# Obamacare prepares for medical marijuana



## Poter Principle (Sep 28, 2009)

EDIT

Obamacare prepares for medical marijuana

Since when is Uncle Sam pushing marijuana cigarettes? Are doobies now the medicine of choice for cancer-sufferers and others?

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 By Rachel Ehrenfield


George Soros must be thrilled. Sixteen years after Soros began his advocacy for drug legalization and promoting "medical marijuana," the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is venturing into the distribution and production of marijuana cigarettes. According to an August solicitation for proposals, the selected organizations will be controlled by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and will have to comply with FDA regulations. Proposals in response to bid N01DA-10-7773 are due in to a Bethesda contracting office by October 9, 2009. 

Until the early 1990s, the voices to legalize drugs in the United States were not in sync. This changed with Soros's first foray into U.S. domestic politics in 1992-1993. Soros declared: "The war on drugs is doing more harm to our society than drug abuse itself," and proceeded with his checkbook advocacy through his Open Society Institute (OSI) to give some $15 million to establish and fund several pro-drug legalization organizations. Since then, he and his like-minded friends have poured many millions into different programs aimed at drug legalization. 

On Feb. 7, 1996, The Wall Street Journal observed that Soros's "sponsorship unified the movement to legalize drugs and gave it the respectability and credibility it lacked." I then opined that unchallenged, Soros would change the political landscape in America. But patiently, Soros has achieved what he set out to get. 

Soros, whose motto is, "If I spend enough, I make it right," uses his donations and philanthropy to change&#8212;or more accurately deconstruct&#8212;the moral values and attitudes of the Western world, and particularly of the American people. While others give to the arts and higher education or to better the quality of the lives of their fellow men, Soros has been funding campaigns for drug legalization, and "medical marijuana," which is described as a "compassionate drug." 

Soros and the other proponents of medical marijuana and drug legalization claim that the price of government-provided "legal" drugs would significantly lower their current price, removing the necessity to commit crimes in order to secure the drug.

But how much would governmental administration add to the cost? And what will happen when the "tax" is added on? When the government outsources the production and distribution, would pharmaceutical and new marijuana cigarette producers be asked to give up their profits? How much would it cost to investigate the black market that will flourish supplying groups prohibited by law from receiving drugs&#8212;adolescents, airline pilots, police officers, etc.? This new industry could create jobs. But are there going to be enough sober workers to perform them? 

NIDA's solicitation for marijuana growth for research is nothing new. Marijuana studies have been conducted over decades, and thousands of them document the adverse effects of this controlled (illegal?&#8212;it's not controlled yet) substance. 

Yet, now, for the first time, the government is soliciting organizations that can grow marijuana on a "large scale," with the capability to "prepare marijuana cigarettes and related products... distribute marijuana, marijuana cigarettes and cannabinoids, and other related products" not only for research, but also for "other government programs." 

Since when is the U.S. government in the business of distributing marijuana cigarettes? Is this part of the health care programs the Obama administration is so keen to enforce? 

Since Obama took office, "medical marijuana" dispensary owners in some of the 15 states where it's legal, or tolerated, report requests "climbed sky high." Medical Marijuana, Inc., an Oregon-based company, which has been traded on the Nasdaq since April of 2009, offers solutions for this emerging industry. Its Web site claims that "the number of ailing people turning to medical marijuana to ease their symptoms has spiked in 2009. Requests have jumped anywhere from 50 percent to 300 percent." 

In California, where medical marijuana is already legal, a massive campaign is underway to legalize all uses of the drug. Soros and other pro-drug legalization organizations claim that tax revenues from marijuana sales would fill the empty coffers of the state with at least $1.4 billion for the first year. The more users, the more money for the state. 

A revenue collection system is already in place to ensure the tax revenues for the states that allow "medical marijuana." The system, developed by Medical Marijuana, Inc., boasts, "The Stored Value Platform System, a point-of-sale system, is a hallmark element of Medical Marijuana's business solutions package." The company has already signed on many marijuana collectives, and lobbies heavily to sign on the City of Oakland, Calif., which is the first city in the nation that voted in favor of collecting tax proceeds from marijuana sale, "as part of the solution to Oakland's longstanding budget shortfall." 

California's current attorney general is former Mayor Jerry Brown, who now runs for governor. While he was governor of California from 1975 to 1983, Brown lowered the fines on marijuana possession. Yet, now he says, "If the whole society starts getting stoned, we're going to be even less competitive." 

As for the harm caused by using marijuana, NIDA reports: "marijuana smoke contains 50 percent to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke... which further increases the lungs' exposure to carcinogenic smoke." Moreover, "marijuana users have a 4.8-fold increase in the risk of heart attack in the first hour after smoking the drug.... This risk may be greater in aging populations or those with cardiac vulnerabilities." 

