cannabisnews.com: His Primary Agenda: Marijuana for The Ill 





His Primary Agenda: Marijuana for The Ill 
Posted by CN Staff on September 30, 2003 at 12:04:05 PT
By Daniel Barrick, Monitor Staff
Source: Concord Monitor 
Like the 300 other people gathered at New England College on Friday night, Aaron Houston wanted to hear a few words from Wesley Clark. But Houston wasn't interested in Clark's plans for health care, foreign policy or the economy. He didn't care what the candidate had to say about Social Security or education. Houston had just one thing on his mind: marijuana.Houston is campaign coordinator for Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana, an advocacy group that wants to hear every presidential candidate's stance on the drug's use by terminally ill patients.
In recent months, Houston has attended dozens of press conferences, town hall meetings and public forums, probing nearly all candidates on their marijuana views. Despite his narrow agenda, Houston has probably seen more of the 2004 New Hampshire campaign than anyone else."All the campaigns know me at this point," Houston said, as he waited for Clark to arrive on campus. "After numerous times asking them to talk about the issue, the candidates say their answers are a direct result of our pressure and our education. . . . It feels great to make a difference."The laws governing the use of medical marijuana are a blurry blend of state and federal regulations. Nine states, including Maine, permit the drug's use by the terminally ill. But the Food and Drug Administration prohibits marijuana use under any circumstance. In the past year, agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration have raided marijuana growers in California, where medical marijuana is allowed, often without support from local authorities. Houston's ultimate goal is to end those raids in the short term and get the federal government to decriminalize the drug's use by terminally ill patients. And he's convinced that a majority of voters feel medical marijuana is of such pressing concern that they'll base their presidential votes on a candidate's policy toward the issue."It should be a common-sense policy," he said. "Most people recognize this as a mainstream issue."But it's a challenge to get the candidates to talk about it, Houston said, which explains why he spends seven days a week trying to get in their faces. Last week was typical, with stops to see Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry in Henniker, Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich in Keene, and back to Henniker for Clark. At most of these events, Houston brings along a handful of volunteers, many of them sick with diseases they say could be made more bearable with a few puffs of marijuana. They're strategically placed throughout the room, each with a list of questions intended to probe the candidates to get as specific as possible. Friday in Henniker was a textbook example of Houston's strategy. When Clark began accepting questions from the audience, the second person he pointed to was Linda Masia, a GSMM member who had rolled her wheelchair to the front row, just a few feet from Clark. Masia told Clark that she suffered from arthritis and a degenerative nerve ailment, and was allergic to conventional medications. When she asked Clark if he would arrest ill people who used medical marijuana, the candidate fixed her in his gaze and said firmly, "The answer is no."Afterward, Houston said it was a good start, but he still wanted more details from Clark.Legalizing marijuana for whatever purpose may seem like an idealistic cause to some, a crusade undertaken by aging flower children or ambitious Deadheads. But Friday night in Henniker, Houston exuded youthful earnestness. With his clean-scrubbed looks, he gave the impression of a college senior on his first job interview: blue pinstripe suit, blue dress shirt, blue tie and a neatly trimmed brush cut. He spoke clearly and at length about the Federal Drug Administration's approval process, the chemical structure of marijuana and the New Hampshire political scene.Houston's biography offers an equally sobering portrait. Now 25, he grew up in Colorado, the son of a Navy intelligence officer and a one-time Denver election commissioner. He worked his way through the University of Colorado as a legislative aide in the statehouse. He left college a few credits short of the dual bachelor's and master's degrees he was pursuing. But he soon found work as a lobbyist and political consultant, managing a handful of races for Congress and Colorado governor.Despite his pedigree and early experience, Houston says he is not by nature a political animal. Though he loves the energy of campaigns, he realized early on that he couldn't put his heart behind a single candidate. Instead, he longed to devote himself to one pivotal issue. Medical marijuana it was."I've always had some reluctance towards politics," he said. "But now I'm finally intensely focused on an issue that's one of the most critical issues facing us today. It's about showing compassion and mercy and sympathy for our fellow citizens."He's been in New Hampshire since March, where he manages 300 volunteers and works solo out of an office in Manchester, the only paid employee of Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana.The group is funded by the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington-based organization seeking across-the-board decriminalization of the drug. But for the time being, Houston's goal is focusing attention on what he considers the government's cruel approach to the drug's medicinal uses."The greatest harm associated with marijuana is imprisonment and prosecution of terminally ill patients," he said. "Ideally, we want the president to sign federal legislation that would allow seriously ill patients to smoke marijuana and remove any criminal penalties."The group's Web site assigns a grade to each of the major candidates based on their stance on medical marijuana. Kucinich is at the top of the class with an A+; Sens. Bob Graham and John Edwards pull up the rear, each scoring a D-. (For those of you keeping score, Dean improved his grade considerably last week, vaulting from a D- to C, the result of his promise, under questioning from Houston at a campaign stop in Berlin, to temporarily stop the arrest of medical marijuana users. Kerry improved as well last week, from a C to a B, after promising to put a permanent end to the arrests.)Houston and other volunteers have protested Graham and Edwards for their stances. Houston even mixed it up briefly with Edwards's wife at a campaign stop in Manchester last month. Elizabeth Edwards urged Houston to curtail his protest, which included a sign reading "SHAME ON EDWARDS." Houston declined, and they parted on cordial terms. Such resistance is understandable, Houston said."It is difficult sometimes. We're attempting to get them on the record about something they probably would not address."Speaking of going on the record, one final question for Houston: Does he or doesn't he inhale? The answer is smooth and practiced."President Bush has said he doesn't want to get in the politics of personal destruction," Houston replied. "I guess I'll go public with my record when he goes public with his."Note: Aaron Houston and volunteers keep close tab on candidates' stances.Source: Concord Monitor (NH)Author: Daniel Barrick, Monitor StaffPublished: Tuesday, September 30, 2003Copyright: 2003 Monitor Publishing CompanyContact: letters cmonitor.comWebsite: http://www.cmonitor.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.marijuanapolicy.org/Granite Staters for Medical Marijuanahttp://www.granitestaters.com/Marijuana as a Prescription Drug is Yes or No http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17032.shtmlSome Advice for Democratshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16967.shtml 
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Comment #4 posted by Sam Adams on September 30, 2003 at 16:05:38 PT
Don't forget....
Bush's campaign statement was "it's a states right issue, we'll butt out". Do we need to think back to all the lies Clinton made during his campaign? Remember gays in the military? Health care reform? Protecting the environment? His campaign rhetoric was magnificent.I wouldn't vote for any of these clowns except Kucinich.
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Comment #3 posted by Sam Adams on September 30, 2003 at 16:03:30 PT
Thanks SO much Daniel
I'm oh SO interested in whether or not this professional has smoked pot. Only about 80% of college students have smoked it, it's really important, isn't it!Personally, I'd like to know whether the reporter has engaged in bestiality. That would have been my response to his question, and it's just as relevant to this story.
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Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on September 30, 2003 at 13:36:21 PT
The Clinton-Gore era really is over
During the Clinton-Gore regime, the position taken was that medical marijuana was a scam.The Dems have crossed the Rubicon.
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Comment #1 posted by OverwhelmSam on September 30, 2003 at 12:52:57 PT:
This Is Awesome!
Good work Houston! We need more like you out on the campaign trail.
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