Fuck "Medical Marijuana;" Only Full Legalization of Recreational Pot Will Work

The catch here is Kentucky's horrific, patient-killing law "KASPER."  Intended to put opioid-pushing doctors out of business, its draconian punishments have terrified Kentucky physicians away from prescribing needed painkillers.

The result has been that people in chronic, disabling pain have had to turn to street pushers and those very pill-pushing doctors to get the pain relief KASPER denies them.

"Medical Marijuana" would simply add pot to the list of needed pain relievers Kentucky sufferers cannot get because legitimate doctors are terrified of losing their medical license under KASPER.

Only fully-legalized pot can solve multiple problems:  provide over-the-counter pain relief to people who need it, put opioid pushers out of business, and pour billions into Kentucky's economy.

This bill is a fucking waste of time.

From the Herald:

A small group of Republican lawmakers on Wednesday announced their support for medical marijuana, filing a bill that would allow doctors to prescribe it when they believed it medically appropriate.

But the effort faces a chilly reception from legislative leaders, who say they are skeptical of the medical value of marijuana and wary of its side effects, such as its effect on brain development in youths.

“Where is the study?” Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, asked in a floor speech Wednesday. “Deliver me the study. An appropriate Tier 3 study with control groups that says it is medicinal or therapeutic.”

Thirty-three states have legalized medical marijuana since California led the way in 1996. Kentucky should not continue to outlaw a natural drug that could help the state’s estimated 40,000 to 60,000 people living in chronic pain because of various health problems, said state Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville.

“I’ve never taken an illegal drug in my life,” Nemes said at the news conference introducing House Bill 136.

“But let me tell you, and I want to say it clearly, and I would say it in front of every camera in Kentucky. If my son or my wife or my parents or one of my brothers or sisters would benefit from medical marijuana, tell me where to get it. Even if it’s illegal. And I would submit that 99 percent of Kentuckians would do the same thing,” Nemes said.

The 149-page bill lays out the terms for how medical marijuana would be prescribed, taken and — in certain limited circumstances — grown by the patient, with information about plants grown in the home to be reported to local law enforcement.

The Kentucky Office of Alcoholic Beverage Control would regulate the practice. State-licensed dispensaries would sell cannabis in its various forms, such as edibles or salves, with law enforcement able to track prescriptions through a database to prevent widespread abuse, sponsors said.

“Kentuckians want the opportunity to help themselves when they’re sick. We’re going to trust the doctors,” Nemes said.