Legalization of Marijuana

One big topic lately is asking for the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Saying not only about the benefits it has but also how sale of it could help this struggling economy

Medicinal Benefits

I have never tried marijuana nor do I ever plan trying it but I have heard numerous stories about it’s benefits. On 20/20 singer Melissa Etheridge said how she tried marijuana when she had breast cancer. She said it prevented her from taking so many prescriptions and it gave her the energy she needed to perform at the Grammies. She explained that she was given a prescription for one thing, pain. Side effect from that prescription lead to constipation, another prescription for that. Side effect from that prescription lead to diarrhea, another prescription. So by the end of all this she needed one prescription for one problem but ended up needing ten. Marijuana solved the first problem without the lingering side effects. Etheridge explained that it’s not a high that you get from the marijuana, it’s the feeling or normal. I have heard other stories similar to hers

Abuse
The idea of people illegally abusing drugs, even legal ones, is nothing new. We’ve heard numerous stories of people abusing narcotics such as Vicodin, Oxycotin, Xanax, Ritalin etc. Tune into a season of Intervention and you become amazed at how many of those people abuse legal drugs. So how is marijuana going to be any different? Place marijuana in the same category as other recreational use drugs. If your using it and you have a prescription, it’s legal, if not, illegal.

I’ve heard other arguments that unlike other drugs you can technically make marijuana at home. All you need are seeds, dirt and water. Well it’s not that simple. They way most law enforcement agencies become suspicious are the high water and electric bills. The grower is racking up bills tens times what his/her neighbors are. It’s cheaper to buy it from growers who do this in bulk. Then comes the process of harvesting, drying etc. Getting marijuana isn’t that simple.

Side Effects

Yes marijuana has harmful side effects, everything from heart disease to hallucination, but what drug doesn’t? Think of all the prescription drugs that you hear about on TV and at the end of the commercial you hear about all the side effect. Birth control pills causing blood clots, cholesterol lowering medication causing liver problems, anti-depressants causing dry mouth etc. Doctors prescribe and people take these drugs because the benefits outweigh the risks. No medication is 100% safe. Even over the counter drugs such as Tylenol, Advil, and Aleve have warning labels.

Economical Benefits

In my state of California the medicinal use of marijuana is legal. With California being in as much debt it currently is in, over $40 billion, advocates say that taxes brought in my marijuana could bring in an additional $3 billion a year. Although it doesn’t seem like much but it could speed the process up.

Conclusion

So what is this final verdict about marijuana. There is evidence showing the medicinal benefits. How patients only need to take one prescription instead of ten. People abuse drugs even legal ones already. No drug is 100% safe. You are prescribed a drug when the benefits out weight the risks. So at the end of the day let’s legalize the medicinal use of marijuana.

Thing Health Insurance Should NOT Cover

Lately all we hear is healthcare reform. We demand health insurance cover more but we want to pay less. Some of us have even gone as far as demanding government run universal healthcare. Before we take such drastic measures I suggest a few simple alterations in insurance plans: Stop covering unnecessary things!!! What I mean by unnecessary things, I mean things like ED drugs such as Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra. It appalls me that certain Medicare plans cover it. It made my stomach turn when once I read an article about people fighting their health insurance companies to pay for in vitro fertilization. They even got as far as getting elected officials to try and pass a bill for it. I know life without sex or kids sucks but it’s not life threatening and it’s not going to kill you unlike cancer or heart disease. Not all insurance companies cover these things but it appalls me that some even do.

People need to realize that health insurance companies are businesses. Yes they’re goal is profit, yes they have A LOT of money, but they don’t have all the money in the world. Just like any other business out there, they have to at the very least stay afloat. Anyone who has worked in businesses, especially retail or sales knows that sometimes corners have to be cut to keep profits up. If a particular item or service is not selling or not making the wanted profits of the money invested in it, then sale of the item of service needs to stop.

The Cost Of Coverage

For people who are wondering where I get the prices of all these medications, I’m an assistant manager in a retail drug store; I have to look up these prices all the time.

The average price for an ED pill is about $25. Although that doesn’t sound like much put it on a grand scale. Let’s say a person needs 100 of these pills a year, that costs the insurance company $2500 per person. Put it towards the whole population, that’s $2.5 million for every thousand people that take it. Wouldn’t you rather have that $2.5 million dollars be used on paying for someone’s cancer treatment, or heart surgery? A colleague of mine, her husband had a lung transplant a few years ago. In order to stay alive he needs anti-rejection drugs. Every month those drugs cost him $2500. If the insurance companies needed the money, all they have to do is reject 12 annual prescriptions for ED drugs to pay for his anti-rejection drugs. Those 12 people can live without ED drugs; this man can’t live without his anti-rejection drugs.

