cannabisnews.com: Marijuana is a Medicine That People Need 





Marijuana is a Medicine That People Need 
Posted by FoM on February 19, 2002 at 10:41:30 PT
By Krissy Oechslin 
Source: Prince George's Journal 
Support for medical marijuana may have finally reached critical mass in Maryland. On Feb. 8, Del. Don Murphy, R-Baltimore County, formally introduced a medical marijuana bill in the Maryland House of Delegates.   The Darrell Putnam Compassionate Use Act would provide effective protection to the many Maryland residents who are already using marijuana to relieve the symptoms of cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and a host of other medical conditions. 
With 52 other delegates signed on to the bill, Del. Murphy has set a national record for the number of co-sponsors on any medical marijuana bill. The legislation has support from both sides of the aisle, including the majority and minority leaders as well as the speaker pro tem and the minority whip.   Named after a former Green Beret who died of cancer, the Darrell Putnam Compassionate Use Act would allow a patient suffering from a serious illness to use marijuana with a recommendation from his or her doctor.   The state's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene would issue identification cards to medical marijuana patients to ensure that law enforcement agents could easily identify legitimate patients from non-patients.   Maryland's medical marijuana program would be the strictest in the country. The bill prohibits cultivation of more than seven marijuana plants. Certified caregivers would be permitted to provide marijuana to only one patient at any given time, and a patient could receive marijuana from only one primary caregiver. All marijuana plants would have to be grown in secure indoor facilities, and patients would be prohibited from using marijuana in such a way that endangers public safety (such as driving while under the influence). These safeguards will assure the safety of patients and the public.   Thousands of doctors in eight states - Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington - are legally recommending marijuana to tens of thousands of patients to ease the nausea of chemotherapy and AIDS medications, the muscle spasticity of multiple sclerosis and the seizures of epilepsy.   And in those eight states, not a single patient or doctor has ever faced federal arrest, prosecution or imprisonment for possessing or recommending small amounts of marijuana for medical use.   Patients not fortunate enough to reside in states with medical marijuana laws currently risk arrest simply for using a medicine that brings them relief. These people are not threats to society, yet they face criminal sanctions. An arrest for medical marijuana possession can result not only in a criminal record and possible imprisonment, but in termination of employment, denial of student financial aid, driver's license suspension and expulsion from school or public housing, regardless of whether the marijuana was for medical use. Is society served by punishing the ill and disabled?   Maryland residents support medical marijuana. In early January, a statewide poll found that twice as many Maryland voters are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports medical marijuana than are less likely to support such a candidate. And in 1999, the University of Maryland's Center for Substance Abuse Research conducted a poll, asking if residents believed ``physicians should be allowed to prescribe marijuana for medical use.'' Fully 73 percent of respondents were in favor of medical marijuana. These results mirror national polls conducted from 1995 through 1999, which showed support for medical marijuana ranging from 60 percent to 79 percent of those surveyed.   The Maryland General Assembly faces a choice: Protect patients from arrest, or treat them as common criminals. If you believe that patients shouldn't go to jail for the simple act of taking their medicine, please make your voice heard. Ask your elected officials this simple question: Which is worse for seriously ill people - marijuana or prison?   Krissy Oechslin is assistant communications director of the Marijuana Policy Project: http://www.mpp.org Source: Prince George's Journal (MD)Author: Krissy Oechslin Published: February 19, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Journal NewspapersContact: pgedit jrnl.comWebsite: http://cold.jrnl.com/cfdocs/new/pg/Related Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmDelegates Lobby for Medical Marijuana Bill http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11985.shtml50 Lawmakers Back Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11947.shtml
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Comment #20 posted by mayan on February 20, 2002 at 05:22:22 PT
Support Federal Legislation!
