Sanjay Gupta is Dope

As an American physician I’ve been impressed w/ Dr. Sanjay Gupta. I’ve seen him take flak for standing up to Michael Moore (AKA “fat Goebbels”) and refuting such stupidity as the dangers of current vaccinations & the threat of anthrax as a terrorist weapon. He’s faculty at Grady w/ credentials at Emory. Bottom line is that he a real, practicing doctor. His experience as a field correspondent has honed his already excellent communication skills.

Despite this impressive CV, he wrote a really subpar piece in TIME explaining why he would vote “no” on the legalization of pot. I won’t turn this into a 1st semester in college essay entitled, “Why Pot should be Legalized; What, are you Reta’ded or Something?” although that is what I would call said essay, if I pulled a Sam Beckett and had to put right what once went wrong.

Dr. Gupta correctly displays the medical literature: patients w/ glaucoma, Alzheimer’s or chemo-induced nausea exceed morbidity milestones w/ marijuana. He fails to mention the same benefits in AIDs and cancer patients who suffer from protein and muscle wasting or the college kid who just finished finals and is using book money to buy a Papa Johns Pizza. Pot does help these people. But he further asserts that many who push for legalized pot don’t have these serious medical conditions b/c, “Many of them just want to get stoned legally”.

I don’t need to check w/ Ziggy to see if this one flies. No shit, people want to get high legally! It would be a lot better than having to pull a MacGyver and go all "Top Secret" everytime you want to smoke a jay. My biggest gripe here is that Dr. Gupta begs the question that since smoking pot is bad for you, it should be illegal.

It’s like the lawyer asking the plaintiff, “What did you do after you murdered your wife?” when no one is really sure if this is the man who did the deed. Sure, pot is bad for you. Does that mean it should be illegal? I would argue that pot is much less destructive than tobacco, and certainly less so than alcohol. Heck it’s probably less “bad for you” than half of the McDonalds menu (and I’m a Nuggnut, too).

"Et tu, Sanjay?" -Julius Ceasar (sorta)

Dr. Gupta still seems like the best candidate for the job, but when it comes to politics that’s like winning a Taco Bell contest for “Feces w/ largest circumference”. Smoking is already banned in Chicago, and they are working on an obesity tax in NY. Before you start accusing me of being a bitter, chain-smoking fat ass, I’ll let you know that I am NOT fat (My BMI is 24.95, actually). But when you start taxing Gatorade and Coke for making kids fat…. That’s a little too 1984 for me. And until I finish my Quantum Leap accelerator, there’s not much I can do about it.

How Cocaine Feels...

Speaking with a well documented coke-fiend (one step higher than your standard coke-head), I asked him what it felt like to snort that first hit of angel dust. Roughly and from memory:

“Imagine walking to your mailbox and you notice a large, red envelope. You open the envelope and inside is a winning lottery ticket. You’ve just won $100 million! That rush that you feel for the first 10 seconds spread out over 4-5 hrs is coke. “

Almost makes you want to try the stuff, huh? He continued:

“Now you look around and notice that all your neighbors have also won the lotto. Everyone is happy and hugging and kissing and listening to loud House music. That is a coke party.”

The things I sacrificed by going to med school. I did learn about, and even see firsthand, many young people presenting with stroke, heart attack or cardiomyopathy related to cocaine use. I’ve seen some overdoses that resulted in death for patients younger than me.

After using all these a number of meds to treat a variety of illnesses, I often wondered what it would feel like to have a large dose of IV lasix or valium. Or a giant dose of miralax. Kinda gross, but it still makes me wonder. Given the hypothetical that I could use any drug consequence free (legal and health wise) I would probably choose LSD. I have a soft spot in my heart for hallucinogens. Maybe I’d use anabolic steroids, it’d be cool to get all ripped like Arnold. But drugs are never consequence free in real life. Until that changes, I'll have to stick to my weekly lotto ticket.