It’s the same story with in vitro fertilization. If you want numbers, artificial insemination costs at least $3000 each time regardless if it is successful or not. The whole in vitro cycle costs about $12,500, successful or not.

What About Other Unncessary Things?

Well, a lot of people would argue with me the fact that health insurance already pays for thing that seem unnecessary, things like breast reconstruction after a mastectomy or diet plans or stop smoking aids. Well unlike paying for ED drugs or in vitro fertilization, paying for these other things is an investment so the health insurance companies can avoid higher medical bills for other ailments in the future. Quite a few women who have a family history of breast cancer are talked into getting mastectomies to be gone with the problem to begin with. Most women are turned off by the idea so insurance companies are willing to pay for reconstruction, which is about $10,000, on top of the mastectomy in hopes that the woman will not get breast cancer in return avoiding hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical bills in the future for cancer treatment. A $10,000+ investment right now to avoid $100,000+ problems in the future. Same principle covering diet plans and smoking aids. We all know the health problems that come with obesity and smoking. Pay for the weight loss and stop smoking plans now to avoid higher priced problems in the future.

Afterthought

The article about people fighting their insurance companies to pay for in vitro fertilization had a message board attached and several of these arguments got me thinking. Someone pointed out that insurance covering ED drugs and in vitro fertilization will make someone happier and more confident. Happiness and confidence will make someone take better care of him/herself and in return have fewer health problems. Although that could be true, it could start a whole slew of claims. A lot of us feel that liposuction, breast implants, face-lifts, and virtually any other type of plastic surgery will make us feel better. Where will the line be drawn? Another argument was that, taking from the point I mentioned in the previous paragraph, instead of reducing future costs, it would increase future costs.

This only mentions two things that appall me that certain health insurances cover. If anything else comes up that appalls me I will definitely have a follow up article

Healthcare For Prisoners

Last year we heard the story that former Manson family member Susan Atkins had ran up a $1.3 million medical bill for treatment of her brain tumor. Who is flipping this $1.3 million bill? Us taxpayers. A majority of us were extremely disgusted by the fact that how could a convicted murderer, someone who a lot of us see as the scum of the earth, get such good healthcare while 46 million of us tax payers can’t even afford decent healthcare while most of us would be denied by the time we ran up a bill that huge. Realistically, prisoners sometimes do get better healthcare than some of us. Although they’re prisoners, they have to be provided with the basic necessities of life, food, shelter, and I guess that also includes healthcare. This whole thing got me thinking; why not make prisoners buy their own insurance?

My Idea

A majority of us get health insurance from our employers. Our employers buy a large group plan and a certain amount comes out of our paychecks. When we need to see a doctor or get a prescription filled we have a co-pay or deductible that comes out of our own pockets.


Prisoners work too. They get paid several dollars an hour to pick up litter, fight fire, make license plates etc. I know some prisoners sell artwork; write books, etc. while in prison, as long as they fund it themselves. Anyone realize that this is income? I know that some of this income is needed to buy certain necessities like toothpaste, OTC drugs, shampoo, etc. but quite a lot of it goes to extra things like books, games etc. Make them use that money to buy health insurance, like the rest of us.

In Action


The prisoner either buys his/her own health insurance plan or the correctional facility buys or creates a health insurance plan. Every month prisoners who want health insurance have to contribute a certain amount. If you don’t contribute you don’t get covered. Let them make the choice that most of us have to make. I pretty sure most of us would rather use the amount taken out of our paychecks to go on a nice vacation or get something nice, but health insurance is just something we need.


When the prisoner gets sick, the prisoner is stuck paying the co-pay or deductible just like the rest of us. Just like how our insurers can deny claims and we have to fight them, hire lawyers, get multiple doctors approvals, etc. make the prisoners do that too.

Health Insurance Protects Us From Addiction

We hear all these stories about health insurance companies denying this claim and only the rich being able to afford decent health care. As ironic as it seems, sometimes us normal middle class folk should be thankful that we have to rely on insurance for health care. Sometimes it’s what we can’t afford that protects us.

We have all heard the story. One gets prescribed narcotic drugs: painkillers, sleeping pills, etc., for a legitimate reason. Somewhere along the way something happens and one gets addicted, overdoses, etc. Michael Jackson is the latest in a long line of celebrities to die under these circumstances.

Prevents Us From Getting Addicted

I work as an assistant manager for a retail drug store and I see this on a daily basis. Most pharmacies will refuse to refill a prescription if the insurance refuses to pay for it. Especially when it comes to narcotics, most health insurers have a strict limit on how soon you can have your prescription refilled, most of the time 3 days. You can have your high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease etc. medication filled a week or two ahead of time, but not your prescription painkillers, sleeping pills etc. Thanks to the insurance company’s strict limit, it makes it harder to become addicted.

Think of it this way. If your doctor wrote you a 30 day prescription for narcotic painkillers that is to be refilled 6 times. Let’s say you take one pill a day so that’s 30 pills every time you get your prescription filled. Because of the insurance company’s strict rules, you’ll only have 3 pills left before you can get your next refill. That three-day time span makes it harder to get addicted.

Stops It From Continuing

If one does get addicted, I’m talking 10, 20, 30 etc. pills a day, insurance makes it harder to get the drugs. One can either buy it off the street at around $80 a pill, or one can get a “legitimate” prescription. One has to go find a doctor outside of their primary care physician. Most of the time you can’t bill this to your insurance because they will start getting suspicious. Even if one found a “candy man,” that person is still looking at a bill of a least $100 to $500, and that’s only a third the work.

Now one needs to get the drugs. Any neighborhood pharmacy will do, but good luck with the bill. A single pill costs around $14. Although that doesn’t sound like much, if you’re at 10 pills a day that’s $140 a day or $4200 a month. For the same reason as the doctor’s visit, you can’t bill it to your insurance.

To top it off, one cannot keep going to the same pharmacy. If one goes to the same pharmacy once every 10 days for a 100-pill prescription, they are going to get suspicious, so one has to diversify. Plus one cannot even go a pharmacy within the same chain because most corporation pharmacies are connected. So the first few times one can go to their local pharmacy, but eventually one has to start going out farther and farther.

When you are a typical middle class American citizen that relies on typical health insurance, this is not an easy task to pull off. Forget about the doctor’s bill or gas money to travel far, how many of us even make $4200 a month let alone spend it all on drugs?

Although quite a few people out there complain that health insurance companies would rather deny claims in exchange for profit, most of us should be glad that we have insurance. It’s insurance that prevents us from getting into such dangerous situations as these.

Credit Cards Aren't So Bad

When someone mentions credit cards, what do you think of? High interest rates, late fees, lifetime of debt, ruined credit? Well credits aren’t so bad; it’s misusing them that gives them a bad name. I got my first credit card in college and since then I’ve use it on almost every purchase and thanks to it, I’m in the process of buying my first house. Most people wonder how do I handle the high interest and how do I have near perfect credit if all I use is my credit card? I know this sounds like a cliché late night joke but it couldn’t be more true, “Don’t buy what you can’t afford.”

Most credit cards give you a several thousand-dollar line of credit and only ask for a $20 or 2% payment every month, whichever is higher. Well think about it, if you buy a $1000 item, let’s make it a laptop computer, and pay only $20 a month for it, even without interest, it will take just over 4 years to pay off that computer. Now with interest, let’s say 19.99%, you’re looking at between 10 to 20 years. Your computer is probably going to be obsolete by the fifth year. Just because you can spend several thousand dollars and make minimal payments doesn’t mean you should. I pay off my credit cards in full every month. Since I pay them in full, I don’t get charged interest plus there are rewards (I’ll get to that later).

By using credit cards instead of cash, you can also protect yourself from fraud. Most of us either know someone or fell victim to wallet theft, I’m a victim. These criminals next to never caught. If all you carry is cash, you’ll more than likely never see that money ever again. So if you were carrying $100, you just lost $100. The people who stole my wallet went on a shopping spree spending over $6000 with my credit cards. My credit card companies caught it and were able to put a stop to most of the charges and I wasn’t responsible for any of the charges.

If you pay off your credit cards in full, most credit card companies also give you rewards. Whether it’s miles, gas, cash etc. it’s actually pretty useful. My first credit card gave me 1% back on all my purchases and 5% back for the first 5 years, 2% after that, on purchases made in grocery, gas, or drug stores. Although it doesn’t seem like much whenever my total got to $100, once every 3 to 6 months, I could request a check. Might not seem like much but an extra $100 every 3 to 6 months never hurt anyone.

