cannabisnews.com: Medical Pot: Detroit has Important Vote Ahead Medical Pot: Detroit has Important Vote Ahead Posted by CN Staff on January 05, 2004 at 07:35:11 PT Editorial Source: Detroit Free Press Detroit voters will enter the national debate over legalizing the medical use of marijuana in August, when the issue will be on the city's primary ballot. The idea of permitting physicians to recommend the drug to relieve chronic pain, reduce nausea, restore appetite and treat multiple sclerosis and glaucoma makes sense. Make no mistake, marijuana is a drug that can have harmful side effects. But so do many prescription drugs, including the painkillers Vicodin and OxyContin, to say nothing of legal drugs like alcohol and nicotine. The fact that a drug can be abused does not mean physicians shouldn't be allowed to prescribe it when the benefits to a suffering patient outweigh the potential harm. A doctor trying to alleviate the pain suffered by a cancer or brain tumor patient should not have to fear getting busted by police officers or federal drug agents. The Bush administration has doggedly opposed the medical use of marijuana, fighting state laws that permit it. But the courts have increasingly ruled that the federal government is overstepping its authority in overriding such laws. In December, a federal appeals court in California affirmed the right of seriously ill patients to use and obtain medical marijuana. The medical use of marijuana has been approved in nine states, including California and Maine, and also in Canada. Providing the law is properly crafted, approving the use of medical marijuana in Detroit would allow local doctors to alleviate unnecessary suffering, and it would take the nation a step closer to a more enlightened and humane drug policy.Complete Title: Medical Pot: Detroit has Important Vote Ahead on Issue Source: Detroit Free Press (MI)Published: January 5, 2004Copyright: 2004 Detroit Free PressContact: letters freepress.comWebsite: http://www.freep.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmMedicinal Pot Headed To '04 Detroit Ballot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17843.shtmlMedical Marijuana Could be Relief for Pain http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11700.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #5 posted by Virgil on January 05, 2004 at 22:33:28 PT Enhanced soup is one answer You asked: Does anyone know of anything on earth that is harmless?Not only would would some ganja gumbo be harmless, I would regard it as beneficial. To apply a harmless standard to something that is beneficial is like condemning aging by saying it is not good for you. You could throw the word harm on aging, but like, harm on. Most people would want 80 years of that kind of harm. It is a phrase of propaganda of course. So if the warning label on GW extracts warns of mild intoxication, it is not necessarily a harm. I kind of like it from time to time. Do you think people trade a gram of gold for a gram of laughing grass to inflict harm on themselves when it is not addictive and there are ungodly penalties for such acts? People get something out of it. They must have experience that determines it is beneficial. Are the laws that rob people of property and freedom and a good name before the law harmless? Now here is the question that Walters cannot answer- Come to think of it I have asked it several times and nobody has ever answered it but me- How many more times harmful is prohibition than regulated cannabis? The prohibitionist want to talk shit and not answer the real questions. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on January 05, 2004 at 21:49:04 PT DeVoHawk You asked: Does anyone know of anything on earth that is harmless?No I really can't think of anything. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by DeVoHawk on January 05, 2004 at 21:32:19 PT Try Comparing Cannabis to Water In Conversation when faced with the phrase "pot is not harmless" I respond with neither is water and please tell me one thing on earth that is.How many people does water directly kill every year? Thousands.How many people does cannabis directly kill every year? Zero. People have replied air is harmless but we remember what happens when air and space shuttles mix; sorry to be so cold. I think when people fall back on the "Cannabis is not harmless" they are really stating "I am to ignorant to state any facts to back up my point of view so I follow party line, Heil Hitler". And since the other Nazi'd do not want to look stupid they agree with the majority.Does anyone know of anything on earth that is harmless? [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on January 05, 2004 at 10:55:57 PT Max Flowers I agree with you. Why do they compare Cannabis a plant to a man made addicting drug? I wish they'd stop it too. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Max Flowers on January 05, 2004 at 10:46:13 PT Thanks, but if you really want to help... ...quit referring to cannabis as a drug. This piece calls it a drug three times. Vicodin is a drug. Oxycontin is a drug. Cannabis is a PLANT, mmmkay?"Make no mistake, marijuana is a drug that can have harmful side effects."NAME THEM. What are you referring to--bloodshot eyes? Coughing up a little phlegm? Harmful eh? That's a useful word that gives a negative imporession but doesn't require you to provide details isn't it.I am so sick of so-called journalists perpetuating negative sterotpes and catch-phrases.Let's go over it again now. IT'S NOT A DRUG, IT'S A PLANT. A PLANT IS NOT A DRUG. IT'S VERY SIMPLE. A DRUG IS A MAN-MADE, REFINED CHEMICAL OR PHARMACEUTICAL COMPOUND. Is basil a drug? Is a crysanthemum a drug? No they're not. See how easy that is to understand once you think about, it my little "journalist" friend? Now run along and go play and with your other little make-believe journalist friends. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment