I want to talk to you about a dirty little secret.
You might have heard about it; it was on the front page of the papers and was the lead story on virtually every evening newscast in Arizona for a while, and it’s been the topic of much barroom banter and water-cooler conversation.
Here it is: Doctors can now certify you to smoke pot, to ease your pain or soften your muscle spasms or improve your appetite. Now, you would think that word—doctors—would have some impact on the situation, and maybe lend some degree of legitimacy to the growing, sharing, smoking and eating of marijuana.
Sorry. It seems that shame pervades.
Marijuana is a touchy subject in many circles. It’s not the kind of thing you necessarily tell your mom or your neighbors about, even if your doctor says it’s OK. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is.
I have met a doctor, a lawyer and a police officer who smoke pot. I smoked pot with a guy who was responsible for thousands of employees in a multinational corporation. I have smoked pot with a teacher. They all inhaled, but they aren’t likely to start sparking it up at dinner parties simply because it’s now sort-of legal.
In recent months, I have met several folks who are now certified, card-carrying medical-marijuana users. None started smoking because the law changed, and they aren’t broadcasting their marijuana use any more than they ever did. There is a tangible hesitancy when the topic comes up. People lower their voices and whisper behind their hands.
“Pssst. Did you get your card yet?”
I have run up against the shame on several fronts. There is inherent risk in taking this writing gig. I have a reputation to uphold, for God’s sake (though some who know me might laugh at that), and I might face some ire. That’s why the kindly editors of the Tucson Weekly are allowing the unusual buffer of a pseudonym.
My mother doesn’t know I smoke marijuana, though I think she might suspect it.
And the shame isn’t limited to patients.
My own doctor, who has known me for the better part of a decade and has treated several episodes of my neck pain, won’t certify patients for marijuana. His physician’s assistant told me, “He doesn’t really support that.” Then she gave me his referral to a clinic for an evaluation. They cheerfully faxed my medical records to the naturopath who evaluated me.
My doctor doesn’t support it—or doesn’t want to be associated with it?
I asked another doctor about it, one who does support medical marijuana. She told me that if she certifies patients, she will automatically be associated with the shady-seeming clinics that appear to be more about marketing than medicine. (See www.emedicalmarijuanacard.com.) So she won’t certify patients, either.
Some of the pervasive shame surrounding medical marijuana probably comes from the murky legal waters. Ask some folks, and they will tell you pot is legal now. But that’s state law. The feds look the other way in most instances, but there have been raids.
Thus far, Arizona has escaped a federal chronic crackdown, but the threat is there nonetheless. Just ask Jan Brewer. It’s a dichotomy in the law that gives some people pause.
I also know an Iraq veteran whose girlfriend isn’t a huge fan of marijuana. She never seemed to like it much when he smoked it … until there was a legal avenue. It’s a kind of institutional shame, maybe. First, she conceded that it would be OK if he had a medical-marijuana card. Now she thinks maybe he should become a caregiver.
Now that’s progress.
So the real battle for medical marijuana didn’t happen (and certainly wasn’t won) in the voting booth last November. It isn’t playing out in the courts, with a clear victor, justly and rightly presided over by a judge in cases involving clubs or dispensaries.
The real battle is playing out deep in the folds of our collective psyche, down where we hide the dirty little secrets.
I hope we can find a way for everyone to win.
This article appears in Oct 6-12, 2011.
I think that part of the battle is for the intelligent, productive people in society who do enjoy marijuana socially (not just as medicine) to step forward and say “I love it!” Marijuana is not some kind of awful drug. I strongly prefer it to alcohol, which is destructive.
I pay taxes, I work hard, I keep my house clean and I pay my bills on time. I accomplish more in one day than a lot of people do in a week. And marijuana is my mild drug of choice.
And I know many, many other people who feel the same way. Writers, scientists, doctors, physicists, accountants, athletes. We all need to stand up and say hey, this is no big deal. See, even you, the author, are using a psuedonym, because you are afraid of professional repercussions.
It’s so stupid, really. Drunks are a huge problem for society, as are cigarette smokers.
I’m just going about my business, getting things done, being a good girl. And I’m tired as hell of being classed as a criminal.
I tend to disaggree with you Kate.
I’m not a user but all for medical and recreational MJ use. Unfortunately the “recreational/social” use of MJ won’t get anywhere for anyone. The problem is the stigma put on MJ use and the coupling it with other drugs that are more severe. All the misconceptions that use of MJ leads to harder drugs need to be cleared. A lot of closed minded people out there of course and no offense to anyone but it’s mainly the older people(mainly over 65) who are like this. Theres a lot less younger aged groups that do this(i’m 49).
With all this comes the fear that their children or people they know will get addicted or whatever.
On the flip side of the coin you said that drunks and cigarette smokers are a huge problem. Im sure you’ll aggree that if a recreational or medical MJ user if they are impaired at the time they are using should not be behind the wheel of a car driving which like alcohol or any kind of drug that impairs you can be dangerous. Im sure that can be listed as a “huge” problem too. Therefore everything needs to be taken into perspective – that is responsible people with responsible use of a product or non use of a product while driving or operating dangerous equipment.
Again all the above is worthless if the misunderstandings about MJ are not fully educated, clarified and understood nothing will happen.
And again just because politicians, doctors, lawyers, accountants, physicists, athletes etc might come out and proclaim “I pay my taxes and I LIKE IT therefore it should be legal” will never hold up. Its almost like athletes who want to use steroids(there are safe ones). Just isnt going to happen that way no matter how much they want it, even if they proclaim it.
If we accept that recreational drugs like alcohol are legal, then it is silly to make marijuana, a milder and less damaging drug, illegal. That is my point about people like me stepping forward.
It shouldn’t be illegal in the first place. And the law already covers DUI- it’s all impairment, not just drunkenness.
My statement about alcohol and cigarettes being bad for society refers more to the health consequences of each- it costs us so much money to deal with the fallout of alcoholism and lung cancer alone, never mind the ball of social problems and increased susceptibility to disease in general.
My intoxicant seems quite mild in comparison, any way I look at it.
How come you’re not reviewing the local “patient/caregiver clubs.” Accordingly, there are three of them in Tucson. Also, DEA raided a Tempe “club.” What happened there and is it going to affect the local scene? Some research, please.
AMERICA there is no such plant as a marijuana plant, it’s CANNABIS.
The fact that we have an endocannabinoid system that needs to be kept turned on or we end up with cancers, schizophrenia, to name but two, should also tell you that we need cannabis.
The latest study shows that the cause of schizophrenia is low or non functioning CB2 receptor, therefore requiring that to be turned on with a good CBD strain.
While the idiots continue to demonise cannabis, they need to start to give genuine reasons, there is NO biblical reason for not using, in fact we are told that every green plant brearing seed is for our use/food. There is NO scientific reason for not using, in fact our endocannabiniod system says we need it. There is no other reason, and since Alcohol is the most abused drug on the planet and yet it is approved by the church, governments, idiots and bigots alike, there is therefore no moral reason either.
So if you cannot back with science or the bible why cannabis should not be available to the same levels as alcohol, then frankly you need to shut up and perhaps have a cookie, to help your brain start to function correctly for the first time in your life.
I am sick of the liars, those who claim that cannabis is evil, dangerous, or have no reason at all but continue to want it banned. Proving the dumb will always be with us, unfortunately they are getting dumber and dumber, lack of cannabis will cause that, and alcohol kills brain cells, the reason they are getting dumber.
OH yeah the USA signed the Single Convention on Narcotics, the obligations to governments is to ensure supply for medical and scientific purpose, any raid therefore on any medical outlet is in breach of that treaty and should therefore be taken to the highest court in the land. By the way, cannabis is not according to all scientific standards NOT a narcotic also NOT a drug of addiction, unless coffee is going to be added to the list too.
