one can get past severely f—king up their pet with weed by actually taking care to properly dose the critter, as with portioned out treats.

At the same time, doesn't it seem inherently selfish to try to extend the life of a living being who is suffering? I mean sure, give the dog all the THC drops in the world if you want, but it seems cruel to drag out the final days of a creature who won't necessarily be able to enjoy it as much as you may wish.