In addition, marijuana use causes "distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty in thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory," lasting weeks after the initial use. "As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time." 

If the government legitimizes marijuana use and develops a new marijuana cigarettes industry, Soros will no doubt boast that he had a part in this feat. 

The evidence about the harm caused by marijuana to the individual user and society is overwhelming. Yet the government is now moving for large production and distribution of marijuana. If this is part of the ObamaCare project, it would surely cause the opposite of what it is purporting to do. 

Rachel Ehrenfeld writes for The Cutting Edge News and is author of Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It, is director of the American Center for Democracy. 

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author only, not of Spero News.


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## fellafrompocatella (Sep 28, 2009)

Ha...I love it. 4.8-fold increase of having a hear attack. So I'm 28 and my chances of having a heart attack are say um 0. So 4.8 x 0 = 0. Dang, I'm in danger.


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## The Effen Gee (Sep 29, 2009)

What is "obamacare"?


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## gmo (Sep 29, 2009)

I hate when journalists put medical marijuana in quotations "medical marijuana".  It reads like they are kinda calling us liars, especially since almost every time it is mentioned in this article it is in quotations.  I guess I just don't understand why it is in quotations in the first place.  Maybe I'm just reading into it too much.
_
Researchers say that taking 2 "ibuprofen" can help to calm headaches.  _

Does having ibuprofen in quotations accomplish anything?
Another thing that bothers me is the term medical being in front of marijuana..  Is there any difference between marijuana and medical marijuana?  Nope.  Call it marijuana for crying out loud.

_
Researchers say that taking 2 "medical ibuprofen" can help to calm headaches.  _

It just doesn't make sense to me.  
Sorry for the rant, it was a wake and bake kinda morning.


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## IRISH (Oct 1, 2009)

in addition to what y'all stated, i think this Ehrendingdong reporter don't know jack about mj, or mmj for that fact. he/she states that mj causes distorted perceptions, ( like i percieve this person can write an unbiased article, and i was wrong ), and impaired coordination, difficult in thinking, and problem solving, and problems with learning, and memory.

this is so absurd. have you seen a stoner cook??? when i bake, i am Picasso in the kitchen. i even suprise meself sometimes...

ugghh. go find the facts dingdonger before spewing rhetoric...


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## Poter Principle (Oct 4, 2009)

Those side effects are cliché and trivial, but they're the best they can come up with without lying, and never put them in context. SOME people will experience that stuff, and some improve in their performance.

The average Canadian Cannabis consumer is healthier, better educated and remunerated than the average Canadian. 

I'll guess it's the same for you folks in the States.

peace and pot


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## 2Dog (Oct 4, 2009)

I want to put my MM money into a tax free  medical expense account and use the money at the clubs..a girl can dream right?


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## AcesUp (Oct 4, 2009)

The Effen Gee said:
			
		

> What is "obamacare"?


 
That is what the US people are calling the health care reform our government is trying to shove down our throat with break neck speed.


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## Poter Principle (Oct 7, 2009)

gmo said:
			
		

> I hate when journalists put medical marijuana in quotations "medical marijuana".  It reads like they are kinda calling us liars, especially since almost every time it is mentioned in this article it is in quotations.  I guess I just don't understand why it is in quotations in the first place.  Maybe I'm just reading into it too much.
> _
> Researchers say that taking 2 "ibuprofen" can help to calm headaches.  _
> 
> ...



I have no use for those wretched little quotation marks also. I have no use for the term marijuana because of it's conflicted heritage. I have no use for the term medical marijuana because all use is medicinal and Cannabis can only act medicinally upon the body. Even hemp oil functions medicinally for goodness sakes, same as vitamins. The idea that Cannabis is either recreational or medicinal but not both is hogwash. 2 watts.

peace and pot


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## Poter Principle (Oct 7, 2009)

2Dog said:
			
		

> I want to put my MM money into a tax free  medical expense account and use the money at the clubs..a girl can dream right?



Sorta like Cannabucks? You dream well.

I read a story about a lady who started a strain bank. You deposited some, you could take out a proportioned amount, and the banker got a percentage sample for the pleasure of watching over all those beautiful flowers in glass jars in a fridge.

peace and pot


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## mcdstvn (Oct 7, 2009)

Even if the government did start legalizing MJ... don't you think realistically they'd put just as many chems. in the weed as they do tobacco? Tobacco cigarettes can hardly be considered pure anymore. I'm sure they would put everything on steroids to get/keep people addicted, and then pull an "I told you so".

This is why if weed ever IS legalized, I want a statement in the works stating either that "Marijuana sold to the general public will receive no other additives" or, that each person is legally allotted a certain amount of plants for private use.


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