cannabisnews.com: Project On Pot Gets OK Project On Pot Gets OK Posted by CN Staff on January 30, 2003 at 08:11:38 PT By Renee Koury, Mercury News Source: San Jose Mercury A Belmont eighth-grader won her battle Wednesday to have her project on medicinal marijuana entered into her school science fair, nearly two weeks after it was banned.The Belmont-Redwood Shores School District decided the project submitted by Veronica Mouser, 13, met science fair guidelines and stayed within legal bounds. The Ralston Middle School teen did not use the weed herself or administer it to any research subjects. ``Now that we've had a chance to review the project, it's pretty clear that this isn't outside the bounds of guidelines,'' said district business director Jeff Keuscher, who investigated Veronica's complaint demanding her project be displayed. ``She's done an awful lot of work and it's a well-documented project. It was not clear to us at the start how that could have been done, but with her parents' assistance she's acquired a good deal of information and collected data that allowed her to support her hypothesis.''Veronica was elated, though still miffed that the school banned it to begin with.``I feel like I got my point across,'' she said. ``I'm going to enter the science fair like everybody else and hope for the best. But I do wish they would have looked at this with an open mind from the beginning.''Veronica's project will be entered this morning, just in time to be included in the judging. The fair started Tuesday and ends today.Her project has already enjoyed more of the limelight than she had anticipated. Veronica and district Superintendent Anne Campbell appeared Wednesday on Connie Chung's news program on CNN. The eighth-grader also appeared on KTVU-TV (Ch. 2) in Oakland, and has been swamped with calls from other members of the media. Dozens of medicinal-marijuana patients, free-speech advocates, First Amendment activists and other folks have called to praise her moxie. Ninety-year-old residents of a Sunnyvale assisted-living home cheered for her and asked that she present her project during their activity period.At the center of her research, Veronica used three medicinal-marijuana patients who logged the effects of using weed for one week to relieve pain and nausea, and what happened when they abstained for a week. She determined that the pot did help relieve symptoms.Ralston Principal Deborah Ferguson banned the project Jan. 17. She said science fair projects require experiments that Veronica could not do because pot is still illegal under federal law, even though California has sanctioned it for medicinal use.Veronica and her parents filed a complaint with the district. After Campbell reviewed Veronica's display in the privacy of her office, she ruled there was no reason to ban it.``I think I learned that standing up for what you believe in is really hard,'' said the feisty eighth-grader, who wants to be a lawyer. ``But it's really worth it.''Note: Student wins fight over Science Exhibit.Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)Author: Renee Koury, Mercury NewsPublished: Thursday, January 30, 2003Copyright: 2003 San Jose Mercury NewsContact: letters sjmercury.comWebsite: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/Related Articles & Web Site:Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmStudent Wins Battle To Allow Pot Project in Fairhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15321.shtmlPot Project Pulled - San Jose Mercury Newshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15301.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #1 posted by Truth on January 30, 2003 at 08:33:10 PT clap, clap, clap We need more folks like her on the side of honesty. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment