Afederal court judge ruled this week that medical marijuana users can grow a few plants for their own use. It was the right decision.
Most of the people who were fighting for this grow it as a medication for themselves.
Most of our medications cannot be grown or made at home. They require ingredients and expertise that the average person does not possess. So we have to buy them.
The cost of medications can also mount up really, really quickly. Just ask anyone with a health condition who’s taking conventional drugs.
So for those who rely on medical marijuana, to be able to plant a few seeds and eliminate the lion’s share of the cost of their drug, this is huge.
It can cost hundreds of dollars every month to buy it processed, and for some, that’s just not a viable long-term option.
Now that we as a country are moving towards legalization, we cannot see any good reason for people not to be able to grow a few plants for their own use, as they can already make their own beer or wine at home for personal consumption — and the fun of it.
It will be key, of course, to make sure that people are only growing a small amount for themselves.
A few plants pose no more danger than growing any other herb or vegetable.
But when people start turning their properties into big grow ops, that’s when the real problems start with ventilation and mould and such.
Just like with anything else, a commercial operation must live by different rules, because it’s a different beast. Just as a winery or brewery selling a commercial product is not the same as creating a few bottles to share with friends over dinner.
And as with beer and wine, we doubt that allowing people to grow a few plants is going to put commercial marijuana operations out of business.
There will always be plenty of people who don’t want to go to the trouble of growing their own and are perfectly happy to have somebody else deal with that part, along with the processing.
People have the ability to grow a lot of their own food, after all, yet supermarkets and produce stands are still doing a booming business anyway.
And we certainly agree that legalization is the right move for a number of reasons.
It can finally help us put a big dent in the illegal drug trade, which is often paired with organized crime. Marijuana is already big business, just not the kind that benefits the mainstream economy.
The City of Duncan is intelligently already making their case to get in on the potentially significant profits that taxing a legal industry can bring.
We really don’t see a downside here.
