Last week, Delaware Governor Jack Markell put his signature to the state's first medical marijuana law. Of course, cancer is at the top of the laundry list of maladies that qualify patients for participation. I guess it's time to go shopping for a nice bong...
Kidding. For a state that trends to blue politically, Delaware is relatively socially conservative, and this is reflected in the fact that the law is substantially more restrictive than those currently in effect in, say, Colorado or California. Patients are not permitted to grow their own, and must obtain their smoke (a maximum of six ounces) from one of only three non-profit dispensaries (presumably one per county). Patients must have an on-going relationship with the prescribing MD; are supposed to have exhausted all the standard alternatives; and must obtain a state-issued ID card. It remains to be seen just how much of a problem there will be with people with nasty hangnails showing up at the dispensaries with ID cards and prescriptions, since there is an escape clause covering individuals with unspecified "chronic" and "debilitating" conditions. On the whole, it all sounds a lot more inconvenient than just driving to certain Wilmington neighborhoods on Friday night, but I guess that's partly the idea.
Huong asked me how interested I am in this. The answer is "Not Very", at least for now. I am not currently taking any kind of pain medication, not even any of the OTC varieties (OK, yes, I'm taking 81 mg aspirin, but that's for the heart, not for pain), and I'm hoping to avoid having to do so for as long as possible. The prescription opioids (e.g. Oxycontin) render me hopelessly constipated. I guess if it ever comes to the point where I'm pretty desperate then I'd consider smoking up. Actually, I'd prefer not to smoke it; I'd probably invest in a nice vaporizer.
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