cannabisnews.com: Senate Panel Takes Up Medical Marijuana





Senate Panel Takes Up Medical Marijuana
Posted by FoM on April 19, 2002 at 09:19:30 PT
By David Mace, Vermont Press Bureau
Source: Rutland Herald 
Senate leaders say they are committed to getting a medicinal marijuana bill onto the floor for a vote this session, but as a key committee began its work Wednesday time was running out. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee took testimony on the bill and its chairwoman, Sen. Nancy Chard, D-Windham, said she hopes to get the House-passed bill out of committee by Friday. 
The committee heard from a doctor from Maine, which has legalized marijuana since 1999 for use by patients suffering from specific diseases. Dr. John Woytowicz, testifying by speakerphone, said he had recommended marijuana for two patients under the Maine plan, which is similar to the one proposed in Vermont’s legislation. “My experience with it has been pretty good,” said Woytowicz, recalling how a patient had come to him 10 years ago suffering from chronic pain from congenital problems. The patient confided he was treating his symptoms with marijuana. When Maine’s law passed, the patient became Woytowicz’ first medical marijuana recommendation. Vermont’s bill, like Maine’s law, requires a doctor’s certification. The bill allows seriously ill people to use marijuana to alleviate pain, nausea and other symptoms associated with diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and AIDS. A patient or designated caregiver can possess up to three mature plants, four immature plants and 3 ounces of marijuana. The law allows them to grow the plant as long as they do it in a secure, indoor location. Woytowicz said Maine’s law requires that there be a doctor-patient relationship, and that he had turned down some requests to recommend use of the drug because those seeking it wouldn’t commit to that. But he said he hadn’t been flooded with requests, despite the fact that he was featured in several media reports as a doctor who did recommend the drug after determining it was in the patient’s best interest. Dr. Jan Carney, Vermont’s health commissioner, was blunt in her assessment of the bill. “I hate to be a skunk at the garden party,” Carney said. “... I’m not in favor of passage of (the bill).” Carney pointed out that federal law making marijuana illegal trumped Vermont law, and that in any event marijuana’s medical benefits hadn’t been scientifically proven. “I agree that more research is needed into marijuana’s use for certain conditions,” she said. But such research should be aimed at finding other ways to deliver the drug’s active ingredient without smoking pot, which she pointed out was detrimental to health. “Suppose you have it in a brownie?” asked Chard. She also noted that the information from federal health authorities that Carney was citing was 4 years old and asked if new drugs to treat some of the ailments discussed had been introduced since then. Carney said she wasn’t aware of them, but refused to back off her stance. Her boss, Gov. Howard Dean, has been adamant in his opposition to the bill, which he has characterized as a backdoor effort to legalize marijuana. But as the Democratic governor flirts with a possible presidential run, his stance may cut against him in some circles. In San Francisco last week Dean, who has won support among the gay community for signing the landmark civil unions bill granting same-sex couples marriage rights, was urged to support medical marijuana by that same group. Dean’s spokeswoman said Wednesday he wouldn’t comment on the proposal. The bill, which passed the House with broad, bipartisan support, is running out of time in the Senate. Chard said she hoped to get the bill out of her committee by Friday, and that she would support it. “There are all kinds of limits in this bill, all kinds of controls,” she noted. “... It allows a very few, very sick people to find relief.” At least two other Democrats on the panel — Sen. Virginia Lyons, D-Chittenden, and Sen. John Campbell, D-Windsor — have indicated support for the measure as well. But the bill must then go through the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Chairman Richard Sears, D-Bennington, has some reservations about it and whether there will be enough time to take testimony. “I don’t know how I’ll vote on it,” Sears said. “I think Judiciary has an obligation to take part in crafting the bill.” Sen. President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, has asked morning committees to shut down next week so that afternoon budget-writing committees can work all day as he eyes a mid-May adjournment date. “I support the bill. I want to see it pass,” Shumlin said. “(But) there’s no question we’re racing the clock here.” Shumlin said he had spoken with Dean about bill and the governor hadn’t pressured him to keep the bill from reaching his desk and forcing him to veto it. “He’s expressed to me that he doesn’t like the bill or support it,” Shumlin said. “I’ve told him I do, but that it needs work.” Testimony on the bill is scheduled to continue today. Related Editorial: A Legitimate Use Vermonters in small numbers are already smoking medicinal marijuana. A bill now in the Senate would legalize the practice and subject it to strict regulation. If the bill were passed, it would help some patients treat symptoms such as nausea for which there is no suitable alternative. The fact that people are already using medicinal marijuana illegally is, of course, no justification in itself for legalizing the drug. People do lots of illegal things that should remain illegal. But the search for treatments for a small number of patients suffering from AIDS, cancer or other debilitating illnesses need not be made more difficult. For those people in need, the process could easily be made legal and safe. Gov. Howard Dean opposes the bill, and it is possible he would veto it if passed. He fears the introduction of legal marijuana would encourage the use of illegal marijuana. There is already plenty of illegal marijuana out there, and enforcement of the laws against its use should continue. There is nothing to be gained by making a drug that is easily misused, particularly by kids, more readily available. But it’s hard to see how a few plants grown on a doctor’s recommendation in the privacy of a few people’s homes will have much of an effect on the illegal drug trade. In fact, it ought to have the positive effect of eliminating the need of patients or their loved ones for dealing with those who peddle illegal drugs. Separating the legitimate use of the drug from the illegitimate would be helpful for those who have a legitimate medical need. The marijuana law would face one problem: It would be contrary to the federal law that continues to ban medicinal use of the drug. And the federal law has primacy. But if medicinal marijuana were legalized within Vermont, police would no longer have responsibility for cracking down on its use. If federal authorities wanted to enforce the law, they would have that prerogative, but in Vermont the limited use of the drug would probably not make enforcement a high priority. Passing the bill would help Vermonters who are facing trying circumstances, and it is not likely to do any harm. Source: Rutland Herald (VT)Author: David Mace, Vermont Press BureauPublished: April 17 & 18, 2002Copyright: 2002 Rutland HeraldContact: info rutlandherald.comWebsite: http://rutlandherald.nybor.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmHouse Passes Medicinal Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12252.shtmlSenate Tackles Medicinal Marijuana Issuehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12301.shtml
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