Hear hear Kate McKinnon! I pay homage to your superbly spirited defense of an individual’s right to decide what substances they may consume, for medical or leisure purposes-such should be the case in any free society.
The stigma attached to cannabis is entirely pointless, hypocritical and vestigial, the remnant of an era when alteration of consciousness was considered a threat to the status quo. Sadly, there are those who still believe we live in those times, their noses buried firmly in religious tomes and/or to the grindstone of guilt lashed around their neck by former generations. It’s time to eradicate this zombie philosophy and consign it to history’s crematorium along with the inverse logic and legal consequences bred by its adherents. And if said adherents have a problem with it, they should suffer the same fate.
if marijuana is to ever be tolerated or accepted in america we should show TRUE compassion for the ill who are on the front lines.having drug thugs and dealers making obscene amounts of money “helping the sick.” they charge $20 a gram,no seeds or help growing,just money please.that is not how the law reads and they are ruining it for everyone.many medical card holders are very sick,on medicare and fixed income.but dealers don’t care.money or suffer.as they get rich off the sick,they must enjoy their booty,as they have wild parties laughing at the “sick peasants.”who is really the sick ones.i am very schooled at street dealing and was hoping this law would help toward legalization.wrong.i sit here and suffer because i don’t have hundreds of dollars.only ending the drug war will stop these drug thugs.a buddy i know in oregon said he can grow medical for $15 an ounce.i know this is fact.i feel i was a chump to get a card.just to add all drugs are de-criminalized in mexico.viva mexico.
I had a drink with some friends this evening and one of them told us that he had called Mayoral candidate, Jonathon Rothschild’s office to ask his position on Medical Marijuana. He was told by the woman he spoke with that she would call him back with an answer. As of tonight my friend had not heard back. He had called the Rothschild office yesterday morning.
… just sayin. If your reading this, call your local politicians (or soon to be politicians) and ask what their position is. I, as a voter, want to know, and I want them to know their position makes a difference on how I vote.
I am happy to see that all of the posted comments are in support of MJ use, or MMJ use. When all of these and other supportive voices come out of the closet, and start VOTING for/against, supporters/opponents, they may start waking up! And while I appreciate most of the comment by ‘Creeping Critter’, I take strong exception to his obviously unenlightened position that: “A lot of closed minded people out there of course and no offense to anyone but it’s mainly the older people(mainly over 65) who are like this.” This is pure nonsense! I am over 65, and a 40+ year veteran of MJ use, and now a ‘legal’ card-carrying patient of MMJ. Most of my friends are between 55-70, and 90% use MJ. If you are old enough to remember, it was WE that introduced the basically public use of MJ, and preached of its medical uses, 40 years ago! The stats form the AZ Dept of Health report that over 85% of MMJ permitees are between 55-70! We are the ones who started NORML, and basically every other movement to make the public aware of the harmlessness and helpfulness of MJ. While I am happy that MMJ has been realized, I am still very upset that my rights, to use a common herb, a weed, any way I like, have been repressed by the GOVT (actually only one or two people with far too much power, 75 years ago!) by creating bogus laws to prevent me from enjoying what ‘GOD’, or whatever you wish to call ‘IT’, has placed on the planet for use by all who inhabit it. What audacity to put ones self above the Creator!! Put these people out of office! Anyone and everyone that opposes the free use of free-growing herbs, while supporting the use of ‘processed’ alcohol, tobacco and classified narcotics, should NOT be in public office! (IMHO) And now… they are taking away out 2nd amendment rights, if we choose to use legal MMJ? What new fascism is this? Wow, when will we wake up? Have we forgotten, ‘Metropolis’, 1984, Farenheit 451? We have been warned, and now we reap the reward of our complacency! How sad for our children and theirs!! ad infinitum!