cannabisnews.com: Weed Watch: Democrats on Drugs - Part II Weed Watch: Democrats on Drugs - Part II Posted by CN Staff on January 07, 2004 at 23:28:44 PT By Jordon Smith Source: Austin Chronicle On Jan. 6, the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Marijuana Policy Project issued its final report cards for each of the major presidential candidates, grading them based on their support for medical marijuana. In just eight months of campaigning and lobbying the candidates, the MPP reports success in persuading six of the nine major candidates to adopt various positive positions on medical marijuana. Topping the list is Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who earned an A+. The MPP notes that Kucinich told the San Francisco Chronicle that he supports medical marijuana "without reservation" and that as president he would be willing to sign an executive order permitting its use. Also at the top of the class: former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, who earned an A and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, with an A-. Both pledged to end Drug Enforcement Administration-led raids on medical marijuana patients, as did retired Gen. Wesley Clark, whom the MPP awarded a B+. The Rev. Al Sharpton earned a B. Conversely, the current Dem front-runner, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, failed the MPP's exam, earning a D- for his wishy-washy stance on medical pot. During a town hall meeting, Dean told the MPP that he doesn't believe in putting sick people in prison for using medical marijuana -- "I don't believe in what Ashcroft's doing about medical -- putting people in prison who are, who have AIDS," he said. But Dean, a physician, still doesn't support medical pot, for reasons that aren't exactly clear: "I stopped a medical marijuana bill in my Legislature," when he was governor, he said. "Because I'm a doctor, I think substances taken into your body have to be treated the same if they are meant to be medicines, no matter what they are." And, the MPP reports, Dean has called for a mere one-year moratorium on federal raids on medical marijuana users -- why, and to what end, are completely unclear. Still, for all his sponginess, Dean fared better than either President Bush or the other three Democratic candidates -- North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt, and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman. Each earned big fat F grades from the MPP for failing to call for an end to the federal raids. For more on the report cards and candidates' positions on pot, check out: http://www.granitestaters.com/ and http://www.mpp.org/Source: Austin Chronicle (TX)Author: Jordon SmithPublished: January 9, 2004Copyright: 2004 Austin Chronicle Corp.Contact: louis auschron.comWebsite: http://www.auschron.com/Related Articles:Dems on Drugs: Any Questions?http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17786.shtmlExplaining Why They Didn't Inhalehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17760.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #8 posted by The GCW on January 08, 2004 at 06:59:47 PT Thak You ekim, You make Me smile. And what ever I AM, You are too.And I AM the Green Collar Worker.We are united through the Ecologician. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by ekim on January 08, 2004 at 06:43:07 PT GCW please copy and send on Artical any press is good press. and MPP represents a group for change. Thanks for all your fired up posts. sometimes i think of your name as Global Conscience Warming [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by The GCW on January 08, 2004 at 05:38:30 PT Mention of Kucinich But no mention of His platform to decriminalize cannabis as written on His website!They missed a crucial fact in not printing this news!http://www.kucinich.us/issues/marijuana_decrim.phpMarijuana DecriminalizationAnd let's realize that to vote for Kucinich in some states; You must be not only registered but registered as a Democrat to vote for which Democrat runs against the Repubs. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Virgil on January 08, 2004 at 04:52:51 PT Alternet article list top 20 WOD events of 2003 http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17515 -The article is titled "Top Ten Drug War Stories of 2003" and is by Kevin Nelson, and dated January 7, 2004. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by BlakNo1 on January 08, 2004 at 04:50:52 PT: proud constituent This would fall into the 50% of the time that I'm glad to have John Kerry as my senator.I'm not sure if this makes up for the patriot act & war votes though... [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by jose melendez on January 08, 2004 at 04:18:13 PT not sure where to post this I got published again:http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n033/a12.html?1092 [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Virgil on January 08, 2004 at 03:09:24 PT Short flash video on Willie's song This is not a video of the performance. It takes a few minutes to load on dial-up - http://www.channelvip.com/peaceonearth.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on January 07, 2004 at 23:32:26 PT Related News Brief from The Austin Chronicle Local drug reformers this week announced the formation of Texans for Medical Marijuana, whose goal is to have the Texas Legislature pass a medical marijuana bill to guarantee that seriously ill patients have safe and legal access to the drug. The group is targeting Houston and Dallas districts, but needs volunteers across the state. For more info, contact Karen Heikkala, TMM's public relations director, at kheikkala sbcglobal.net, or by mail to TMM, PO Box 12905, Austin, 78711. -- J.S. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment