In a comment to classmate Ardiana Shillova's blog post titled, America, "The Land of the Free, unless you want Medical Marijuana.",http://simplyforeign.blogspot.com/ I wrote:

    I completely agree with your blog. I think all too often the government tries to overstep its boundaries and tries to influence people's freedom of choice. When it comes to people's health care I think it is up to the individual and the individual alone as to how they choose to treat their illness or condition.  In this situation I think it is absolutely the individual's choice whether or not they want to receive medical marijuana as a treatment. The doctor is of course there to diagnose your condition and then propose a treatment ; the main word being propose. I don't think any doctor, or any other person whether it be government or otherwise, has the right to tell someone what treatment they are restricted from. At that point they are pretty much forcing the person to choose an alternative treatment, one that might not be as effective. 

    All people are entitled to their opinions. The people who oppose the idea of using medical marijuana are well within their rights to refuse it. Those people can choose alternative choices and never have to touch the drug. I believe their reasons against medical marijuana, whether they be moral, religious, or otherwise, are no less valid than those who are for it. I don't know if all the statistics that say marijuana is the cause of accidents or that it is highly addictive are true, I have not done enough research on those topics to make an assessment, but if people want to hold it as truth that's fine with me.  I think where the line is crossed is when those people start trying to impose their ideas on everyone else. It is fine if they think it's bad or immoral and they don't want to use it for themselves or their family but that doesn't give them the right to try to shove their ideas down everyone else's throats. 

     I think your point about your friends pain and the fact that people can not truly understand other's perception of pain is very true. At hospitals they grade pain on an individualized scale. It's very much a case by case scenario, there is no standard scale for everyone. This makes it very hard to relate to people's own perception of their pain. Doctors should be there to do everything they can to provide the patient with every option to get healthy not restricting them.

    You're right, in the end it all goes back to human choice and freedom. We should all have the opportunity to choose how we receive our healthcare and by what means. This nation does preach freedom, but if we continue to make decisions that limit the people's freedom of choice I'm afraid America is headed down a slippery slope.