Review: In Pot We Trust

Showtime had a great presentation on Medical Marijuana, In Pot We Trust. I know how liberals feel when they see Sicko. I got the same reaction watching this film.

In Sum; here are the arguments presented-
1. Legalization/MM crowd wants pot legalized. If not then at least do not arrest people who smoke weed and have horrible diseases.
2. The Government believes in the status quo. They bring out the usual suspects, DEA, FDA, ONDCP to say that marijuana is not medically useful. We get to see a cop who really really believes that he is doing the right thing for society. The DEA talking heads tell us society is doomed without Prohibition.
3. The patients do not care why pot works, they just want relief, and to not be arrested.

All sides are presented well. The issue shows the suffering of the patients, the arrogance of the government, and the persistence of the movement.

I have blogged on Medical Marijuana before. Marijuana should be legal regardless of it’s medicinal value. It should be legal because we are free and it is harmless. If it can not be legal for the populace then not arresting cancer, glaucoma, and MS patients is something we should all support.

The government arrogance would be shocking if not so typical. The feds never question the cause. There is more moral certainty in the DEA than in most religions.

The czars and bureaucrats are myopic in their quest to imprison Americans. Liberty is never seen as a useful alternative to prohibition. They truly believe they are protecting society. As Ronald Reagan once said- The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.'”

A highlight of the film is meeting some of the last patients in the Federal Medical Marijuana program. These patients smoke marijuana because a court decided it was a medical necessity. These patients receive pot from the federal government. The weed is grown at the University of Mississippi.

One scene that is sure to enrage the MADD crowd is watching a federal MM patients smoke pot while he drives down the street. These patients smoke medicine not to get high, but to function.

I challenge all pro drug war Americans to watch this film. These patients have life altering conditions. They can not function without pot. Why arrest them? What is the public policy behind incarceration of the infirm? Is the FDA’s authority and the DEA’s aims so perfect as to provide no exception?

I am changing my views on Medical Marijuana. I started off almost resenting the MM argument because I wanted the love of freedom to lead the way. Intellectual snobbery is a problem for Libertarians and I am no different. The sincerity and need of these patients has really changed my mind. This is an important issue on it’s own merits. Beyond my free market ideas this is a human rights issue.

Incarcerating these sick Americans is criminal. Our laws are morally bankrupt. Our rights come from our Creator, not the DEA, FDA, ONDCP. It is time to end this horrible drug war.

I give this film a giant thumbs up. An important entertaining film.

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8 responses to “Review: In Pot We Trust”

  1. <img src="http://www.blogger.c says:

    Excellent, wonderful post.I’m setting the DVR right now.

  2. <img src="http://www.blogge says:

    Like I said, this is my Sicko.The visceral reaction liberals have to economic injustice I have to the abuse of government power.

  3. <img src="http://www.blogger.c says:

    I initially thought MM was mainly for glaucoma until I saw the woman suffering from cerebal palsy. Her studdering completely disappeared. It was amazing!

  4. <img src="http://www.blogger.c says:

    I saw this film last night and thought it was worth a look. After all I am a cancer survivor and reaped the benefits of THC during my 7 months of Chemotherapy. However I can’t stand by this film. They never mentioned the drug Marinol which is basically the benefits of THC in pill form. It seems to me this is a film that pimps out people’s hardships just so they can try and get pot legalized. This movement is the first step to get it legalized. If they really really cared about these people they would concentrate on other ways get the benefits of THC to the patient. Contrary to popular belief, there are other delivery systems for the drug to the human body that are less harmful than smoking. One other thing, this will never be legalized through a popular vote on the House or Senate floor. There are too many politicians catering to the base and need them to get re-elected. It’s a drug and needs to go through the FDA. If the drug companies find they can make make money off it, they will push it through the FDA just like they did with Marinol. I’ve had Marinol and it works just fine.This film is a piece of garbage.

  5. <img src="http://www.blogger.c says:

    I too was interested in why the movie made no mention of marinol. But the other comment made about marinol wasn’t completely true, marinol is just not as effective as smoked marijuana, plain and simple. Also, a word on smoking as a delivery method for drugs: smoking is one of the best delivery methods for drugs, up there with injecting as a direct and uncomplicated method of getting chemicals into the body. Taking medicine via pill is the least effective and least predictable drug delivery method. That’s chemistry 101.The woman with cerebral palsy was so striking! What an amazing scene when her stutter disappears! It blows my mind that so many people are forced to suffer with that kind of stutter, appearing to the ignorant public that they are not of normal intelligence and suffering all the stigma that comes with that kind of mistaken judgement, when they are simply locked behind a speech disorder and one that is easily fixed with a few puffs on a joint!

  6. <img src="http://www.blogge says:

    “It seems to me this is a film that pimps out people’s hardships just so they can try and get pot legalized. This movement is the first step to get it legalized.”Anon- The government exploits fear of terrorism to keep pot illegal. Emotional arguments should not be needed. We are a free people and the federal government has no business arresting these patients.Marinol worked for you and that is great. Does the DEA represent you when then arrest users who may not benefit from marinol?

  7. <img src="http://www.blogger.c says:

    IWTS-Ok here it is. The DEA does not represent me. They represent the will of the American people. Pot is illegal plain and simple. These people know pot is illegal and they take the risk upon themselves. Do I have sympathy for them in their reasons for doing an illegal activity? Of course I do. I was once in their situation. But here’s the thing, if you attract attention to yourself you will get busted by the authorities. The authorities have every right to bust you. If you take a risk you must be culpable for your actions. In the film they profiled four people who smoke pot for medicinal purposes. Two are authorized to smoke pot and two are not. The two who are not authorized have attracted attention to themselves. The woman with Cerebral Palsy stated that her biggest fear was being busted and having her kids taken away from her. We see her face, her house, her car, and other characteristics by which to positively identify her. If her hometown authorities want to bust her, they can do that. The same holds true for the other person. Do you honestly think the makers of this film actually care about these people and will make a prolonged and concerted effort to help these people if they run into legal troubles? I highly doubt it. The position they put those two individuals in is immoral and wrong. My other issue with the film is they make no mention of Marinol. Let’s just say that pot is legalized for medicinal purposes. Do you actually think that the major drug companies are going to sit idly by and let the government and individuals grow pot as medicine while they miss out on enormous profits? I don’t think so. So come on let’s just call it like it is. This movement just wants pot legalized so they can smoke and not get busted. They really want to attract attention to these people so they can become martyrs for their cause. That’s my main beef with this film.

  8. <img src="http://www.blogge says:

    Medical Marijuana patients and the providers should be saved from the arrest. But drugs are still on the streets. We have to arrest drug paddlers and drug traffic should be busted. What ever you do people some how manage to get hands on drugs and they are not worried about Passing a drug test, since detox drinks and capsules which are available in market.

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