Who's in Charge of Your Health?

Why, the government is, of course! Just ask Daniel Hauser, who has been forced to undergo chemotherapy against his beliefs. Oh, and ask Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. He just vetoed a bill that would allow terminally ill patients to use marijuana to alleviate pain.

Radley Balko disagrees, and he points out the glaring discrepancy:

The state of Minnesota is forcing Daniel Hauser into chemo because he isn't old enough to decide his own course of treatment, and because his parents' claimed moral opposition to chemotherapy is irrational. Yet at the same time, the state will forbid Hauser from smoking marijuana to offset the effects of said chemo because, despite research showing marijuana's clear benefits in that area, the state has a moral obligation to prevent people from smoking marijuana. Science should trump belief. Except when it doesn't.