cannabisnews.com: Florida's Drug Czar Meets Marijuana Protesters!





Florida's Drug Czar Meets Marijuana Protesters!
Posted by FoM on June 24, 1999 at 07:56:32 PT
Source: Tampa Bay On Line
ORLANDO, Fla. Florida's drug czar met with a small group of protesters Wednesday but said he wasn't swayed by their arguments that marijuana should be legalized for medical use. 
James McDonough, coordinator of the Florida Drug Control Office, listened to a handful of protesters say it was wrong to arrest people seeking marijuana as medical relief from AIDS, cancer treatment and glaucoma. McDonough said he would remain open to research by the Federal Drug Administration to determine the validity of marijuana's medicinal use. ``Until that happens,'' he said, ``it's home remedies, it's folklore, it's witchcraft.'' Scott Bledsoe, president of a coalition advocating medical marijuana, said his group does not advocate the free use of marijuana for recreational purposes. ``We just want to decriminalize its use for sick people who really need it,'' he said. The National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine released a report in March that indicated marijuana may have beneficial medicinal value. Some Florida congressmen, including U.S. Reps. John Mica and Bill McCollum, both Republicans, have denounced the report. ``Right now science has not led us to believe that marijuana is medicine,'' said McDonough, who was in Orlando to address the Association of Counties 70th Annual Conference. ``It's premature to believe that. I don't want to make an illegal drug legal under an anecdotal statement that 'I used it myself and it gave me relief.''' Paul Adams, one of the protesters, said he makes occasional street purchases of marijuana to help stimulate his appetite. He has suffered from AIDS since 1982. ``I don't roll joints,'' said Adams, 48, of Daytona Beach. ``I smoke marijuana in a pipe - two or three hits - to relieve nausea and help me eat. I live daily with stress knowing I have marijuana in my apartment but it really helps, so it's worth the risk.'' 
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on June 24, 1999 at 13:03:05 PT:
Dazed & Confused on Medical Marijuana!
This is a story from the 22nd from Florida!A recent court ruling is welcome, but more change is needed.You be the judge: Before you is an AIDS patient charged with posses-sing marijuana. He pleads that the prescription drugs he takes to bolster his weakened immune system suppress his appetite and leave him chronically nauseous and underweight. Click the link to read the article and you decide!
Dazed & Confused on Medical Marijuana!
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