cannabisnews.com: Reefer Sanity vs. Puritans in The White House





Reefer Sanity vs. Puritans in The White House
Posted by CN Staff on May 26, 2003 at 09:28:50 PT
By Clarence Page
Source: Chicago Tribune 
Takoma Park, MD. -- The Bard of Baltimore, H.L. Mencken, once defined Puritanism as "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy." He would have found quite a few of them in his home state in recent days, trying to keep demon weed away from the seriously ill.Shrugging off their pressures, Maryland's Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich signed a bill Thursday that, although it does not quite legalize the medicinal use of marijuana, does the next best thing. 
It reduces the maximum penalty for possession from a year in state prison and a $1,000 fine to a $100 fine in cases of "medical necessity," such as to relieve suffering from cancer treatment and other illnesses.That's one small step for the governor and one giant leap toward reefer sanity, a rational and compassionate national drug policy in which states can make their own decisions about drugs without ideology-driven interference from Washington.Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Nevada and Maine have legalized medical marijuana. All but Hawaii did it by referendum.Watching his brother-in-law die of cancer two years ago helped shape Ehrlich's view, he has said. As a congressman, he co-sponsored a bill that would have freed states to make their own laws on the medicinal marijuana issue."I think most people can discern a clear difference between legalizing substances that wreck lives," he reportedly said during a Capitol Hill visit in April, "as opposed to a life situation where someone is doing something because of severe pain."But, not everyone does. John P. Walters, the White House drug policy coordinator, strongly opposed the measure and denounced the notion of marijuana as "a proven, efficacious medicine" as making no more sense than "an argument for medicinal crack."Funny he should say that. Marijuana is listed along with heroin and LSD as a "Schedule I" drug, the category for drugs with "no acceptable medical benefits" under the federal Controlled Substances Act. Cocaine is listed in Schedule II for drugs that have "a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States."Categorizing marijuana as more dangerous than cocaine is one of many examples of how far our federal drug policy is removed from the real world.Perhaps now Maryland can avoid bizarre cases like that of Kitty Tucker, a lawyer I wrote about four years ago in the Washington suburb of Takoma Park. When she and her husband had a dispute over their teen-aged daughter's dating, the youngster got even by telling police about the marijuana plants that Tucker was growing in their basement for relief from her severe migraines and chronic muscle pain disorder.The charges eventually were dropped, but only after Tucker's husband lost his federal job and the family was put through a legal and emotional wringer.If states were left to make their own marijuana laws, we also might avoid cases like that of Ed Rosenthal, who was convicted under federal law of growing and distributing cannabis, even though he was licensed by the city of Oakland to do so under California's medical marijuana statute.The judge in his case prevented several attempts by Rosenthal's attorney to inform the jury that Rosenthal's actions were legal under state law. After his conviction, seven jurors took the extraordinary step of publicly repudiating their own verdict and apologizing to Rosenthal.A House bill would allow defendants from states with legalized medical marijuana to use "medical necessity" as a defense against federal drug charges. It has pulled together co-sponsors as diverse as liberal Rep. Barney Frank (D., Mass.) and libertarian Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R., Calif.)I wish them luck. The die-hard prohibitionists on the other side recently introduced a bill to authorize the drug czar to use taxpayer money in political campaigns, as long as it is "to oppose an attempt to legalize the use" of any currently illegal drug.Let's hope that bill dies a quick death. Those who want to keep medicine away from the sick are entitled to promote their opinion. I shouldn't have to subsidize them.Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)Author: Clarence PagePublished: May 25, 2003Copyright: 2003 Chicago Tribune CompanyContact: ctc-TribLetter Tribune.comWebsite: http://www.chicagotribune.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Ed Rosenthal's Trial Pictures & Articleshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htmMarijuana Law Makes a Humane Distinctionhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16383.shtmlMedical Marijuana Bill Signed http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16369.shtmlPropaganda Czar - Baltimore Sunhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16365.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on May 26, 2003 at 15:00:16 PT
 global_warming 
I was raised a Christian too. I was raised Catholic. I even was involved in the same church denomination as John Ashcroft. I spent many hours studying the bible and I ultimately became so uncomfortable in a church that I felt I had to leave. I was very disillusioned. Jesus was a rebel. He wasn't a pushover. He was mild mannered but he had issues where he would get very angry. Did you ever think of what made Him angry? I have and he only got upset with pompous religious people. When Jesus said to go and sin no more was He saying if you do go ahead and sin you'll go to hell or was He meaning go and sin no more because there is a better way? I'm at peace now.
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Comment #3 posted by global_warming on May 26, 2003 at 14:45:16 PT:
Puritans
The history of puritinism goes back to at least Europe,
Even the english had enough of this stuff,
This is what fueld the expansion to the new world,
The brits suffered much under the hand of these bastards,
They made Europe a terrible place,
So Westward, they came to the New World,
They quickly took hold of the North East,
The Salem witch trials are sad testament to these 
Beliefs and practices,The free people of the new world flew in droves
To the West, and ultimately to the pacific coast,
There was no where to go..
The end of the trail..Today the names have changed a little,
It is the Evagelical Church, the same foul distortions
Live and have gained control,I like "Truths" ending line, "Eternity is Forever"
How little most of understand these few words,
Forever is a long time,I am a christian, I understand the pain
The moment when the children of God
Hammered the nails into the flesh
Of the man we call Jesus
It is at that moment we all saw,
Where we stand in life,
Did we push the nails into his flesh
Did we weep, did we surreneder to the authorities,
Did we decide that we could never do this again?Some of us, have been caught up in the rituals,
We have forgotten the moment of that truth,
It has been 2003 years since that blood flowed
Remember this, his blood is our blood,I write this for the John Walters and the George Bush's,
And the minions that follow these fools,
Marijuana is a plant, like all plants,
Has been placed here in our world,
To add and to support
The mysterious plan of GodIf any one who reads this
Has a clue into Gods plan, please answer..The history of mankind is covered in blood,
The birth of the new world is raised
on the flesh of the Indians,
The great wonders of this technology is carried
On the bloody backs of the Africans,
Sleep tight, and never wonder
Why you are so blessed to read these wordsIf each man is to made whole by accepting Jesus
Then they must accept the responsibility
For his crucifixion,
They must understand that salvation has its price
In equal measure of our forgivness, our understanding,
We accept the unkown plan of GodMarijuana, Cannabis, whatever ancient name you agree upon,
Is but a gift, that nature has given us,
To sooth our pains, to releave our apprehensions,
As we approach the great mysteries,
Like little children frightened of the darkness,
Remember, that God has given Life and Life returns to the grave
That with each breath try to hold onto the faith,
That life and death are a small process of the greater universe.The stars twinkle in the vast empty universe,
Look up now and then and Wonder,
We shall return to the wonder,
The mysterious plan,
Yes, Eternity is Forever..
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Comment #2 posted by goneposthole on May 26, 2003 at 12:25:37 PT
puri-tyrannical
the rants and raves of the die-hard prohibitionists will dry to dust in the hot desert of the political landscape they have 'created'.
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Comment #1 posted by Truth on May 26, 2003 at 10:14:40 PT
Feds
I wonder if the Feds realize that the more they lie, the deeper their lies go, the more they're cutting there own throats.Eternity is forever.
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