TAKE ACTION! Support Federal medical marijuana legislation!
http://www.mpp.org/states/site/index.cgi?state=USA
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Comment #19 posted by E_Johnson on February 20, 2002 at 02:28:58 PT
It's not the atrocities, it's the indignities
"The View": Having come so far in understanding the propagandistic nature of corporate television & news, I now find it hard to understand why so many Americans (and others to be sure) can stand to listen to such drivel as is promulgated by programs such as "The Pot-Hater's View". Well instead of having the government to tell me what to watch, maybe I should ask you?I liked the show and it was upsetting to see them behave that way.EJ, I don't want to start a wholly off-topic rant, but I would simply like to point out that Chomsky has & continues to denounce soviet attrocities whenever such denunciations are relevant to the discussion at hand..Atrocities -- I'm not saying he covers up for Stalin, I'm saying that he paints the Soviet Union as America's victim during the Cold War. There weren't Stalinist atrocities during the Cold War. But the Communist Party was still evil, and they were not our victims.Nobody is being taught how the Brezhnev era Soviet system worked, and that's what people need to understand where we're going with American drug policy.These social control structures that are emerging in the Drug War -- I say they can't be fully appreciated unless one understands where the same structures fit into the Soviet system of social and political control.But leftist academics don't like to do anything to interfere with their eternal agenda of painting Cold War America as the single most corrupting force in the Universe.It's just one of the things holding back this struggle. The other is the poor ability of Libertarians to communicate with blacks and Hispanics.
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Comment #18 posted by entropy on February 19, 2002 at 20:02:42 PT:
some thoughts...
First off, i've been lurking on these boards for at least a year, and very much appreciate the intelligent discussion and critical analysis that takes place here every hour of every day..."The View": Having come so far in understanding the propagandistic nature of corporate television & news, 
I now find it hard to understand why so many Americans
(and others to be sure) can stand to listen to such drivel
as is promulgated by programs such as "The Pot-Hater's View". Who should care what effluvium some dressed up, demographically targeted & engineered, crew of spoon-fed meat puppets are spouting off anyway?i'm interested in turning these years of compounded demonization on its head, something like meme warfare...EJ, I don't want to start a wholly off-topic rant, but I would simply like to point out that Chomsky has & continues to denounce soviet attrocities whenever such denunciations are relevant to the discussion at hand... In particular I recommend reading Chomsky's most recent writings in regard to 9/11 and the so-called international "Anti-Terror" coalition, specifically the motives of some of the most active proponents of said coalition (namely Russia).I simply hope that your are not blinded by your feelings regarding Chomsky's treatment of Russia, and can still recognize that this man IS TRULY CONCERNED WITH THE LIBERATION OF MANKIND, A FREEDOM FIGHTER IF ONE EVER EXISTED!idbsne1, I wholly agree, in addition to posting here, a more general discussion among those that may not be so sure about their opinions, would benefit all. More eloquent, informed discussion is exactly what we need to escape the "stoner" stereotype. Furthermore, sadly what I read on these boards, is often merely "preaching to the converted".-peace
Democracy Now!
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Comment #17 posted by E_Johnson on February 19, 2002 at 16:50:20 PT
I've been a Democrat all my life
I demonstrated against Vietnam when I was 13. I voted for every darn Democrat I could except Al Gore.And I still think Noam Chomsky is disabling a whole generation by refusing to show them why the Soviet Union was bad.So they're not effective fighters for the freedoms we still have left in America today.And Al Gore is a rewriter of his own history with marijuana almost on par with Stalin cutting Trotsky's head out of state photos.
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Comment #16 posted by idbsne1 on February 19, 2002 at 16:26:31 PT
I'm a Republican!!
Sorry, Nuevo Mexican...But, I don't think it has ANYTHING to do with it. There are Republicans and religious (puritanical) people who are here that smoke pot and despise the state of affairs of cannabis prohibition.This has to do with lack of understanding... and the TRUTH. And the unfortunate, dark qualities of human beings. Greed, selfishness, power, ego, pride, vanity, etc......E_J...I am right there with you... it is disturbing.. I am very sensitive, and I get angry at these people, yet I am supposed to be understanding...but the helplessness?!?!...great letter kaptinemo!!!! When I read the title, my first inclination was to email Joyce, but I shoulda figured with all us smart folks in here....:)I have a question... couldn't we all frequent ALSO another forum, say ABC.com or CNN.com, where more Sheeple might interact..because with all of us posting THERE what we post here, it would go really far, I think...Anyways.. GOOD NEWS!!!! I am going to send some letters to some Maryland politicians, for sure....idbsne1
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Comment #15 posted by Nuevo Mexican on February 19, 2002 at 15:38:51 PT
I'm a liberal!
