Our house is on fire…

We look around for hopeful answers to navigate familial hardship hailing from stagnated income for over 10 years. None!

Often quizzed if we’ve been scavenging for survival in all the wrong places. Maybe!

We ignore issues that matter using short memories to avoid responsibility. Definitely!

A suspect announcement is out for “improvements” in the local economy. We sigh, taking deep breaths that things would begin looking better by dawn.

Unfortunately, it’s back to survival mode. It remains a tough cookie to crack for the elected elite on the hill. To undo nearly two decades of pleasantry acquiescence and complacency now barking at the front door turns into prohibitive challenge.

Meanwhile, we listen and peek into negative tidings in news streams of bankruptcy. We move about a new triangle: military buildup, investments from China, the lack of planned development and growth. We can’t make heads or tails. It seems we have adopted the Old Italian proverb, “Since the house is on fire, let us warm ourselves.” Woe!

•••

On Rota, there’s a single pill that cures all illnesses in the purchase of a new ship for the island. The immediate challenge is the lack of operations funds. The greater challenge is the lack of money in the pockets of jobless folks ready to watch the beast sail into the harbor. Could they buy anything from the ship as penniless bystanders? Where did Rota’s elected elite miss connecting the dots? It’s called “wealth and jobs creation”.

•••

Years of complacency reduced to grand passivity have finally caught up with us. Waving a paper tiger to cover self-inflicted negligence simply failed to shield the guys and gals from their fiduciary obligations. And we’re watching 24/7!

Just ask them to answer the leper-like anomaly of NMI bankruptcy and they spout strange phrases like, “don’t know anything, didn’t hear anything, didn’t see anything.” Didn’t we place our livelihood at their feet they gladly accept? A`saina!

Marijuana controversy
To allow or disallow use of marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes requires more than just the simplistic views of advocates (laymen) for its approval.

A doctor who’s dealt with “cannabis” with glaucoma patients noted a number of issues that should be taken into consideration on this issue.

“Foremost is the fact that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration still lists cannabis as a Schedule I drug, defined as a substance ‘with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse … with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence,” according to Dr. Sreedhar Potarazu, an acclaimed ophthalmologist and entrepreneur who has been recognized as an international visionary in the business of medicine and health information technology.

“That puts it on a par with heroin, ecstasy and LSD. But various trials have shown cannabis can be effective in treating multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, epilepsy, intestinal disorders, glaucoma and pain.

“That’s an impressive list, and it calls for a lot more research. We need to know: How many randomized clinical trials have been performed? Where did the drug work…and where did it not? What were its benefits and detriments? What was the drug’s potency in each trial? What were the concentrations of its many components in each trial? And—very importantly—can the results be replicated?

“The potency of marijuana—determined by measuring levels of its main psychoactive ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)—has skyrocketed in the last 40 years. According to the University of Mississippi’s Potency Monitoring Project, the average THC content of marijuana in 1978 was 1.37 percent. In 2008, it was 8.49 percent. Yes, many CEOs and even presidents have smoked marijuana. But, clearly, this is not your father’s weed.

Would DEA place cannabis under Schedule II category so medical research could begin? Now, would we push for cannabis in the absence of thorough medical research either for medicinal or recreational purposes? I think a go-slow approach is best. Let’s get our facts together before making some blind leap into an uncertain future leveled off by the onslaught of tons of troubling ramifications for singing Three Blind Mice.

•••

I can’t imagine pushing for medicinal MJ without clearing the hurdle explained by an experience-based medical professional. Upon removing it from its current category as a Schedule I drug it should open up opportunities for medical research on its planned use on either side. Otherwise, we’d be jumping the gun on a matter that requires more than just simple aspiration or apprehension.