So how does one always use credit cards without drowning in debt?

1. Set a budget. Or as one person put it to me, “use your credit card like a debit card.” Calculate how much you make a month. How much of that is going to payments that can’t go on a credit card: mortgage, rent, car payments etc.? Whatever amount you have leftover can go on a credit card.


2. What other payments that need to be made? If your gas, electric, water, etc company allows you to pay off your month bill using your credit card without interest or fees, take advantage of that. Whatever is leftover is your budget.


3. Now to prevent yourself from going overboard check your activity at least every other day, if not everyday. That way you have an idea of how much you have left. One great thing about credit cards is that if you need something on Wednesday but you don’t get paid until Friday and you don’t have any money, you can put it on the credit card.

Dancing With the Star Season 9 Cast Revealed

This morning, on Good Morning America, the cast for Dancing With the Stars Season 9 was revealed. I am literally the biggest fan of the show so this is BIG for me. Although there is the typical cast of actors, singers, models, and athletes, there is one surpise this year, A POLITICIAN!?!?!?!
Former House Majority Leader under the Bush Administration, Tom DeLay, is competing on DWTS. Maybe someone finally took my joke seriously. Shortly after Season 3 I made a small joke about politicians being on the show. Last year when all the preisdential candidates were coming out, I made a suggestion on a DWTS MySpace Group that instead of actors, singers, models etc. since it's an election year, let's have the presidential candidates dance. Think about it, we're a country who cares more about who the next American Idol or the next champion of DWTS than our next president. So why not have all of them compete and while they're backstage with Samantha, express their political views and promises. Politics made fun again after great entertainment.
As for the rest of the cast, typical celebrity cast although I will comment on a few.
Melissa Joan Hart: If I remember correctly early on they asked her several times but due to pregnancy and motherhood she wasn't able to. Since she didn't appear on the seasons afterwards I thought they had given up on asking her. I guess not.
Aaron Carter: During the boy band era there were 3 major boy bands. Backstreet Boys, N'SYNC, and 98 Degrees. So far they've had a former 98 Degrees member, Drew Lachey, 2 former N'SYNC members, Lance Bass and Joey Fatone, I was hoping sooner or later they were going to have a Backstreet Boy on the show soon, completing the boy band circuit. Aaron Carter is the brother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter so I guess this is close enough.
As some of you know, I started a separate blog about my week long Toyota Prius experience. Maybe I'll start a separate blog about Dancing With the Stars. I'll keep you all up to date.

They Are Called BENEFITS

We all know, in this economy people are getting laid off, they're hours are getting cut etc. etc. etc. It's no different at the store where I work. Employees and now managers have had to work fewer hours so we could all keep our jobs. But the managers all promised one thing, everyone would at least work just enough hours to keep their benefits, especially health.
This is how health benefits work in my place of employment. You receive them after 3 months of employment. You can choose from several different PPO and HMOs. In order to qualify and keep your health insurance you need to keep a 25 hr week average for the last 12 weeks. Sounds simple enough. When everyones hours got cut, us managers made sure that everyone worked at least 25 hrs a week.
I don't know if this economic slow down just made people lazy or people decided because their hours got cut to stop coming to work or something else but people have decided to stop coming to work in insane numbers. We do provide the typical 2 week vacation, personal days and sick days, but the calling off has gotten so ridiculous that most people have used up all those days. After you use up all those days is when it starts affecting your hours.
Now I have several employees without health insurance and other benefits. They are blaming their heads off on us when really they have no one but themselves to blame. These things are called BENEFITS, not ENTITLEMENTS. People need to realize that they are not entitled to health, dental, life etc. insurance, you have to work for them. In this case working for them is quite simple. Just show up for work and do your job.
With the economy this bad and unemployment this high, I would like nothing more than to fire some of these employees and replace them with someone who is willing to work the expected hours and cherish their benefits. All the other managers and I had a little meeting about all this and have a small solution. If anyone is to call in sick again, especially the compulsive call offers, one must provide a doctor's note showing that one can't make it to work. The other day I had an employee whine to me that how is she suppose to bring a doctor's note when she doesn't even have health insurance. I didn't say anything but if she does get sick before her average is back at 25 she will eventually learn her lesson that health insurance is a benefit, not an entitlement, and that sick days are for when you get sick, not to party.