Whenever we address a complex social issue it's important to do so with as much knowledge as possible and with integrity. This is specifically true regarding medical cannabis.

There is little doubt that the law was written in a manner that has led to abuses. I would venture to say that most illegal drug dealers and growers found haven in the cannabis law and many of the larger caregiver operations today came from those illegal operations of the past.

Some may have seen the light and now follow the law but, unfortunately, many are bringing in vast quantities of cannabis from out of state via the black market. It's also true that cannabis has not met the rigorous FDA testing that medicines go through before being released. We probably couldn't afford the product if it did. However, anyone claiming that cannabis has not been determined to have medicinal benefit is not being honest or they have not read the literature.

There is a growing mountain of research showing medicinal benefit in many types of pain and other illnesses. It has not been tested by the FDA due to politics of faith, and pharmaceutical companies have not yet been able to patent a synthetic version that includes all medicinal cannaboids; which is how they make their vast sums of money.