and proud of it! (I think you're a liberal too, whether you agree or not) The liberals you speak of E.J., I believe are 'neo-liberals' a distinctly different variety. These are typically bankers. corporate exectutives, politicians like George Bush and to a much lesser degree, Al Gore, that pretend to be liberal while making policies with the exact opposite effect, thus neo-liberal. Example: Pretzelboy says no to Nevada waste dump, gets elected in said state and completely bends over for the nuclear energy lobby, Far Right wing politics (Conservatism, as you have explained is not what the republicans are practicing), cloaked as liberalism to appeal to the liberal American people, and because money rules Washington. We must be getting what we deserve, and will until we decide we deserve better. In fact, America has low self-esteem and it is reflected in our un-elected residents inadequate knowledge of life, himself, and the world around him. Thus, the bragadocio, the swaggering texan proud of his red neck and cocksure frat boy hijinx (Attack BY America)! Low self-esteem and that stems from a puritanical right-wing approach to nature, love, sex, spirituality and humanity. Liberal: belonging to the people, free, ample, abundant, tolerant, favoring reform (Websters). I feel the same way you do, and it is worth shedding tears over as this mentality that demonizes Cannabis user leads to more tears, more suffering, more damage to be undone. I truly enjoy your post and nit-pick as I'm always caught off-guard by the use of certain hot-button words like: liberal, 
Chomsky, Gore lost (he won!) etc. Anything that smacks of Fox news or Fox news II (CNN) will not pass un-contested, and you don't strike my as a fan of either. 
Otherwise your comments are dead on! I'm reading your posts' and nodding, yes E.J. I totally agree and then you throw these 'liberal' words out and I'm totally snagged. You must have planets in Gemini, is all I can figure. That's o.k. too, as that would contribute to your excellent writing abilities and high intelligence. Maybe we should have columnists' featured weekly at C-News as there is an abundance of great writers here, each with a perspective that is enlightening and informative, if not thought-provoking and contoversial. Peace! Bless the World!
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Comment #14 posted by Dan B on February 19, 2002 at 14:03:04 PT:
Kaptinemo
That was the most reasoned, well-worded letter I have read in quite some time, and I applaud it. I hope she reads it, and I hope its message sinks in.It made my day to see the point so eloquently put.Dan B
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Comment #13 posted by E_Johnson on February 19, 2002 at 13:46:35 PT
I confess -- Meredith Veiera made me cry
I don't usually let this stuff get to me but I'm so tired of playing the role of the last acceptable target for social hatred expressed in public by liberals.My shield just cracked!Why why why is it okay to hate us and lock us in cages while the alcohol users party and puke and brawl and vandalize and have unsafe and unconsensual sex all over the place as they wish?Why isn't she afraid that her children are associating with a drunk every day when they come from school?Why is there a commercial on TV that says, "My son knows people who smoke weed and it scares me to death"?They probably went out for drinks after the commercial was finished.It's sad and frightening to be in the path of this unreasoning hate.
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Comment #12 posted by kaptinemo on February 19, 2002 at 13:12:52 PT:
Now that's a knee-slapper!
Thank you, LI, and I hope you will continue to post any responses from her here. I think we'd all enjoy it...
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Comment #11 posted by lookinside on February 19, 2002 at 13:03:12 PT:
A note to our pal, Joyce...
I couldn't resist.
