cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Lacks Medicinal Value, Drug Czar Says Marijuana Lacks Medicinal Value, Drug Czar Says Posted by CN Staff on October 10, 2002 at 09:10:41 PT By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services Source: Arizona Daily Sun Arizonans should reject Proposition 203 because there is no legitimate medical use for marijuana, the nation's drug czar said Wednesday. John Walters told an audience of senior citizens and school children who had been bused in for the event that the pro-203 campaign "expects the people of Arizona to be stupid." He said the backers of the measure promote it as helping to alleviate suffering but the real goal is legalization of the drug. But he found his biggest challenge from one senior citizen who showed up to tell how she watched a friend die of cancer. Carolyn Barker said the only relief he got was from smoking marijuana which had to be purchased illegally. "I hate to see people die in pain,'' she said. "And I hate to see the government let them do it." Walters said he does not want to see people suffer, saying there are other drugs that can relieve pain. And, he said, there is a pill with a derivative of marijuana that is available in limited circumstances. He said, though, the truth is that there is no legitimate medical use for marijuana. "That truth is based on science and not based on using sick people's experience which however sincere does not prove medical efficaciousness," he said. Walters said Proposition 203 would "make this a substance of widespread distribution in the face of the level of addiction and harm it causes." The measure would allow anyone with a doctor's recommendation to get up to 2 ounces of marijuana, free, each month from the state Department of Public Safety. That agency would get its supply from drugs seized from those who lack the necessary state permission. Another provision would reduce the penalty for others who have up to 2 ounces to a $250 civil fine. Walters conceded that many adults who grew up in the '60s and '70s used marijuana and lead productive lives. He did not have to look far: Sitting next to him was Attorney General Janet Napolitano, the Democratic nominee for governor. "I experimented in college a little bit and regret doing it," she said. "When you're in college you do a lot of dumb stuff." Walters said, though, what was available then is far different than what's being sold on the street today. "This is not your father's marijuana,'' he said. "It is more powerful and young people are using it at younger and younger ages.'' Complete Title: Marijuana Lacks Medicinal Value, Drug Czar Tells Seniors, KidsSource: Arizona Daily Sun (AZ)Author: Howard Fischer, Capitol Media ServicesPublished: October 10, 2002Copyright: 2002 Arizona Daily SunContact: azdsopinion azdailysun.comWebsite: http://www.azdailysun.com/Related Articles:Drug Czar Condemns Pot Decriminalization http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14413.shtmlHopefuls Decry Medical Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14409.shtmlDrug Czar Opposes Prop 203 http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14403.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #14 posted by tlspn on October 10, 2002 at 21:49:18 PT: Forked tongue When NASA was preparing for the Apollo Project,they did some astronaut training on a Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona.One day,a Navajo Elder and his son were herding sheep and came across the space crew. The old man, who spoke only Navajo, asked a question which his son translated."What are these guys in the big suits doing?"A member of the crew said they were practicing for their trip to the moon.The old man got all excited and asked if he could send a message to the moon with the astronauts.Recognizing a promotional opportunity for the spin-doctors, the NASA folks found a tape recorder. After the old man recorded his message, they asked the son to translate it. He refused.So the NASA reps brought the tape to the reservation where the rest of the tribe listened and laughed but refused to translate the Elder's message to the moon.Finally, the NASA crew called in an official government translator. After poring over his notes for hours, he finally reported what the moon message said:"Watch out for these bastards: they have come to steal your land."Be careful of our drug czar. Not only does he want to steal your land, he wants to put you in jail for injesting a marvelous healing plant.t [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by karkulus on October 10, 2002 at 15:17:37 PT re:studies by GW Pharmaceuticals Right now Walter's says we already have it ,meaning marinol, but when GW Pharmaceuticals releases WHOLE cannabis extract preperations, that will only leave the "Smoking" canard..and they're not going to get much mileage out of that! [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on October 10, 2002 at 14:43:22 PT LTE Sirs, John Walters keeps repeating his belief that marijuana is not medicine every chance he gets. But nothing he can say will ever justify last month's DEA raid on the WAMM hospice center, where terminally ill people believe otherwise. Waging a war against our weakest citizens is the wrong way to spend our tax dollars. And speaking of a waste of tax dollars, why is a member of the federal government campaigning against a state initiative? [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by malleus on October 10, 2002 at 13:41:14 PT Thank you Afterburner I got a good chuckle from that. It reminded me of the Tricky Dick poster where he's offering his hand to shake with a weaselly expression on his face, and the same caption underneath. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by canaman on October 10, 2002 at 11:59:45 PT The harder they come the harder they fall Walking down the road with a pistol in your waist Johnny you're too bad...woe,woe,woe... Walking down the road with a ratchet in your waist Johnny you're too bad...woe,woe,woe... You're just robbing and stabbing and looting and shooting Now you're too bad... You're just robbing and stabbing and looting and shooting Now you're too bad... One of these days when you hear a voice say come Where you gonna run to...woe,woe,woe... One of these days when you hear a voice say come Where you gonna run to...woe,woe,woe... You gonna run to the rock for rescue There will be no rock... You gonna run to the rock for rescue There will be no rock the slickers from the soundtrack the harder they come [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by afterburner on October 10, 2002 at 11:44:21 PT: Would you buy a used car from this man? Arizonans should reject Proposition 203 because there is no legitimate medical use for marijuana, the nation's drug czar said Wednesday. How can we believe anything this man says? If he says, "there is no legitimate medical use for marijuana," which has already been disproved by many, many studies, why should we believe him when he says, "Arizonans should reject Proposition 203"? The quote above is the number one reason to vote for Proposition 203: if it wasn't so good, John Walters would not be fighting so hard against it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by malleus on October 10, 2002 at 10:46:26 PT The harder they get whupped, the louder they scream.At this rate, ol' John Pee will go hoarse from screaming lies at the top of his lungs. Face it John, you've lost. One huge domino is about to fall - CLACK! - on your bureaucratic head. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on October 10, 2002 at 10:21:05 PT canaman Gotcha! I agree! He sure looks like he likes drinking. Noses say a lot when it comes to telling if a person drinks a lot. Big, puffy, red noses! Just like Rudolph! [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Delariand on October 10, 2002 at 10:18:59 PT It's an uphill battle, but we're winning An audience of bused-in schoolchildren? Do you remember when you were in grade school? I remember going to DARE in 5th grade (gotta love california!), and leaving with the firm belief that drugs were horrible and I'd have to be an idiot to ever touch them. Then I grew up, found out the truth, and learned to distrust my government, just in time to turn 18 and hit the polls with open eyes. Their propaganda is just going to backfire for another generation... It's only a matter of time until the majority grows into voting age. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by canaman on October 10, 2002 at 10:13:54 PT Small c in czarness FoM! He doesn't deserve the respect a capital C denotes. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on October 10, 2002 at 10:09:00 PT canaman Your Czarness! That is good! [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by canaman on October 10, 2002 at 10:06:25 PT Keep talkin' your czarness --John Walters told an audience of senior citizens and school children who had been bused in for the event that the pro-203 campaign "expects the people of Arizona to be stupid."But he found his biggest challenge from one senior citizen who showed up to tell how she watched a friend die of cancer. Carolyn Barker said the only relief he got was from smoking marijuana which had to be purchased illegally. "I hate to see people die in pain,'' she said. "And I hate to see the government let them do it."-- Next group on your speaking tour Preschoolers and Alzheimer patients.End the war! Give peace a chance! [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Dan B on October 10, 2002 at 09:49:01 PT: n=1 He said, though, the truth is that there is no legitimate medical use for marijuana. "That truth is based on science and not based on using sick people's experience which however sincere does not prove medical efficaciousness," he said. Walters Now, here is the truth. Every person who says that cannabis helps with pain, nausea, spasms, wasting, or anything else represents a scientific study with one subject. The scientific community calls this a study of n=1, where n stands for the number of people in the study. Studies of n=1 are seen as legitimate grounds for further scientific inquiry into phenomena, and they are often used as tentative proof where more substantive studies are unavailable. So, Walters is outright lying on that front.On another front, we have (according to NORML) over 70 scientific studies that confirm the medicinal value of cannabis, plus we have over 5000 years of medicinal cannabis use without serious detrimental incident. These studies provide further evidence that John Walters is lying.In addition to that, there are dozens of metastudies (studies that look at the combined results of several scientific investigations) that strongly concur with the fact that cannabis is an effective medicine for a good percentage of those affected with cancer, AIDS, MS, Chrones, and a host of other diseases and disorders. Then, there are the studies conducted by GW Pharmaceuticals in Great Britain, the studies in Virginia and Spain showing that cannabis destroys cancerous tumors, and the studies from Israel and the United States showing the cannabis makes an effective deterrent against nerve agents. John Walters is a liar.I cannot say this ennough: John Walters is a liar. He is also a coward and a hypocrite. He refuses to acknowledge these studies because he knows that if he does he cannot defend his actions as a drug warrior. If you have not yet read about these studies, here are some places to begin reading:http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/index.HTMhttp://www.druglibrary.org/crl/http://www.marijuana-uses.com/http://www.rxmarijuana.com/Dan B [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on October 10, 2002 at 09:43:06 PT You're going to LOSE Nice work John. But I don't think there's any rhetoric here that's going to gain you the 20 POINTS you need to make up before election day. YOU LOSE. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment