cannabisnews.com: Former Reagan Aide Among Marijuana Supporters





Former Reagan Aide Among Marijuana Supporters
Posted by CN Staff on July 25, 2002 at 08:20:42 PT
By Jim Burns, CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
Source: CNSNews.com
What do conservatives like former Reagan administration aide Lyn Nofziger and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) have in common with two House liberals and a libertarian?They all support legislation entitled the "States Rights to Medical Marijuana Act" that would permit states to allow the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Nine states currently permit the use of medical marijuana, but federal law, which supersedes state law, still lists all marijuana possession as a crime. 
The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that medical necessity is not a defense for marijuana possession.Democratic Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts is the sponsor of the bill. Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, a former Libertarian presidential candidate, is the lead co-sponsor. Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois supports the measure as well.Nofziger told a Capitol Hill news conference he became convinced that medicinal marijuana for patients should be legalized after his oldest daughter died several years ago from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, cancer of the lymph tissue, at the age of 38."Before she died she underwent heavy chemotherapy that caused nausea, diarrhea and loss of appetite. None of the legal medications including the marijuana substitute Marinol helped to alleviate the symptoms. In desperation, we turned to marijuana to see if that would help," said Nofziger."Fortunately, people know a lot more about where to find marijuana than people of my generation. And the marijuana did help reduce the side effects of the chemotherapy to the point where she regained her appetite and actually began putting on weight," Nofziger said."Obviously, it did not save her life nor did we think it would. However, it made a portion of the last weeks of her life considerably more bearable both to her and to her family," he added.Nofziger said his daughter's death taught him about the value of medical marijuana."Since then I have learned that marijuana can also help persons with glaucoma, the wasting symptoms of AIDS, multiple sclerosis and other afflictions. Because of this I have become an avid supporter of efforts to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes," he said.Nofziger, who worked for Reagan both when Reagan was governor of California and later president, called the Frank-Paul bill a step in the direction of legalization and called on the Bush administration to support the legislation."An administration that claims to be both compassionate and conservative should enthusiastically support legislation that truly is compassionate and that also returns rights to the states that the Tenth Amendment (of the U.S. Constitution) theoretically guarantees to them," he said.However, the Drug Enforcement Administration contends there is no reliable study that shows marijuana has a medicinal value."Medical marijuana has been promoted for 'compassionate use' to assist people with cancer, AIDS and glaucoma. Scientific studies show the opposite is true; marijuana is damaging to individuals with these illnesses. In fact, people suffering with AIDS and glaucoma are being used unfairly by groups whose real agenda is to legalize marijuana," according to the DEA.The DEA website refutes some specific examples of marijuana's alleged medical benefits. - AIDS: Scientific studies indicate marijuana damages the immune system, causing further peril to already weakened immune systems. HIV-positive marijuana smokers progress to full-blown AIDS twice as fast as non-smokers and have an increased incidence of bacterial pneumonia. - Cancer: Marijuana contains many cancer-causing substances, many of which are present in higher concentrations in marijuana than in tobacco. - Glaucoma: Marijuana does not prevent blindness due to glaucoma.Complete Title: Former Reagan Aide Among Medical Marijuana SupportersNewshawk: Nicholas Thimmesch - http://www.norml.org/Source: CNSNews.comAuthor: Jim Burns, CNSNews.com Senior Staff WriterPublished: July 25, 2002Copyright: 1998-2002 Cybercast News ServiceContact: shogenson cnsnews.comWebsite: http://www.cnsnews.com/Related Articles & Web Site:NORML Pictures from Press Conference http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5359 Odd Bedfellows Join Fight for Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13531.shtmlMedical 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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