CAN VETERINARY MARIJUANA BE FAR BEHIND ?

Medical marijuana in California is going great guns. Every Tom, Dick and Harry and every Mary, Jane and Jill seems able to procure pot prescriptions from physicians for any number of ailments in addition to those of glaucoma, cancer and AIDS. Erectile Dysfunction is about the only condition they're not prescribing pot for. The Obama administration has told the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to stop raiding marijuana "pharmacies" which, while legal in California, are operating in violation of federal laws. I have seen ads on reputable websites suggesting they can help me get set up in California's multi-million dollar medical marijuana business.

This begs the question, can veterinary marijuana be far behind? Just the other day, some 20-year-old jerk in Nebraska stuffed his girlfriend's pet kitten inside a home-made bong and then smoked marijuana through the device. When busted by the cops, he maintained that he was only trying to calm the cat down. This idiot, empirical evidence that the use of pot can addle your brains, is facing prosecution for drug possession and animal cruelty.

I can see a whole new industry growing up around the treatment of pets and other animals. Pot to turn your pet Pit Bull, Rottweiler or Chow Chow into a lazy lap dog, one that a small child can safely cuddle and squeeze like a Teddy Bear. Pot to make monkeys and apes suitable for children's petting zoos. Pot to help chickens lay more eggs. Pot to make other farm animals more manageable. Sound far-fetched? Well just look at how, under a well intentioned but misguided law, the prescription of medical marijuana has been perverted in the land of nuts and fruits. So, why not also apply the use of pot in the veterinary field?

The use of marijuana for medical purposes is a dubious proposition at best and remains a topic of controversy. There are a bunch of doctors, former or current pot smokers I suspect, who claim that marijuana relieves the pain of glaucoma, the ill effects of cancer chemotherapy and the suffering of full-blown AIDS patients. There are just as many doctors who dispute those claims and who say that even if there is a chance they could be true, there are traditional drugs readily available to treat those problems.

I am sure that getting stoned on pot will relieve some pain and other physical discomforts. But so will getting drunk on beer, wine or any other alcoholic beverages. While drunk driving is a very serious problem, I wonder how many innocent people in California, or elsewheres for that matter, are getting killed by drivers under the influence of pot, prescribed or otherwise?