cannabisnews.com: High Hopes for Pot High Hopes for Pot Posted by CN Staff on June 16, 2004 at 08:42:02 PT By Ellis Henican Source: Newsday This was a meeting in the private office of the Manhattan district attorney, involving a proposal to amend the New York State marijuana law. So of course someone had to ask the question. That someone, yesterday, turned out to be me."Uh, Mr. Morgenthau, in your long life, what kind of, ah, personal experience have you had with marijuana? Have you ever smoked it yourself?" The soon-to-be-85-year-old district attorney looked up sternly from his chair, then cracked half a smile. "I missed that generation," he said. But wait!"Weren't you around before they made pot illegal?" That happened, if memory serves, in 1937, just as the future U.S. attorney and district attorney was packing his bags for freshman year at Amherst."You said that," Morgenthau shot back at my calendar-counting. "I didn't."OK, then, and Bill Clinton didn't inhale!So here we have one of the little rituals of modern public life. You hold important office? You'd better have an answer to the pot question.Robert Morgenthau had called this meeting to announce that he was throwing his considerable political weight behind a bill to make marijuana legal for medical uses in New York State. Cancer patients, glaucoma sufferers and people with other dreaded diseases, he said, should not have to break the law to get the relief they so desperately need.This could soon change, thanks to a bill from Manhattan Assemb. Richard Gottfried. It would make the pain-killing properties of marijuana available with a doctor's prescription, the same way sick people can now get codeine, morphine and a whole medicine chest of potent narcotics.Montel Williams, the daytime TV host who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999, sat beside Morgenthau yesterday. He spoke about the excruciating pain he suffers in the lower half of his body and the blessed relief he's gotten from medical marijuana."I've tried the other drugs that are available to help me with the pain I have," the talk-show host said. "Nothing works as well.""There is absolutely no reason for not using marijuana for medical purposes," Morgenthau said. "It's another weapon in the arsenal."It is hard even to paraphrase the arguments against this. Only a dim-witted ideologue like federal drug czar John Walters will utter such drivel out loud. Something about "sending a bad message" or marijuana being a "gateway drug."Get outta here!How could any civilized person tell a cancer patient on chemotherapy, "No, we won't ease your pain!" I dare anyone to look into Montel Williams' eyes and say, "Suck it up, pal!"In fact, the odds are suddenly looking up for medical marijuana, after half a dozen failed attempts in Albany. Co-sponsors of Gottfried's bill include such conservative stalwarts as Thomas Kirwan, a hard-nosed former lieutenant in the State Police. Even State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, a cancer survivor himself, has given his support to the companion bill."This is an issue that doesn't know any party," said Vince Marrone, director of New Yorkers for Compassionate Care, an advocacy group of patients, relatives and medical providers. "It just got a lot of traction really fast."Even Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, a staunch opponent of some broader drug-reform plans, told me he's all for medical marijuana. "This is more than appropriate," he said, adding, "I'm no recent convert." As counsel to Gov. Hugh Carey in 1980, Brown noted, he'd backed an earlier effort to make marijuana available for medical use.(Brown answered with a sharp, "No," when I asked about his own personal experience with the weed. "None.")At the same time the medical-marijuana bill seems to be sailing forward, drug-reform advocates are fighting for every inch as they take broader aim at the state's tough Rockefeller-era drug laws. Just about everyone agrees the laws are absurdly harsh. But no one can craft a reform plan that pleases a working majority."Medical marijuana reminds people how inhumane our drug laws can be," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance."Morgenthau can be a tremendously important ally on both fronts," said Randy Credico of the William Moses Kunstler Fund, who has spent seven years organizing relatives of Rockefeller inmates. The district attorney promised more of the broader issue this week.So where is George Pataki?So far, the governor has said he is for Rockefeller reform, but he's been lukewarm to anything but the narrowest proposals. And on medical marijuana, he's expressed vague reservations without ever taking a firm stand.I was hoping to clear that up yesterday. But his criminal-justice coordinator, Chauncey Parker, was apparently too busy to return calls. Source: Newsday (NY)Author: Ellis HenicanPublished: June 16, 2004Copyright: 2004 Newsday Inc.Contact: letters newsday.comWebsite: http://www.newsday.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Drug Policy Alliancehttp://www.drugpolicy.org/Montel Williams Showhttp://www.montelshow.com/NY for Compassionate Carehttp://www.nycompassionatecare.org/Morgy: Legalize Pot RXhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19012.shtmlMontel Williams Pushes Pot -- for Medical Reliefhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18797.shtmlTV Talker Says Pot is Healing http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18784.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #9 posted by FoM on June 22, 2004 at 15:46:22 PT Related Article from The Times Union - NY Last-Minute Business: Medical MarijuanaJune 22, 2004Six months in Albany haven't been a complete waste for the Legislature, however. There's good reason to hope that its members will pass a bill allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to chronically ill patients. That's common sense as medicine goes, but it's a huge change for the better in terms of politics.It was seven years ago when Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, first proposed amending the law to allow marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes. Now, the bill is just one committee vote short of going to the floor, where approval would be all but assured.Even more significant, the Senate seems to be supportive of medical marijuana as well. Majority Leader Joseph Bruno has made it clear that he has no objections to such legislation. Sen. Vincent Leibell, a Republican from the downstate town of Brewster, is ready to be the co-sponsor.Mr. Leibell sums up the issue perfectly. He says that while marijuana use isn't healthy and shouldn't be recommended to most people, "for a very limited set of people, it would provide substantial relief from pain."Passage, if indeed it occurs, would leave the fate of a more sensible and humane marijuana law up to Governor Pataki. He should reconsider his view that the chronic pain relief marijuana can bring should be restricted to drugs like Marinol, a synthetic version of tetrahydrocannabinol -- marijuana's main psychoactive ingredient.Ten states already allow the medical use of marijuana. New York should be the 11th. That much would help salvage the credibility of an otherwise useless legislative session.http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=259680 [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by FoM on June 16, 2004 at 18:56:18 PT Related Article from News-Medical.Net Support for the Medical Use of Marijuana News-Medical in Miscellaneous News Published: Wednesday, 16-Jun-2004 Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau has announced his support for the medical use of marijuana. The District Attorney was joined by Montel Williams in announcing support for legislation introduced by New York State Assemblyman Richard Gottfried. Manhattan District Attorney Morgenthau said, "I support this legislation because marijuana should be available to those whose suffering would be eased by its availability. Morphine, codeine and other controlled substances have been available for years to those who are in pain and for other medical purposes. Medical marijuana should join the list of carefully monitored drugs that should be made available to those in need."Mr. Williams said, "As a medical marijuana user myself in states where it is permitted, I can speak first hand about its efficacy and its value. I wholeheartedly support its medicinal use and look forward to the day when New Yorkers will have access to it.""If a patient and his or her doctor agree that marijuana is the most effective treatment for a life-threatening illness, government should not interfere," said Assembly Member Richard N. Gottfried, Chair of the Assembly Health Committee and sponsor of the bill. "The choice between swallowing a medication in a synthetic pill or inhaling the natural form should be a medical decision, not a legal or political issue."Ten states in the United States already permit the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. Other states and countries are also considering marijuana's use for certain medical conditions.Numerous responsible medical authorities have also approved the concept of the medical use of marijuana.Patients report that certain physical conditions are eased by the use of marijuana, including the nausea that accompanies chemotherapy or the loss of appetite or wasting that occurs during treatments for illness or as a reaction to medication. In addition, marijuana is reported to ease the symptoms of illnesses such glaucoma and multiple sclerosis.http://www.manhattanda.org/ http://www.news-medical.net/default.asp?id=2542 [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Sam Adams on June 16, 2004 at 11:45:58 PT Compassion? How could any civilized person tell a cancer patient on chemotherapy, "No, we won't ease your pain!" I dare anyone to look into Montel Williams' eyes and say, "Suck it up, pal!John Walters and Barry Mcaffrey would! Sheesh - Walter would SLAP him in the face and Mcaffrey would punch him in the stomach, Montel, that filthy pothead.Asking public figures if they've ever used MJ is only a litmus question because of untalented and unoriginal reporters like you my friend. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on June 16, 2004 at 10:05:47 PT How Nice EJ Yes, Neil Young! I'm listening to some of his concert music right now. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by E_Johnson on June 16, 2004 at 09:58:33 PT FoM we can have a retirement party for you Some day when this is over -- what would you like?Maybe we could take up a collection and hire Neil Young eh? [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on June 16, 2004 at 09:44:12 PT An abused soldier who should try pot Here's a terrible story about a soldier who was helping out with prison guard training at Guantanamo and was beaten so badly by the guards he has seizures now and has to take nine prescription medications that leave him unable to work:http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-baker16jun16,0,1712326.story?coll=la-headlines-nation [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on June 16, 2004 at 09:43:21 PT Max Flowers I've been thinking about where we are and we are in the home stretch. My goal is to help as long as I am needed and to retire when the laws are changed. That's my driving force. What a day that will be! Everyday when I look for news I hope to find an article that in essense says we give up and they just change the laws. I'll be doing my own happy dance then! We are in the right and right must win. It must. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Max Flowers on June 16, 2004 at 09:27:11 PT Traction That's right, this issue is gaining lots of traction real fast.All you sadistic, heartless, inhuman politicos who still think you can stand in the way of this change, please stand right there in the middle of the road. That way, when this issue rolls over you like the political monster truck it is, you'll be hit squarely and taken out quickly, the tire tracks left in nice even stripes across your faces. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on June 16, 2004 at 09:16:15 PT November Ballot: Initiatives on Way to Voters Excerpt from Article:Wednesday, June 16, 2004Jennifer Knight, a spokeswoman for the effort to legalize the sale of one ounce of marijuana, said her organization secured signatures of 70,226 residents. Two years ago, 61 percent of the voters opposed a petition that would have legalized up to three ounces of pot. Knight said this petition is better because it increases penalties for distributing marijuana to youth and prescribes harsher penalties for driving under the influence of the drug. "It would make one ounce legal to sell, but it would be regulated," Knight said. "The Legislature would have to decide how it is going to be cultivated." http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Jun-16-Wed-2004/news/24113359.html [ Post Comment ] Post Comment