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Medical Use of Illegal Drugs |
Because laws are applicable to the general public and because there is a problem with drug abuse in society, laws intended to halt the abuse of drugs have an unintended consequence of preventing people who need drugs for medical reasons from getting them. The problem with the law is that it is often not fine grained enough to allow for necessary exceptions for people who need medicine. The Church of Reality puts Compassion above law. We do not withhold necessary medicine from those who need it just because the legislature failed to take into account that a person who is dying is not the same as a person who wants to get high on pain killers.
We also recognize that not everyone responds to drugs the same way. Thus if a person is in an exceptional situation then they should be treated as an exception. We take the position that doctors and other medical professionals have a better understanding of the needs of the patient than lawmakers and that in order to have a stable society that can pursue the understanding of reality, people have to have the security of knowing that medical professionals have the freedom to make individual medical decisions that might override laws that apply to the general public.
For example. Morphine is a highly addictive drug that is often abused by drug addicts. Morphine is also a powerful pain killer. So do we deny a dying person pain relief and watch them suffer a horrible death because the law has unreasonable restrictions? That would be crazy in our view. If a person is dying in pain it is our position that they should get all the pain medication they need even if it is against the law and even if the dosage of pain medication leads to the death of the patient.
We in the Church of Reality put a higher value on the rights of the dying to control their own medical treatment free of the restrictions of law. When a person is in the last stages of life there are often no good choices. Death is inevitable. The individual who is dying has the right to choose how it will happen. An individual might choose to hasten their death because they have decided that their time is up and they no longer wish to continue the struggle. They might choose to have their life terminated at a time of their choosing and in the company of their friends and family who have gathered to help them with the dying process. A dying Realist has a religious right to control their own death. Realists have a religious right to give and receive life ending assistance as an act of compassion. We put out beloved animals to sleep to prevent unnecessary suffering. Our world view is that people deserve the same compassion.
Drug restrictions are often politically based rather than based on science and reality. Marijuana is an example of a drug where the laws and reality are in conflict. As Realists we put reality ahead of politics. Marijuana has been proven to be a highly effective drug to treat a large number of medical conditions. The Church of Reality officially recognizes the use and benefits of medical marijuana and that we have the right to both receive it and to give it to others as an act of compassion.
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