cannabisnews.com: Odd Bedfellows Join Fight for Medical Marijuana





Odd Bedfellows Join Fight for Medical Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on July 24, 2002 at 23:20:49 PT
By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos 
Source: FoxNews.com
Washington — An unusual trio of lawmakers — one conservative Republican, one libertarian-leaning Republican, and one liberal Democrat — joined forces Wednesday to offer their support for legislation that would give states the option to distribute marijuana for medicinal purposes without intervention by the federal government. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who introduced the States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act on Tuesday, said the bill would allow states that pass medical marijuana laws to be free from threat of a federal crackdown. 
"Many elected officials are hesitant to support any proposals that might be viewed as weakening our drug laws," said Frank, flanked by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas. "But I believe this is a common sense idea that will give some people who are suffering a measure of relief.""We’re talking about heartfelt, common sense decisions," Rohrabacher said. "I think it is sinful not to do that."Rohrabacher’s home of California is one of nine states that have passed binding popular referenda allowing doctors to prescribe pot to alleviate painful symptoms experienced by patients suffering from critical illnesses like cancer, AIDS and glaucoma.In response, the federal government, which outlawed marijuana in 1937, has in the last year stepped up raids on California facilities distributing marijuana to the terminally ill. Drug Enforcement Agency Director Asa Hutchinson, a former Republican representative from Arkansas, has publicly denounced the usefulness of medical marijuana and declared it very much a target of the nation's ongoing drug war.That heavy-handed action by the Bush administration has earned the scorn of patients and their families who say they don't like being labeled criminal just because they are seeking some relief from extreme pain.Among the opponents to criminalizing medicinal marijuana use is Lyn Nofziger, former public affairs deputy for former President Reagan and a conservative consultant.Nofziger said that his own daughter tried a series of remedies to help alleviate the side effects of chemotherapy required to treat cancer. Smoking marijuana helped her to regain her appetite, allowing her to gain much needed weight, he said. Though she died, she lived her last days in less pain, said Nofziger. "Based on this, I’ve become an advocate of medical marijuana," he said. "It is truly compassionate. I sincerely hope the administration can get behind this bill."But the bill, which moves marijuana from a Class I to a Class II substance, making it available by prescription according to state law, may not draw the support that sponsors hope."What has [Frank] been smoking?" asked fellow Judiciary Committee member Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, when questioned about the bill.Frank said that while the bill has only Democratic co-sponsors, he thinks members from the other side of the aisle will support it strictly on principle."This bill does offer a challenge to conservatives who often profess their support for states’ rights," Frank said.Source: FoxNews.comAuthor: Kelley Beaucar Vlahos Published: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 Copyright: Fox News Network, LLC 2002Website: http://www.foxnews.com/Comments: foxnewsonline foxnews.comRelated Articles & Web Sites:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Congressman Barney Frankhttp://www.house.gov/frank/Pictures from The Press Conference Today http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5359 Medical Marijuana Takes Center Stage On The Hillhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13529.shtmlBarney Frank Gets Help from Former Reagan Aidehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13525.shtml 
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Comment #4 posted by Ethan Russo MD on July 25, 2002 at 08:43:23 PT:
Bush Needs to Be Asked 
What is the deal in Tulia? It is really a shame that we are above subecting ourselves to the World Court. The number of civil rights abuses in this one town are astonishing, and highlight the moral bankruptcy of the War on Drugs.At his next press conference, Bush needs to address Tulia (as former governor, one would hope he knows where it is) and his campaign statement that clinical cannabis is a state issue. If the latter is true, Bush should endorse the Frank bill, call on all of Congress to pass it, and offer to sign as soon as it crosses his desk. 
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Comment #3 posted by VitaminT on July 25, 2002 at 08:33:47 PT
Dispatch from the Gulag State
Here's a link to some outstanding reportage from small-town Texas. More police misconduct in Tulia. What's new right? This is HAIR-RAISING stuff!Scroll down to: Tulia meeting airs Hispanics’ complaints against
Ellis County Press
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Comment #2 posted by R-Earing on July 25, 2002 at 08:17:04 PT:
Ashcroft and "lady justice"
Soon the statue will be replaced with one of Eva Braun wearing full latex Nazi regalia, then the cat will really be out of the bag. Quit teasing Ashcroft-he's obviously been sexually traumatized.My theory is that his Mom was a closet 'ho- so now he hates all women and seeks to punish them by controlling their sexuality.That generalizes into his statue dressing fetish. In sociteies where there is extreme concentration of wealth and power female sexuality is strictly controlled.In societies where wealth and power are more evenly distributed there is less control of female sexuality. This statue dressing is a bellweather indicator of which way America is seeking to go. 
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Comment #1 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on July 25, 2002 at 05:41:01 PT
FOX Changed headline on main page!
While the story keeps the "odd bedfellows" bit, the hadline on the mainpage at the time of this post was 
"Broad support for Rx marijuana"Was there a coup at FOX I was not informed of?Check out closely the picture of Justice - she is wearing an Evening Gown and the joint is tipping the scale towards her.I still feel Ashcrofts covering up of her is both sybolic of his inner repressions and symbolic of what is happening in their regime: the limitation of Justice for some.But I like FOX's new headline better. we'll see how they handle Walters latest fascist prescriptions.
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