PHOTOS: MMC Through the Years

Are Attitudes about Marijuana Changing in America In recent months, there have been notable developments in the national debate about use, abuse and the putative medicinal uses of marijuana. For many bystanders, there appears to be a tectonic attitudinal shift underway. The U.S. seems to be creeping towards a more acceptant stance on the use of pot. Especially with the millennials, there is a dissonance with this newly evolved marijuana perspective. Scientific research has offered up several very rigorous examinations of marijuana's impacts on human neuroanatomy. It's becoming abundantly clear that marijuana use in early years can lead to some severe mental illness in adulthood. We also are pretty clear on the fact that THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana is an addictive substance-people can and do become physically dependent on pot. Regular smokers of marijuana are usually physically dependent on it; in other words, were a regular user to suddenly stop smoking "weed", he/she would experience physical withdrawal. And the withdrawals will persist for weeks, even months following the last bong hit. Marijuana is not a drug to be fooled with, just ask a marijuana addict who is now sober. Despite the slew of cautionary studies linking marijuana to a variety of psychiatric phenomenon, there seems to be a steady drum beat for decriminalization and expanded medical use. Over the last few years public health officials, addiction specialists and politicians have opined that the criminal justice system needs a paradigmatic shift, one that pushes it towards a treatment bias for those who come to the criminal justice system behind a drug possession arrest. In the U.S. attorney general's opinion, prisons are full of non-violent drug addicts whose only crime was to be in the wrong place at the right time with a pocket full of drugs. Of course that is a fast and oversimplification of the situation, but the AG's opinion stands in stark contrast to all attorneys general who have preceded him. We've also heard from the governor of New Jersey and his call for utilization of medical marijuana to treat some forms of childhood epilepsy. He has said that he is favor of medical marijuana use in his state, he just wants there to be adequate controls instituted to manage it. Gallup and Pew research polls show that Americans are almost evenly split on the idea of relaxed marijuana laws. Several states (Washington and Colorado) have recently downgraded personal marijuana possession and have essentially legalized the use of the drug; there are more restrictions on tobacco in those states than there are controls on marijuana. At a time where abuse of prescription drugs is skyrocketing, marijuana continues to make inroads in the daily lives of Americans. With up to 3 out of 10 Americans being regular users of the drug, marijuana is on an inexorable path towards decriminalization and then ultimately, legalization. For those who believe that this is a bad idea, the time has come to take action. Our democratic form of government still works. It's time to communicate with state representatives about this phenomenon. If concerned folks don't speak up, and if they don't vote, they won't have any more ground to stand upon and complain.