Dalai Lama Supports Medical Marijuana Use

[icy]

The Dalai Lama has revealed he supports the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

He made his comments during a somewhat timely visit to Mexico, as legislators in Mexico City plan draft legislation that would decriminalise use of the drug.

Speaking at an event hosted by former president Vicente Fox, the Tibetan leader said "the exception" for smoking marijuana would be if it has medicinal values, AFP reported.

"But otherwise if it's just an issue of somebody (using the drug to have) a crazy mind, that's not good," he added, when asked about his position on legalisation during the event on Tuesday in the central state of Guanajuato.

While Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has taken a stand against the easing of Mexico's drug policies, lawmakers in Mexico are pushing to make it legal to carry up to 30 grams of marijuana.

The movement to decriminalise marijuana in the Mexican capital has intensified in recent months, following a large pro-marijuana march in May and a three-day forum on drug policy held in September.

In addition to decriminalization, some lawmakers are proposing that Mexico City establish "cannabis clubs," where users can grow and smoke marijuana together.

[Blueupali]

I agree with the Dalai Lama on this issue.
  It does make sense to me to use an herbal remedy, if it is shown to have medical benefit; for example I think medical marijuana is supposed to help reduce pain in cancer patients as well as increase their appetites, which are subdued due to other drugs.
  I don't see how it is a much different than using other painkillers, which often have mind altering side effects.
  Of course, as the Dalai Lama rightly points, using it as an intoxicant would be contra-reccommended.

[Rihanna]

I don't understand why HHDL's stance that he backs the drug’s use for medicinal purposes be made a headlines and  attracted interest among Buddhists and others in various countries who posted
comments on several websites.

It is like asking someone to comment whether being rich is good or bad. If the wealth is used to benefit others, then being rich is good. But if it is used as a tool to suppress others or to boost one's ego, etc then being rich is bad. This is from the spiritual point of view.

Similarly, another example I can think of is, in a soccer match, is it better if Arsenal wins the game or Manchester United? If you are a Manchester United fan, of course if Manchester United wins, it will be good. And that would be bad for the Arsenal camp. And vice versa.

[Blueupali]

I don't understand why HHDL's stance that he backs the drug’s use for medicinal purposes be made a headlines and  attracted interest among Buddhists and others in various countries who posted
comments on several websites.

It is like asking someone to comment whether being rich is good or bad. If the wealth is used to benefit others, then being rich is good. But if it is used as a tool to suppress others or to boost one's ego, etc then being rich is bad. This is from the spiritual point of view.

Similarly, another example I can think of is, in a soccer match, is it better if Arsenal wins the game or Manchester United? If you are a Manchester United fan, of course if Manchester United wins, it will be good. And that would be bad for the Arsenal camp. And vice versa.

I do see what you are saying, but a lot of people in the U.S. think that things are either good or bad--- inherently.  So--- alcohol is ALWAYS bad; marijuana is ALWAYS bad.  That sort of thing.  It is hard for people to think, oh, moderate use in certain contexts is okay. 

[Matibhadra]

I wonder how much the Dalai Lama's support to marijuana is sincere, or just a propaganda coup to attract the support of liberal-minded people, under the direction of his boss and personal patron, also a supporter of the legalization of marijuana, George Soros -- himself described in a compelling way as a “bankster, nazi collaborator and psychopath” (http://dont-tread-on.me/?p=1348).

[Admin]

[Admin: This topic has been moved from the General Discussion board because it is not directly related to the Dorje Shugden practice or ban.]

[Freyr Aesiragnorak]

I think the reason this made the news, is because this statement comes from a religious figure in the public sphere.

The reason why the government is leading to decriminalize marijuana, is due to the uncontrollable drug problem endemic to the country. Drug cartels are running a muck and one of the ways to ease the problem is by decriminalizing it so they don't have a hold of the people any more. Marijuana is the lesser or many evils traded by these cartels but makes up most of their business, another is cocaine. 

[brian]

I think i will buy the idea as well, for one reason, if it is beneficial. Use of drugs in medicine line is absolutely normal, it is the heavy usage that has actually caused problems. I think everything in this life is that same. Too much of something can kill. As long as it is under a controlled level and will not cause any harmful situation to any beings, then it should be good enough. I am sure HHDL has his own reason to support the use of Marijuana in medicinal line.

[Aurore]

This makes logical sense. Drugs as an object itself creates neither good or bad karma. It is the action created by people in an altered perception or the attachment towards the object which makes it bad or good. It does not apply only to drugs but to most things that exist in our daily lives.

In the case of using marijuana for its medical values which can help assist pain is not a bad thing. Truly dependent on motivation as well.

[DS Star]

I think i will buy the idea as well, for one reason, if it is beneficial. Use of drugs in medicine line is absolutely normal, it is the heavy usage that has actually caused problems. I think everything in this life is that same. Too much of something can kill. As long as it is under a controlled level and will not cause any harmful situation to any beings, then it should be good enough. I am sure HHDL has his own reason to support the use of Marijuana in medicinal line.

Drugs have been widely used in Western medicine procedures and treatments. This is not unique. The stronger and more dangerous drug, Morphine, is beeing administered every day in hospitals around the world to relieve severe pains for terminally ill patients and those undergone surgeries, etc.

Depending on the usage and control, drugs is actually an important medicine in treatments of severe cases. So moderate use of Marijuana is a non-issue at all.

When one is wearing dark glasses, everything he sees is dark... even a white shirt looks dark 

[yontenjamyang]

I think this is great. Morphine is a standard painkiller prescribed for chronic pain and usually administered in hospitals with strict supervision. My dear beloved late father was a patient with received morphine for his fourth stage cancer. So, I think that the medical communities knows what should be done to prescribe marijuana.

Physical pain a type of suffering, ie "the suffering of suffering" that is real and common. While we can argue about "mind over matter" and the practice of the Dharma to alleviate suffering, worldly medicine certainly has a role to play to alleviate the suffering of humans and animals.

[Matibhadra]

The interesting point here is hardly the medicinal use of marijuana, which is well known from immemorial time, but rather how the clever dalai took the popular issue as an opportunity for cheap self-promotion among liberal-minded Westerners, thus reinforcing his deceptive image as an open-minded, liberal, democratic leader -- which is exactly the cover he needs in order to keep perpetrating his dictatorial and medieval atrocities against Tibetan people, such as religious persecutions, promoting bloody riots, self-immolations, and so forth.

Human blindness and naivete seem to have no limits, and the clever dalai successfully takes advantage of such weakness.

[pgdharma]

I agree with HHDL on this matter. If the marijuana is used in moderation and for medicinal purposes to relieve the patient from pain I think it is alright to use it as a painkiller but if it is used as an addiction and to craving than it is not good. If other painkillers do not work and if marijuana helps to relieve the pain and sufferings of the patient then there is nothing wrong with taking marijuana.

[hope rainbow]

There is no denying possible actually. Marijuana does help in some medical cases, and even sometime it is the only thing that helps, even in some cases for children.
In this case, the drug is actually prescribed by a doctor and obtained from pharmaceutical origin, not from "drug dealers".
So this is not about supporting the use of recreational drugs, this is to clarify, to distinguish between recreational use of drugs and medicinal use.
To mix this up is not showing intelligence or logic...

[Matibhadra]

By the way, did you know that marijuana is free in North Korea?