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MistressDarkArt -> RE: Why not legalize Marijuana? (3/11/2014 12:34:43 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: MercTech
quote:
ORIGINAL: BecomingV
First, I think that while many things can become physically addicting, most of the problems we see involve the more difficult to change, mental addictions. Some personalities really are more vulnerable to addictions of all sorts.
Second, your example involves a drug that while legal and prescribed, specifically affects a brain chemical. That's important! Not feeling high from it is a subjective experience. Not feeling anything may be good or bad. Blood pressure is the silent killer. So, that prescribed drug you use, it comes with a long list of effects, warnings and dangers, which for marketing reasons, are called, get this... "side" effects!
So, if I were sitting on a board to determine workplace safety in regard to competence, I would not care whether the person ingested something legal or illegal, prescribed, or over the counter. If it affects the brain or reflexes or some other function, then THAT is what would deserve my focus.
OP - I'm pro-legalization. I never saw any until I was 18. My parents must have seen that film, "Reefer Madness." I was afraid of the criminal pot smokers and would avoid contact. Yeah, I outgrew that. LOL
Who gets to decide whether a drug is safe to use in the workplace? Should it be a medical professional or a middle manager? The TVA example I cited it was a HR manager instructing a contract nurse to forbid me taking the medication. The Medical Review Officer was never consulted. I later asked the MRO why when I saw him in the cafeteria and he said he could think of no reason why I couldn't take Tramodol. Meh, when you are doing contract work you don't argue when the customer requires silly shit. <snip>
What I find ridiculous about Merc's situation is this:
1. If he was allowed pain relief from his medication, he would be more focused on the task at hand. If I was paying an independent contractor, I would want that person at the top of their game, not distracted by needless discomfort. Millions of pain patients are able to work and lead productive lives because of pain medications much more potent than Tramadol.
2. What do you want to bet both the contract nurse AND the middle manager have SOME kind of psychotropic drug on board? More than half the people walking around in the US are regularly taking some kind of prescribed antidepressant, antipsychotic, and/or anxiolytic. Nobody tests for THAT, do they? Yet when mismanaged (as is often the case when trying to dial in proper treatment) those psychotropic drugs can cause a sh*tload more problems for the patient than the straightforward pain relief denied MercTech. MDs prescribe medications without knowing EXACTLY how it will affect their patient; there can be lots of trial and error until the right medication or combos of medications are found. Who gets to say WHICH medication is OK and which is not? I'd say: the patient does based on his/her experience while taking it. Can s/he do the job at hand? No? Get someone else. Yes? Let them do their job and keep your damn nose out of it.
Which brings me to my last point (and back to the topic at hand):
3. Isn't ANY prescribed substance use about being the best you can be; comfortable and productive? What if that substance is cannabis? What if the person 'prescribing' is yourself? Don't you know yourself better and how certain substances affect you than any doctor on the planet?
I know a brilliant pianist who suffers from depression. In the past, he self-medicated with alcohol, realized that drug was providing no benefit, and was indeed detrimental to him and his family. He eschews Rx psychotropics, but found that a particular strain of marijuana keeps him creative, practicing, relaxed, of good cheer and able to care for his two daughters after their mother was killed in an accident. He has a recommendation and grows his own medicine. Do you think because he is a 'pothead' that he's any less a productive member of society? The daily reality is he's MORE productive with pot on board. If it weren't for that, his daughters would be in foster care and he would not be able to make a living providing for his family by practicing his trade.
Lots of people self-medicate with all kinds of substances, for better or worse. Many of them are legal and readily available. Why does the government get to decide which are OK and which aren't?
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