Telling tall pot tales

We’ve heard the claims about the medicinal powers of marijuana, but surely this is a first. Pot as — literally — a lifesaver? Supporters of broader access to medical marijuana — and we’ve long quibbled with that term, given that “medical” marijuana is just plain old marijuana used by sick people — held a vigil recently at the State House to honor those who have died while awaiting legal access to pot.

As the State House News Service reported, attendees memorialized those who have “fallen” while awaiting implementation of the state’s voter-approved medical marijuana law.

“The slow implementation and rollout has cost lives,” said Nichole Snow, executive director of the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance.

Imagine, for a moment, all the “medicine” one could grow in that giant pile of science-free manure.

Yes, it’s true that the state Department of Public Health under Deval Patrick mishandled the implementation of the law — in epic fashion. The law has been on the books for two and a half years, but only in recent months did the first dispensary open, and that took Gov. Charlie Baker issuing a waiver of a regulation related to testing. A second dispensary is expected to open soon in Boston.

It’s probably also true that some people with terminal illnesses would have liked to live out their final days pain-free, or perhaps just blissed out.

But pot is not a curative. And keep in mind that the 2012 law allows for “hardship cultivation” for those without access to a dispensary (which, until the recent Salem opening, would have been any qualifying patient with a physician certification).

Those patients could register with DPH for the right to grow their own pot for medicinal use — or have a caregiver grow it for them. The dying, with all due respect, had options.

To suggest any death was actually hastened by a regrettable string of bureaucratic snafus is just another indication of the lengths the pot lobby will go to normalize its use, and not just for medicinal purposes.