     Title:  Good News!Hi Joyce!I'm sure you've already heard the great news concerning new legislation moving through the Maryland Legislature. If not, here's the story.http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread12051.shtmlYou are very fortunate to live in a state that truly cares about the well being of it's citizens.Sincerely,
lookinside
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Comment #10 posted by Jose Melendez on February 19, 2002 at 13:00:17 PT:
on lazy, loaded locutions
If only the Secretary of State would speak out on marijuana...From:
http://www.washtimes.com/national/inpolitics.htm
"In his MTV interview — which had several sterling moments — Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke of 'the white power structure,'" Jay Nordlinger writes at the National Review Web site (www.nationalreview.com).
   "I have heard about the white power structure all my life. Have you ever been invited into it? Did someone teach you a secret handshake or something?" Mr. Nordlinger asked.
"'White power structure' is a lazy, loaded locution that serious people should avoid."
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Comment #9 posted by E_Johnson on February 19, 2002 at 12:50:24 PT
Write The View
Tell them it's simply not acceptable for a bunch of admitted alcohol abusers to go spewing hatred against marijuana users on national TV.These women admit to going out drinking after every show, they glorify alcohol on their show, they even show people how to mix drinks, and yet they can express their hatred towards marijuana users without any misgivings at all.
The Pothead Hater's View
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Comment #8 posted by kaptinemo on February 19, 2002 at 12:48:26 PT:
My letter to Meredith
Dear Ms. Vieira,I recently learned that you had commented on the current problems the British Royal Prince Harry is having vis-à-vis his country's laws governing cannabis, a.k.a. 'pot'. Specifically, about his socializing with the person who introduced him to it. And that either you or someone on your show had asked if they would allow any child of theirs to associate with a 'pothead'.Please tell me, what in your considered opinion constitutes a 'pothead'?Everyone in America is conversant with the outrageous spoofing that Cheech and Chong engaged in their portrayals of fictional dopers. Just their names alone elicit recognition of the stereotypical marijuana users. Hirsute, disheveled, incoherent when they aren't inchoate, red-eyed, stumbling human wreaks possessing dubious morals and deviant designs upon your children. They have to be 'on something', right?But who are the real 'potheads'?Perhaps it is frequency of use, rather than outlandish dress, which determines the status of 'potheads'? Daily use certainly might be a factor, yes? Such as the daily use of cannabis that the late astrophysicist Carl Sagan and his equally brilliant wife Ann Druyan, perhaps? I understand that you have admitted to having a glass or two of fine wine in the evenings. All well and good; my late Mother used to do the same, and for the same reasons, mainly to relax. Recently, there have been all manner of studies, some originating in France, which extol the benefits of moderate alcohol use.But alcohol is a drug, Ms. Vieira. Do you dispute that? And if alcohol is a drug, and you use it, are you not a 'drug user', Ms. Vieira? Would you like someone to ask their children if they should associate with you for being such?We of the cannabis communities have long taken such insults in silence, but no longer. Given that so many of your entertainment world friends indulge, I imagine they are none too happy with you right now, either. For, with tens of millions of us having admitted to our use of our favorite herbal intoxicant, you don't know who you might so thoughtlessly insult, next time. Like your producers, perhaps? Have a care who you disdain in your rise up the ladder in the future, Ms. Vieira; you might 
have to meet them again on your way back down...Ian Graeme
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Comment #7 posted by E_Johnson on February 19, 2002 at 12:25:21 PT
I still think this is how Bush beat Gore
Maryland residents support medical marijuana. In early January, a statewide poll found that twice as many Maryland voters are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports medical marijuana than are less likely to support such a candidate. And in 1999, the University of Maryland's Center for Substance Abuse Research conducted a poll, asking if residents believed ``physicians should be allowed to prescribe marijuana for medical use.'' Fully 73 percent of respondents were in favor of medical marijuana. These results mirror national polls conducted from 1995 through 1999, which showed support for medical marijuana ranging from 60 percent to 79 percent of those surveyed. And the Pres2000 candidate who said medical marijuana was an issue for state's rights is now in the White House, while the Pres2000 candidate who lied about the IOM report during the campaign to support his position against medical marijuana failed to get enough Americans to stand up for him at the polls to be a clear victor.And is now growing a bear to hide the double chin from his food addiction problem.
