Originally published June 12 2013
Nanny state control freak Bloomberg declares medical marijuana a 'hoax'
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) Mr. Nanny State himself, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is at it again, making ridiculous statements about subjects in which he knows next to nothing about.
This time, the subject is medical marijuana, and the anointed one says there are no medical benefits from its use. In fact, hizzoner said as much on his radio show recently, where he proclaimed medical marijuana a hoax and a scam.
"There's no medical," Bloomberg said on his program, which is broadcast on WOR.
"This is one of the great hoaxes of all time," he added during a discussion about legalization of marijuana across the country. "Drug dealers have families to feed. If they can't sell marijuana, they'll sell something else."
He went onto say that there will be "something else" worse than dope.
"The push to legalize, this is just wrongheaded," he said.
Bloomberg playing loose with the facts
When he was running for mayor for his first term in 2001 Bloomberg admitted experimenting with marijuana when he was younger, and he referenced that early use during his show, MyFoxNY.com reported. He said pot is much stronger now than it was 20 or 30 years ago, however.
Pot use and possession remains a federal offense, but voters in Colorado and Washington decided last November to legalize and regulate its use in those states. (The Obama Administration - concerned about so-called "racist" aspects of Arizona's law to combat illegal immigration - has decided so far not to pursue action against the pot-smoking state laws, but I digress.)
As of now there are 18 states and the District of Columbia had legalized marijuana for medical uses only.
As for Bloomberg's preconceived viewpoints on the purposes of and medical uses for marijuana, the man simply is not discussing the issue from a factual standpoint. From DrugPolicy.org:
The most egregious outcome of marijuana prohibition is that many sick people cannot legally access the medicine that works best for them. For many seriously ill people, medical marijuana is the only medicine that relieves their pain and suffering, or treats symptoms of their medical condition, without debilitating side effects. Marijuana has been shown to alleviate symptoms of a huge variety of serious medical conditions including cancer, AIDS, and glaucoma, and is often an effective alternative to synthetic painkillers.
Medical use for pain control especially
Adds the Pain Management of America clinics:
Marijuana can be very effective in treating a number of illnesses and diseases. Some of the more common conditions and symptoms treated with medical marijuana include chronic pain, nausea, glaucoma, seizure disorders, cancer, diabetes, muscle spasms, and many more.
What's more, support for medical marijuana use is rising around the country. An April 2013 survey by the Pew Research Center found that support for marijuana legalization is now supported by a majority of Americans - the first time that has happened in 40 years' worth of examining the question.
"A national survey finds that 52 percent say that the use of marijuana should be made legal while 45 percent say it should not," Pew said of its survey results.
"Support for legalizing marijuana has risen 11 points since 2010. The change is even more dramatic since the late 1960s. A 1969 Gallup survey found that just 12 percent favored legalizing marijuana use, while 84 percent were opposed."
Ending the stigma
Part of that shift in attitude is that more and more, science is debunking the belief that pot use leads to more usage of harder drugs. But also it is because Americans just don't view marijuana as the boogeyman they once did.
"The percentage of Americans who say that smoking marijuana is morally wrong also has declined dramatically since 2006. A survey earlier this year found that 32 percent of Americans say that smoking marijuana is morally wrong, down 18 points since 2006. Over the same period, the percentage saying it is not a moral issue has increased by 15 points (from 35 percent to 50 percent)," Pew Research said.
In any event, Bloomberg's rant is just plain wrong and it needs to be challenged.
Sources for this article include:
http://www.myfoxny.com
http://www.naturalnews.com/029690_medical_marijuana_debate.html
http://www.people-press.org
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