And yet another way in which greed ruins a good thing

Twelve years ago, California started allowing the cultivation of marijuana for individual medical use. While most other med-pot states limit its use to specific medical situations (like cancer), California allows it for any condition (anxiety, depression, etc.). This was A Good Thing and the people were happy. The drug companies, who until that moment had a monopoly on the chemical treatment of anxiety and depression, were probably not so happy.

Then someone figured out that they can use this legal structure as a cover for commercial growing and selling. The result: a justified backlash against the legalization process. California will now have to legislate limits on the type of growing allowed. You can read more about it in this well done, but very conservative, New York Times article.

Forty million Americans struggle with anxiety disorder and another 14 million Americans grapple with depression. Many of those people buy their drugs from their doctors. I wonder how many of them could grow their drugs in the garden.

I could not find a good statistic on how many people enjoy a serving or two of alcohol each day, just for the pleasure of it. I don't understand why marijuana is illegal or why its use has to be medically justified.