I believe a lot of the talk among political entities about being able to control dosage and purity of the drug is partly cover for deciding just who is going to make the profits from a plant that has been used by indigenous peoples since the dawn of history. In a Dec. 5 press release, California's Union of Medical Marijuana Patients revealed that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is "about to award an exclusive license to Kannalife Sciences, Inc. of New York to develop medical therapeutics based on the chemistry of cannabis."

There's big money to be made, and the folks who handle big money want to keep it for themselves. In 2005, Milton Friedman and 500 economists supported a Harvard study showing that legal taxed and regulated marijuana would produce annual savings and tax revenues of $10-$14 billion for the United States. California pot sales alone already are an estimated billion-dollar industry. It's not like we couldn't use that kind of money in Michigan.

Science supports medical marijuana

There is no factual basis for marijuana prohibition. There are at least a couple of thousand peer-reviewed scientific articles out there that support the medical use of marijuana for treating diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and numerous other ailments including chronic pain. The only science contradicting these favorable findings comes from scientists working for anti-drug organizations — and they have the credibility of the scientists who claim that global warming does not exist.

There are a lot more things that I learned about marijuana over the past year. I've learned about how the active ingredients in marijuana work, and that it's not all about THC. I've learned that whole plant medications can be more effective than synthesizing one "active" component. I've learned that polls show the vast majority of Americans support medical marijuana and a slim majority supports out-and-out legalization. I've learned enough about marijuana that I believe that changing our laws and attitude toward the weed could indeed change our nation.

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