Alcohol use is not a cause of wife-beating. It just so happens that more drunkards abuse wives. There is a correlation, not a cause. Most people who get drunk _don't_ hit their spouses.

Alcohol absolutely causes violence, in many forms. Specifically, the drug lowers your inhibitions, and someone who is intoxicated is more likely to act on an unpleasant urge that a sober person could suppress. It is legal (within boundaries) because we've decided as a society that most people can control their usage of alcohol, and the risks do not merit a ban.

I will say that I've never seen marijuana/hemp/whatever else do anything really positive for a person outside of draining a couple of thousand dollars per year that could be going to something more useful. Whether or not you get high is your own personal choice, but society as a whole should disapprove of it, because it is harmful, unattractive, and ####s up your brain chemistry.

You're correct that it's not a healthy habit-- I don't touch it for those reasons, just like I don't touch cigarettes, I don't eat a lot of fatty foods, and I drink only in moderation. That said, it doesn't particularly bother me if other people have unhealthy habits, so long as they don't impact me.

The question is: Should marijuana be in the class with cocaine/heroin/etc. (where it is now), or in the class with alcohol/tobacco (regulated but legal)? Obviously, if you allowed people to purchase marijuana, it would have to fall under many of the same restrictions-- no driving while influenced, no smoking in public places where others are exposed, minimum age, etc. Several countries treat marijuana in this class, and are able to keep things under control.

Legalizing it for medical use is still pretty useless, I think, because at this day and age there are better painkillers, and we have enough problems with people addicted to prescription drugs that adding another whole category of addictive substances via prescription would be retarded.

I guess you're not aware that synthetic THC (the major active ingredient in marijuana) is already available by prescription in the United States.

You're aware of what they use now for severe chronic pain, right? Marijuana's addictive powers are weaker. The medical marijuana movement is separate from making marijuana available for casual use. It could be legalized just for people with conditions like MS, terminal cancer, etc. (As an example, your doctor can give you morphine for certain conditions, but they can't just hand it out to anyone who walks in the door.)

And chronic pain isn't nearly the only use, or even the most promising one. The main use would be for nausea control, or to restore the appetite of people undergoing procedures like chemotherapy, HIV treatments, etc. In both cases, Marinol (synthetic THC) is already in your doctor's toolkit, though questions remain about whether or not it works as quickly or as well as the whole plant.

That said, there aren't a lot of controlled studies completed, largely because it's difficult to do them legally. Studies do agree that smoking anything is just not an ideal delivery system, because of what it does to your lungs and mouth. (I can't think of any drug which is prescribed to be smoked.) But it's very likely more drugs like Marinol could be prepared with sufficient research.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com