Going to Pot
medGadget has a timeline of references for
Medicinal uses of Pot:
Marijuana As Medicine: A Short History
With the recent SCOTUS decision on medical marijuana and our coverage of a possible nonmedgadget, and as a part of our regular Friday "The Good Old Days..." feature, we have decided to take a look into the history of cannabis as medicine. Conveniently enough, CBS 5 TV of SF/Oakland/San Jose (where else?) brings us a short list titled "The History Of Marijuana As Medicine", part of which we reproduce below:
2737 BC -- Emperor Shen-Nung in China prescribes cannabis for beri-beri, constipation, 'female weakness,' gout, malaria, rheumatism and absentmindedness.
2000 BC -- In Egypt, cannabis is used to treat sore eyes.
1400 BC -- A Bronze Age drug trade supplied hashish and opium to ancient cultures throughout the eastern Mediterranean as balm for the pain of childbirth and disease.
1000 BC -- Cannabis use begins in India to overcome hunger and thirst by the religious mendicants.
1000 BC -- Bhang, a cannabis preparation (a drink, generally mixed with milk) is used as an anesthetic and anti-phlegmatic in India.
200 BC -- In ancient Greece, cannabis is used as a remedy for earache, edema, and inflammation.
200 AD -- A Chinese physician, Hoa-Tho, prescribes cannabis as an analgesic in surgical procedures.
800 AD -- Mohammed allows cannabis but forbids alcohol.
1000 AD -- Moslems produce hashish as medicine.
1621 -- The medical book The Anatomy of Melancholy by English clergyman Robert Burton claims cannabis is a treatment for depression.
And many many more...
I don't use it, it puts me to sleep with unpleasant dreams but I do not consider it to be as evil as the current crop of legislators paint it to be and there seem to be some major medical benefits for its use.
In my thoughts, the US Government could make great advances in the "drug war" if they legalized it but licensed it and taxed it. They could deliver several standardized products through the same channels as are used for Liquor distribution, derive tax revenue from them. Someone driving under the influence (a simple chemical test) would be subject to the same penalties as driving over the BAC limit.
The customer would be assured of a standardized product, no surprises, no rip-offs, no hassles from 'The Man'.
What's not to love?
Of course, any criminals involved in distribution would loose money so they would not be happy. But criminals do not influence the Government now, do they?
Crime Lords and Senators?
Naaaa...
Posted by DaveH at June 26, 2005 9:30 PM