cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Bill Alive 





Medical Marijuana Bill Alive 
Posted by CN Staff on February 07, 2003 at 10:59:46 PT
By Shea Andersen, Tribune Reporter
Source: Albuquerque Tribune 
Santa Fe -- A bill to legalize medical marijuana got off to a lackluster start in its first legislative committee hearing. The House Consumer and Public Affairs tied 4-4 Thursday on a vote to pass the bill, then voted unanimously to send House Bill 242, sponsored by Grants Democrat Ken Martinez, on with without recommendation.
Martinez's bill would legalize the use of a limited amount of marijuana for medical patients with debilitating diseases. Patients would be allowed to possess a small amount and grow a limited number of plants to use.The committee's action does allow the bill to live another day. It has two more House panels - the Business and Industry and the Judiciary committees - to get through before it reaches the House floor.The measure drew emotional appeals from one longtime sufferer from HIV and a painful neuropathic syndrome.David Obell of Santa Fe told the committee he had problems keeping a healthy weight and that his feet felt "like walking on sticks, or pins and needles."Smoking marijuana, he said, would improve his appetite, help him sleep and relieve some pain."Smoking for me would not be recreation," Obell said. "It would be for medicine." Martinez's bill is a slightly stricter version of one that passed the House last year, but died on the Senate floor.That bill's sponsor, Albuquerque Republican Joe Thompson, said Martinez's bill is much better because it includes more safeguards, and removes questions about cultivation and sale of marijuana.Medical marijuana bills have a long history in New Mexico.A sponsor of a bill from 1978, former House Majority Leader David Salman, was on hand to support Martinez's proposal.The new bill is named after Lynn Pierson, a Vietnam veteran and cancer sufferer who came to the Roundhouse in 1978 to legalize a practice that helped him endure his chemotherapy."He was very disturbed that he was doing something that was against the law," Salman said. "Lynn died before he was able to smoke a little marijuana, which is a great tragedy. It's not about drugs. It's about compassion for a suffering human being."The bill was opposed by law enforcement groups that fear the bill would put the state crosswise with federal drug enforcement law."Federal law is still in effect," said Mike Bowen, a lobbyist for the State Police Association and the Municipal Chiefs of Police.He said the distribution and growing of marijuana will still create problems for state law enforcement officers.Seven other states have passed similar legislation, Martinez said.A representative from Colorado's Department of Public Health was on hand to offer her guidance and support for the bill.In that state, 240 patients have gone through a registration process with physicians who in turn are certified by the state to prescribe the use of marijuana."There have been no federal reprisals for patients or doctors," Gail Kelsey, administrator for Colorado's medical marijuana program, said. Source: Albuquerque Tribune (NM)Author: Shea Andersen, Tribune ReporterPublished: February 7, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Albuquerque TribuneContact: letters abqtrib.comWebsite: http://www.abqtrib.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmA Busy Agenda: Drug Reform http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15228.shtmlPoll: Voters Support Medical Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14356.shtml
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