WWJD - What Would Jerry Do Concerning Medical Marijuana?

WWJD - What Would Jerry Do About Medical Marijuana?

The Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia would have turned 70 on Aug. 1, 2012. Garcia died of heart failure on a Wednesday morning in the summer of 1995 at a Marin rehab center, although it was cigarettes and cheeseburgers that did him in more than any illicit drugs. 

Given the latest crackdown on medical marijuana resulting in the closure of some of the Bay Areas longest running dispensaries, I began to wonder: what would Jerry do concerning medical marijuana? So I decided to ask around and most people I talked to say he would have supported safe access to medical cannabis.  A quick search online for any quotes to help back this up turned out the following: 

It's a joke. Greed and the desire to take drugs are two separate things. If you want to separate the two, the thing you do is make drugs legal. Accept the reality that people do want to change their consciousness, and make an effort to make safer, healthier drugs."- Jerry Garcia, Rolling Stone, 1989

So there you have it; a clear indication that Jerry would have supported safe access to the therapeutic use of medical cannabis. Medical cannabis dispensaries are indispensable and years of operation demonstrate they represent no threats to public safety. In fact, several recent studies suggest that medical cannabis dispensaries are not associated with increasing crime or violence, and even may reduce crime!

Dispensaries are proving to be an asset to the communities they serve, as well as the larger communities in which they operate. Dispensaries are helping to revitalize neighborhoods by reducing crime and bringing new customers to surrounding businesses. They improve public safety by increasing the security presence in neighborhoods, reducing illicit market marijuana sales, and ensuring that any criminal activity gets reported to the appropriate law enforcement authorities.

More importantly, dispensaries benefit the community by providing safe access for those who have the greatest difficulty getting the medicine their doctors recommend: the most seriously ill and injured. Many dispensaries also offer essential services to patients, such as help with food and housing.

The vast majority of Americans favor legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. Activists have harnessed this support to pass medical marijuana laws in 17 states and the District of Columbia, and more states are likely to follow. Since the first medical marijuana law was passed by California in 1996, states have focused increasingly on how to regulate dispensaries and make access safer.

And now, medicinal cannabis can be lab tested for safety and potency. For the first time in the 3000-year history of human cannabis consumption, consumers will be provided a scientific assessment of the safety and potency of products prior to ingesting them. Still, state efforts to regulate and make distribution safer have met fierce resistance by the federal government. 

Let's give Jerry his wish: end the these attacks on safe access to medical cannabis and undertake real efforts to make safer, healthier drugs!