I follow a drug company that is testing a drug which definitely benefits muscular dystrophy victims; it’s currently going through the FDA approval process. If a state were to decide to bypass the FDA and start letting the company sell the drug, the federal government would crack down on it so fast it would make your head spin. Yet, with a primitive narcotic drug that doesn’t actually help anyone, they turn the blind eye. The federal bias is definitely in FAVOR of pot.
If anyone saw certain areas of California about 5 years back (eg. Santa Monica), there was a booming business of doctors who only existed to prescribe medical marijuana. It seems to have since been shut down for a large part. Point is, the OU is totally out of bounds to say it’s a mitzvah if your doctor says it will help. There are all kinds of doctors out there. I don’t know if Popa was kidding, but I truly think this bodes poorly for OU. However, let’s be honest, the OU is our own little “too big to fail” entity for American Orthodox Jews.