State can control marijuana’s strength

The Tuesday Dispatch article “Battelle among 9 offering to test pot” offered a ray of hope for the control of “medical marijuana “in Ohio.

The plants of the marijuana sold illicitly today have been genetically modified to increase the THC content from decades or so ago. Today, Ohio can enforce a THC-content limit of the facilities authorized to grow and/or distribute medical marijuana with a lower THC content through reverse genetic modification or through older plant-stock seeds.

In the near future, authorized plant growers in Ohio would grow only plants with the regulated THC content, which means that all authorized distributors would have only the Ohio-regulated marijuana for sale. All other plants or other distributed marijuana products with a higher THC content, such as imports from other states, could be confiscated and destroyed.

Just as it regulated alcohol content, Ohio will then have a degree of control so that such plants will be within government-authorized limits of THC. All other marijuana would still be illegal.

As yet another state starts selling recreational marijuana, government officials are publicly wringing their hands (while secretly clapping about all the new tax revenues headed their way) and journalists are crying out loud, “We know nothing about the effects, we need more studies!” Really?

Marijuana use was wellknown, starting in the ’60s. Armed forces personnel were using it in Vietnam and stateside, and youngsters were learning about it. Now, 50 years later, I am supposed to believe that nobody has ever studied the effects, that no research was ever done? The Pentagon had absolutely no idea what marijuana was doing to our soldiers? The CIA never did any research into the effects on people (even though they experimented with LSD and many other drugs on unsuspecting participants)? J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI never considered it a threat and looked into it?

The federal government declared a “war on drugs” in 1971. When one declares war, the first thing one does is learn everything about the opponent. Every successful tactician and strategist in history has had this trait documented, in writing, about the importance of this. So now the entire U.S. government has no clue about the effects of marijuana of people? Food and Drug Administration, National Security Agency, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives? Nobody? Come on.

Penicillin was discovered in 1928 and first used in 1942. What if its approval had been held up for 50 years, until 1978? The point I am trying to make is, if there is something out there that can alleviate pain and suffering and improve people’s quality of life, then get it out there. Don’t study it to death.

And just for the record, I last smoked marijuana in 1980. So there. Columbus