cannabisnews.com: Medical Pot User Says Law of Little Help Medical Pot User Says Law of Little Help Posted by CN Staff on December 28, 2003 at 20:47:04 PT By Colin Hickey, Staff Reporter Source: Kennebec Journal Staff reporter Colin Hickey interviewed Carroll Cummings, an East Vassalboro resident, who is a medical marijuana patient. Cummings said he uses marijuana to provide relief from torticollis, a condition that causes involuntary and painful contractions of the neck muscles. He said he has been hounded for his marijuana use despite his careful attention to stay within the dictates of Maine's Medical Marijuana Law. Maine is one of nine states with such a law. (2) How did police treat you during those searches?The first two really lousy. They had no care about me or my family or anything. The last one they just did they weren't too bad. They called me a liar, told me to sit down and shut up and all of that, but they do not, do not, recognize the medical marijuana law whatsoever.(3) How much have you spent in legal fees to defend yourself?I'm going to say probably with fines and everything $8,000 to $9,000.(4) Where do you get the money to pay for that?I have help, people that donate. With the fines I just pay them so much a month until they are paid off. Down in Rockland I did community service to take care of them. (5) Do police, in your estimation, have a good understanding or appreciation for the Medical Marijuana Law?Not at all. Not at all. They could care less. And not only the police, the DA's office, all of them; they don't care.(6) Would the situation for medical marijuana patients improve if federal laws also permitted this limited use of marijuana?Yes. But to continue that on, the federal government already supplies eight people with medical marijuana.There were 12, but four of them have since died. President Bush, the old man Bush, the last executive order he did was end the [Investigational New Drug compassionate access] program for medical marijuana through the government. He said he would accept no more applications from this day forward.(7) Is the real answer to legalize marijuana use completely?I think so. Get the price down and the availability would be there.You could go and get it just like you can a bottle of liquor. Show your medical papers and get your medicine. It should be the way it is now, but it's not. (8) Is federal opposition to marijuana use a product of a generational bias? Yes. Everybody since 1983, 1984 or something like that has been told that marijuana is a killer, no good for anything, (that) it is just terrible stuff. And everybody believes it now. I mean it is too bad that everybody is believing those lies.(9) Do you see legalization of marijuana as inevitable?Yes. (10) Why so?There are too many people that use it.There's too many people that agree ... I mean 63 percent, I believe, (actually 61 percent) passed the medical marijuana bill in this state. Now 63 percent of the vote is, I mean that is a lot of people. Source: Kennebec Journal (ME)Author: Colin Hickey, Staff ReporterPublished: Sunday, December 28, 2003Copyright: 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.Contact: kjedit centralmaine.comWebsite: http://www.centralmaine.com/Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by FoM on December 28, 2003 at 21:56:10 PT Virgil The number issue is why I hesitated to post it. I am not allowed to modify an article and it really bothered me that there wasn't a number 1! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Virgil on December 28, 2003 at 21:30:32 PT LTE Maybe you are familiar with the different realities presented by the five media conglomerates that now rule what should be public airwaves and other mass media and the unfiltered news of the Internet. I read your article titled, “Medical Pot User says law of little help on the Internet at CannabisNews.com- http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread18056.shtml - and found it very real.In this day of endless propaganda of government position by the complicit press, a person usually hears the same tired lies from officialdom over and over. I have long awaited an article like yours where you go to a person and ask them of the reality they see concerning cannabis bud and the laws. I wonder why the questions start with #2 and hate they ended with #10. I much prefer the term cannabis to pot and would really refer to Medical Pot as clinical cannabis, but everyone is entitled to their own words.I hope at some point you write more of the harms of cannabis prohibition and what it has done to this country and why the prohibition must end. That I believe will be limited by your editors should you personally believe an article would be informative to your readers. I hope you prove me wrong and I really did admire the question and answer approach to someone that has felt the injustice that prohibition causes.Sincerely, [ Post Comment ] Post Comment