Marijuana Becoming Subject to Bureaucracy
October 21st, 2008 by Perry
Now that marijuana is becoming accepted into our culture, it’s also becoming subject to one of the biggest perils facing modern man: bureaucracy.
Alex Coolman @ Drug Law Blog notes a recent trip to a NORML conference that he was “struck by the strong push to regulate, normalize and formalize the discourse around medical marijuana.”
The major players in this area seem to understand that medical marijuana has a truly astounding potential to grow – particularly when the federal administration changes – and are moving now to set in place structures that will allow that growth to be as safe, responsible and sustainable as possible.
While it’s vital to have a strong infrastructure in place, and lobbyists to compete with law enforcement PACs, you can’t help but feel the movement is starting to stray from its original high-minded goals.
Ultimately however, the effect on the marijuana movement is a positive one, as the article goes on to explain:
California is actually a very interesting example of how this field is regulating itself. Standards are getting created and implemented by the people who work in the field, and they are evolving not as a function of law enforcement but in an attempt to encourage good health and good business.
However, he also noted the irony of watching medical marijuana representatives squabble over the same kinds of accountability standards that you might see in Tylenol or Aspirin.
