Unintended Consequences of DooGooderism

Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong fame turned 75 years old last week, and has been fighting cancer for about a year.

His weapon? Medical Marijuana, which he claimed recently has helped him beat the disease altogether. From Zoe Mintz at the IBT:

“That's right, I kicked cancer's ass! So the magic plant does cure cancer with the right diet and supplements,” Chong wrote. 

Chong was diagnosed with prostate cancer last June. According to his post, Chong said he was recommended an intense treatment in Mexico, which cost $25,000. He sought an alternative and found a Canadian doctor who recommended a different diet and “hash oil.”

Obviously anecdotal examples can't replace actual science, but now that the belt of prohibition is loosening a little, one hopes we can actually begin studying what benefits Medical MJ can bring to the medical field.

One result of The Prohibition has been the suppression of research on this substance.

With open study (that is, study where those involved do not need to fear incarceration), perhaps we can design forms of the plant that would have less harmful side effects for patients.

But all that hinges on open discussion, an enemy of the War on Drugs and of liberty-crushing policies in general. I beg this discussion begin before too many lives are lost to the whims of superstition or traditionally-held yet scientifically-wrong beliefs.