cannabisnews.com: Congress Needs To Settle Medical Marijuana Mess 





Congress Needs To Settle Medical Marijuana Mess 
Posted by CN Staff on October 19, 2003 at 08:04:29 PT
Editorial
Source: Record Searchlight 
A Supreme Court ruling and a bill signed by Gov. Gray Davis last week go a step toward legitimizing and regulating the use of medical marijuana, but they leave in place a fundamental clash between federal and state laws that has sick users still feeling a justifiable paranoia. Thanks to the Supreme Court's refusal to reconsider lower court decisions, doctors cannot be persecuted by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency for discussing the possible benefits of marijuana use with their patients. Thanks to Senate Bill 420, which Davis signed, a patient with a doctor's recommendation for marijuana can sign up for a state ID card and have clear rules to follow to avoid arrest.
So is everybody happy now? Hardly. That patient is still violating federal law. If she grows some plants with the help of her sister or members of her support group, that amounts to a criminal conspiracy. If the DEA comes knocking and this cancer patient faces federal charges, medical necessity is no defense (thanks, as it happens, to the same Supreme Court).A fanciful scenario? Perhaps. The DEA doesn't have the resources to chase down every medical marijuana user and is unlikely to pursue a discreet home grower. But the gravely ill are least able to supply themselves, and the federal authorities have zealously shut down cannabis clubs, even those encouraged by city governments in California's more liberal locales. Thus the photos of mayors picketing at the sites of federal raids and stories of jurors outraged when they discover only after convicting a defendant that the "drug ring" was a medical co-op.These aren't to be casually dismissed as "only in California" tales. Voters in nine states — including Republican-leaning places like Alaska, Arizona, Colorado and Nevada — have made clear that they support allowing the use of the drug by patients under a doctor's advice. In some states, in separate votes, they have also made clear that they do not support wholesale legalization.Because marijuana has long been used recreationally, law enforcement officers and moral-minded conservatives object to the mixed message that comes from touting its potential medical benefits while telling kids to abstain. But prescription medicines, as Rush Limbaugh listeners now know, are certainly prone to abuse as well. That OxyContin can be addictive — and is even used recreationally in some quarters — is not considered sufficient reason to ban the painkiller. That some cold medicines are used to make methamphetamine has led them to be more closely regulated but not pulled from the market.Just as laws and law enforcement have evolved to deal with methamphetamine and prescription drug abuse, it's time for some rational federal rules dealing with medical marijuana. It's time for Congress to make federal law conform with the repeatedly expressed desire of the voters.It's about sick people seeking relief, not about hippies sparking up in public parks, but still, the Republican majority in Congress these days is unlikely to favor of any loosening of the drug laws. That's a shame. In the case of medical marijuana, it seems that conservative lawmakers would be able to make common cause with the San Francisco Bay area liberals more commonly associated with the movement.It seems, after all, as if conservative lawmakers would be interested in making sure federal law enforcement resources are used wisely — for example, in trying to reverse the dangerous spread of illegal drug growing in national forests and on other public lands. It seems as if conservatives would want to avoid squandering taxpayers' money feuding with states. It seems as if conservatives would want to promote states' rights and popular sovereignty in the face of an overbearing federal government. When the matter involves the Endangered Species Act, for example, the north state's Rep. Wally Herger tirelessly denounces the federal government for trampling individual freedoms. Surely the liberty of the sick to choose their path to better health is equally worth championing. Are you listening, Congressman? Source: Redding Record Searchlight (CA)Published: Sunday, October 19, 2003Copyright: 2003 Redding Record Searchlight - E.W. Scripps Contact: letters redding.com Website: http://www.redding.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmPot Bill Splits Pro-Smoking Groupshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17612.shtmlState Sets Marijuana Standardshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17583.shtmlMedical Marijuana IDs Go Statewidehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17563.shtml 
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Comment #3 posted by RevHappy on October 19, 2003 at 12:53:34 PT:
INTRAstate Commerce
There is a rumor about a new petition in michigan removing all state penalties and regulating pot under the Liquor Commision.Pot is banned for INTERstate commerce, that is from state to state, not intra state, that is from county to county inside a state.So if all state regulations were nullified, and no out of state sales were touched, it would be legal, Right?Why wont this work in California?
Free Marijuana Michigan Petition
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Comment #2 posted by global_warming on October 19, 2003 at 08:56:38 PT
Prohibition
Its an odd turn in history, that in America, there was a prohibition on alcohol that spawned a violent and corrupted society, yet one prohibition was ended and another was immeadiatly installed..These days the G-Men are not busting hoodlums and racketeers but cancer patiants and really sick people.The DEA is rarely seen busting the Mr. Bigs, but rather the little people in the most poor of neighborhoods.One has to wonder if it is the pharmaceutical companies or the same criminals that profited and controlled our country during the alcohol probibition that now still control our government,..Imagine what Elliot Ness would think today, watching the DEA agents break into some poor persons house with masks and stun grenades, ..think about role reversal, it is the criminals who are now running the government, it is the criminals who are protecting their turf, it is the criminals who now have control of our law enforcement, which they use to protect their interests.Remember to Vote
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Comment #1 posted by OverwhelmSam on October 19, 2003 at 08:25:32 PT:
Legal Drug Pushers
The DEA wants all legal and illegal drug commerce fit within their strict framework in order to protect the pharmaceutical companies.
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