And such delivery-system development is likely to take a long time. And they've kicked it to the pharmaceutical industry. The political reason for condemning marijuana smoking, of course, is to avoid sanctioning behavior the government has long condemned. And here, the government is content to let the medical-marijuana debate segue into the larger, more controversial discussion of full decriminalization. Though scientists, physicians, and laypeople have long drawn distinctions between medical and recreational use, the feds continue to push the idea that supporting the former is tantamount to condoning the latter.
Kids interpret things different than adults.
No doubt there are some marijuana smokers who see the medical debate as a yellow brick road to legalized marijuana for everyone. It's true that some people who favor legalized medical use favor decriminalization in general. It's also true that any scientific evidence showing the therapeutic benefits of marijuana destigmatizes the general use of the drug. What's more, legalizing medical marijuana would be unlikely to make the drug any more prevalent than it is already. Nearly 80 percent of that effort is dedicated to marijuana.