Each week The Old Editor will attempt to address your entreaties for information and advice on grammar and usage, writing, writer-editor etiquette, and related subjects.
The Old Editor does not address marital and relationship matters, dietary questions, or automobile mechanics.
The question: A colleague inquires of The Old Editor whether there is a useful distinction to be made between marijuana and cannabis. "Some medical cannabis advocates have recently approached me," she writes, "to say that we need to refer to the drug as cannabis, not marijuana, for a variety of reasons. Their primary argument is that cannabis is more precise and marijuana has negative connotations."
The distinction can be developed further: Just read your article about medical cannabis.
As words/terms are important, let me suggest the following: that cannabis is the term used in the Maryland legislation over medical use, and that marijuana could be reserved for "personal use," which would, in addition, be preferable to "recreational use."
The Old Editor answers: The Associated Press Stylebook also makes a distinction, for what it is worth (and one need not slavishly follow the AP). It says that marijuana is the dried flowers "used as a drug for medical and recreational purposes," that cannabis is the name of the plant, and that marijuana, cannabis, and pot can be used interchangeably. This is the common parlance.
The Old Editor is sympathetic to the legislators, scientists, and doctors who urgently want to relieve the pain of sufferers whose disorders could be alleviated by a cannabinoid. He is also sensitive to their touchiness about being associated with a product bearing an unsavory past. But he is also aware of a crowd expecting medical marijuana to be a step toward full legalization, so that they can merchandise tetrahydrocannabinol for whoopee as well as pain relief. It seems doubtful that the medical use will ever completely escape louche associations.
All the same, The Old Editor also likes distinctions. It seems reasonable enough to use cannabis for medical purposes and marijuana for [cough] personal purposes.
But that is a suggestion, not a statutory demand.
Got a question for The Old Editor? Write to him at john.mcintyre@baltsun.com. Your name will not be used unless you specifically authorize it.