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Comment #6 posted by Jose Melendez on February 19, 2002 at 12:16:32 PT:
usually TV lies about drugs...
Last night on "Boston Public", they killed off a character who was struggling with (trying to avoid being forced to consume) Ritalin, by scripting in a drunk driving accident. Meanwhile, a history teacher answered questions that don't show up in History books, and posing as George Washington:
Q. Did you ever do drugs?
A. I was the first President to grow Marijuana. I love hemp!
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Comment #5 posted by E_Johnson on February 19, 2002 at 11:57:59 PT
Write Meredith Veirera on The View
Today I heard somethign that really upset me on the morning show The View on ABC. It was a story about Prince Harry associating with the "pothead" who was guilty of introducing him to marijuana.So they asked -- if your kid knew a "pothead" would you allow him to associate with that person?I thought, well, Meredith tells everyone on national TV that she drinks a few glasses of wine every night, so according to her logic, her kid is already associating with a DRUNK.But alcohol users don't accept hate language being used against them.She would never have said,. "Would you let your kid hang out with a faggot?" on national TV.Why should it be acceptable to use hate language against marijuana users on national TV? Pothead isn't any different from faggot or drunk.Why do we take this treatment? People think it's funny but the joke wears thin when prison is involved.If this woman has human rights even though she's an alcohol user, why can't we have human rights?Here's their web site, and you can send her email from a link down the page.
The View
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Comment #4 posted by goneposthole on February 19, 2002 at 11:53:09 PT
majority and minority leaders
Joyce, please read paragraphs three and four.Can these delegates be trusted supporting marijuana as medicine?Did you read the title of the legislation?--------------------------------------------------------"Marijuana is a Medicine That People Need"Well said. It is time for it to be done.The dead horse's bones have been beat to dust.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on February 19, 2002 at 11:50:11 PT
Silver Spring
I spent a number of my summers when I was a youngster in Silver Spring, Maryland. Sounds like a great place to get medical marijuana available legally. I hope Joyce soon understands why.
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Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on February 19, 2002 at 11:45:55 PT:
O, Joycieeeee! What have you got to say about THAT
We're waiting, Joyce. we're waiting for you to tell cancer patients, to their faces, dear Joyce, why you believe they should suffer for your twisted ideals. Why they should agonize from the twin banes of illness and treatment...when a simple and safe palliative exists, one which has killed not a single person in 5,000 years of recorded human history.Don't talk to us, Joyce; we've heard your verbal vomit often enough that we can practically write your speeches, you are so predictable in your inanity. No, Joyce, talk to all those bald, emaciated and pain-wracked little old ladies in their Spandex aqua turbans and twentysomethings I saw every time I took my charge to the oncologists for her dose of ratbane and Taxol. Talk to them, dear, sweet, compassionate Joyce, and tell them why they should suffer and die so horribly...for your modern-day 'Children's Crusade' of a DrugWar. Tell them, Joyce...before I do. Because when I got through, telling the people in those offices I went to that such a palliative exists but it is illegal because of fears that kids might get their hands on it, they are ready to use their last ounces of strength for violence...against the likes of you. Tell them, Joyce. But you are running out of time, and you know it. A lie can only be repeated so many times before it is recognized as such. And your lies have lost all credibility, save amongst the most dim-witted. But please, go ahead. I could use the entertainment.
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Comment #1 posted by observer on February 19, 2002 at 11:41:21 PT
This is what has Nalepka ticked --
This is why Joyce Nalepka's bloomers are in a wad. People in her own backyard (she's located in Silver Spring, MD) are no longer falling for her 'mason jars of oregano' props anymore ... they are looking through her sorry excuses for jail -- not that she mentions jail explicitly. She knows that would be bad news: jailing cancer patients. So she 'just happens' to 'accidently forget' to tell about jailing your daughters and sons for smoking a joint. She concentrates on "the children," instead. Better to play on fears and tug at heartstrings, than to let on your real agenda: getting back at those adult "sinners" by jailing them when they smoke pot.
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