Well, here I am in sunny Southern California visiting my lawyer daughter, Kimberly Simms, for the Labor Day weekend. Like many mothers of today’s well-educated young women, I am so proud that she followed in my foot steps. Well, kind of. She makes her living advising clients how to legally grow and dispense medical marijuana.
She also teaches at the Legal Cannabis Institute and is a board member of Southern California NORML , a group which provides education, advocacy, and fundraising with a core mission of reforming marijuana laws.
I asked my daughter to tell me what she thinks is the future of the marijuana movement. Says, Kimberly, “It’s positive and upbeat! We are moving towards legalization and more and more states are starting to decriminalize marijuana. Most importantly, the face of marijuana is changing. It’s the young, the elderly, professionals, soccer moms, and even your neighbors. Progress is slow, but we in Southern California NORML are excited to be part of the journey!”
So then I got to thinking. Medical marijuana would definately be an interesting topic for some of my elder law clients. The medical benefits of marijuana are well-known for many ailments. And unlike cigarettes and alcohol, marijuana is not addictive and does not have long term toxic effects as does tobacco. See what AARP has to say about this:http://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-10-2010/older_americans_increasingly_using_medical_marijuana_to_combat_nausea_pain.html
And…what about the economy? Think of the millions of dollars of revenue that can be generated from spin-off businesses, like coffeehouses, bookstores, and tourism. And wouldn’t there be huge savings in taxpayer dollars that are now going to the budgets of police, prosecution, and prisons to fight the fight.
So, that’s how I’m spending the holiday weekend. Pondering all these issues that I thought were irrelevant for me – until my daughter, the lawyer, started practicing in weed.
