cannabisnews.com: States' Rights a Solution To Pot Debate 





States' Rights a Solution To Pot Debate 
Posted by CN Staff on July 29, 2003 at 07:01:35 PT
By Debra J. Saunders
Source: San Francisco Chronicle 
U.S. drug czar John P. Walters likes to dismiss the medical-marijuana movement as a cynical effort by the pro-drug-use crowd to hide behind sick people in order to legalize all marijuana use and the use of other drugs. But what Walters doesn't see is how his actions are helping the people he opposes. By enforcing federal marijuana laws to the detriment of sick people, Walters has pushed some skittish pols to take a principled stand which they probably would have preferred to avoid. 
Last week, the Hinchey-Rohrabacher bill to bar the Department of Justice from challenging medical-marijuana laws in the states that have sanctioned medical-marijuana use (there are 10 states, including California) -- lost. Still, the vote in the House was 273 to 152. That's progress from a 311-94 split in 1998. Walters isn't losing support because he's right. Yes, some medical-marijuana proponents are drug devotees. Witness Ed Rosenthal -- the Bay Area activist who received a one-day sentence for growing medical marijuana, even as poor men growing the same plants elsewhere often are sentenced to long, hard time. Rosenthal was a columnist for High Times and Cannabis Culture. Walters is losing support because, apart from Rosenthal, federal raids confiscated the pot stocks of very sick people who consider marijuana to be a benign medicine. Members of the raided Santa Cruz Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana have found marijuana helps them with epilepsy, post-polio syndrome and HIV. The group isn't a club for party animals; in the seven months after the September 2002 the raid, at least 12 members died. Snipped:  Complete Article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/07/29/ED264493.DTL    Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Debra J. SaundersPublished:  Tuesday, July 29, 2003 Copyright: 2003 San Francisco Chronicle -  Page A - 19 Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Articles & Web Sites:WAMM Raid - September 5, 2002http://freedomtoexhale.com/valc.htmEd Rosenthal's Pictures & Articleshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htmHinchey - Rohrabacher Amendment http://freedomtoexhale.com/dofcomm.htmMore Doctors Need To Join The Brave Few http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16957.shtmlThe Sick Shouldn't Be Victims of The Drug War http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16917.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by Sam Adams on July 29, 2003 at 13:56:32 PT
Walters
Virgil the cancer analogy is fitting.  If the malignant policies of WOD had been addressed in the early 70's we would have saved billions. Instead, the tumors of lying and corruption have spread throughout every fiber of our society. Truth itself has been devalued. Hypocrisy has become a defining characteristic of modern American business and government life. Integrity, compassion, efficiency have all been sacrificed. Right and wrong are irrevelant. Everything bad is OK as long as you don't get caught.A few days ago I was joking around with a friend who loves John Waters movies. I mistakenly said, "Oh yeah, just like in that John Walters movie". My friend knows who John Walters is and burst out laughing.It is strange, John Walters and John Waters each anchor one end of the cultural spectrum, like a mirror image of each other.
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Comment #1 posted by Virgil on July 29, 2003 at 11:18:12 PT
The insult known as Walters
What has he done to improve the conditions of life for anyone outside of the ONDCP food chain? He has done a wonderful job showing that reality is irrelevant and that The Lie is a wonderful tool for continuing Insanity. It does not make any difference how stupid a remark you make as long as it is said with apparent conviction."Marijuana is a dangerous drug." Well what makes it dangerous and what makes it a drug. What is the chemical expression for this plant outside of HOH? I say it is an herbal remedy and a beneficial plant. Now why would I say that. Well, first it has roots and leaves and stems and has pretty flowers.Walters is the bleeding blotch on the skin that says cancer is inside. It is all but a question of a tree falling in the forest making a sound. Is Walter's a sign of cancer when 90% of Americans have no idea of who he is or how he lies? For those of us that know, he is one ugly blotch and we know the system is riddled with cancer.I wonder if his grandchildren even claim him or for how long.
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