Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Free Booze for Bums, and Medical Marijuana
A small study has shown that a harm reduction program, wherein homeless alcoholics got regular, shelter-administered, drinks, was effective at reducing ED visits, police encounters, and volume consumed. I wonder about a possible treatment effect here, but I like the idea of taking a more realistic approach to the problem: it's hard enough for employed, relatively well-off alcoholics to go cold-turkey, but for homeless folks (many with psychiatric problems), that is not likely.
And it is with some glee that I read that Rhode Island has effectively bitch-slapped the Supreme Court on its uber-federalist stance - that states don't have the right to legalize medical marijuana - by legalizing it anyway. The quote from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy is utterly classic: "There's this notion from the '60s or the '70s that marijuana is a harmless drug...It's not." Uhm. Nothing is harmless, but pot is less dangerous than Ambien or Diazepam or Warfarin, so I fail to see the problem. Oh, wait, I get it! The White House is operating on this notion from the 80's or 20's that Big Brother Knows Best!
And it is with some glee that I read that Rhode Island has effectively bitch-slapped the Supreme Court on its uber-federalist stance - that states don't have the right to legalize medical marijuana - by legalizing it anyway. The quote from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy is utterly classic: "There's this notion from the '60s or the '70s that marijuana is a harmless drug...It's not." Uhm. Nothing is harmless, but pot is less dangerous than Ambien or Diazepam or Warfarin, so I fail to see the problem. Oh, wait, I get it! The White House is operating on this notion from the 80's or 20's that Big Brother Knows Best!
