cannabisnews.com: Fight Looms Over Medical Marijuana Expansion 





Fight Looms Over Medical Marijuana Expansion 
Posted by CN Staff on June 27, 2004 at 14:24:21 PT
By Brad Cain, Associated Press 
Source: Associated Press 
Ailing people who legally use medical marijuana could possess more of it under a measure that activists are promoting for Oregon's fall ballot. The proposed ballot measure contains other changes in the Oregon law as well — all intended to make it easier for sick people who qualify for the drug to get it. Sponsors say they are on track to turn in enough petition signatures by Friday's deadline to place it on the Nov. 2 statewide ballot.
The measure is opposed by the Bush administration, which calls it a backdoor attempt to legalize drugs. "No family, no community, no city and no state is better off when it makes drugs more available to its young people with these ridiculous propositions," said Andrea Barthwell, the White House deputy drug czar. But national organizations that support medical marijuana say the Oregon proposal would be a big step forward for the country by making it possible for more ailing people to legally use marijuana to ease their suffering. Chief petitioner John Sajo, a longtime medical marijuana activist, contends Oregon's current law is too restrictive. "We've been trying to make the best of this law for five years, but the whole thing has really broken down" and become unworkable for many patients," Sajo said. Oregon is among nine states with medical marijuana laws. The others are Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Vermont and Washington state. California's law is the most broadly written, placing no strict limits on amounts of marijuana patients can possess and giving doctors broader latitude to recommend marijuana for their patients. Under Oregon's current law, qualified patients are allowed to use and grow small amounts of marijuana without fear of prosecution as long as a doctor says it might help their condition. The expansion measure aimed at the Nov. 2 ballot would increase the possession limit from three ounces of marijuana to a pound at any one time. It also would create state-regulated dispensaries authorized to supply up to six pounds of marijuana per year to qualified patients. Further, the initiative would expand the number of health care professionals who can recommend marijuana for their patients. Right now only physicians and osteopaths can do that; the measure would give naturopaths and nurse practitioners that authority as well. The number of Oregonians holding state-issued cards allowing them to ingest, grow and possess marijuana currently stands at 8,975, according to state records. Christopher Campbell, a Portland man who underwent surgery last year for removal of a cancerous, baseball-sized tumor in his abdomen, said medical marijuana has made all the difference in his life. The 57-year-old said the drug helped ease the effects of chemotherapy, allows him to sleep better, and enables him to cut in half the amount of narcotic painkillers he uses to keep comfortable. However, he said the current law doesn't work because many patients find it difficult to grow their own marijuana or find a caregiver to grow it for them. And the current limit on how much marijuana patients can possess is so low that it leaves many patients constantly scrambling to get enough of the drug, Campbell said. "There's a screaming need for these changes," he said. But the Bush administration doesn't like Oregon's 1998 medical marijuana law, and doesn't like the proposed measure. Barthwell, the White House deputy drug czar, called Oregon's law a "Trojan horse" pushed by marijuana activists whose real aim is to eventually have marijuana legalized. "These people will keep coming back with more expansive and more ridiculous propositions to eliminate all controls on drugs," Barthwell said in an interview from Washington, D.C. Oregon law enforcement officials also are expressing alarm over the proposal to expand the medical marijuana program. Marion County District Attorney Dale Penn said that after years of dealing with the Salem area's serious drug problem, he's become convinced that marijuana is a "gateway" drug that leads to use of harder drugs. He's particularly worried about the measure's provision allowing patients to obtain up to six pounds of marijuana a year. "We've seen abuses of the current system," Penn said. "We've seen marijuana sellers and growers who were involved in the illegal narcotics business trying to use the medical marijuana law as a shield to engage in all kinds of narcotics abuses." But a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, said law enforcement officials are overstating the problem. Bruce Mirken also said is he hopeful that Oregon voters, after five years of experience with a medical marijuana law, will give their blessing to an expansion. "That would hopefully dispel some of the mythology and scare stories that `all of your kids will become dope fiends and the state will be awash in drugs' " Mirken said. "We know from experience in Oregon that that is not true." Source: Associated Press Author: Brad Cain, Associated Press Published: June 27, 2004Copyright: 2004 The Associated Press Related Articles & Web Sites:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Voter Power Foundation http://www.voterpower.org/Campaign Works on '04 Ballot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18189.shtmlMedical Marijuana Backers Seek To Expand http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15477.shtml 
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Comment #4 posted by afterburner on June 28, 2004 at 08:27:35 PT
763 in All Canada; 8,975 in Oregon State
Canadian medical marijuana exemptions: 763 of 31,752,842 (as of January, 2004: Teaching & Learning About Canada http://www.canadainfolink.ca/teach.htm ) (TURMEL: CanWest falsifies TO Trio story 2 weeks late http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/MedPot/message/1263 ) Oregonian state-issued medical marijuana card-holders: 8,975 of 3,521,515 (2002 population estimate http://www.areaconnect.com/population.htm?s=OR )Canada has nearly 10 times the population of Oregon State, and Canada has less than 1/10 of the government-approved medical cannabis patients. That means that less than 1% of potential Canadian medical cannabis patients are receiving government permission in a "legal" medical cannabis environment. Is it any wonder that compassion societies, medical cannabis exemptees, and lawyers frequently attack Health Canada for its grudging implementation of Medical Marijuana Access Regulations? As for the health argument against cannabis legalization: cannabis was not made illegal for health reasons in either Canada or the USA; cannabis prohibition was politically-motivated racism (ethnicism) against blacks and Latinos.
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Comment #3 posted by OverwhelmSam on June 27, 2004 at 17:08:08 PT
E_J
Food acts as a sedative too. Ever feel sleepy after a big meal? We know Barthwell's drug of choice, and it looks like, "She's lovin' it." 
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Comment #2 posted by RasAric on June 27, 2004 at 15:58:33 PT
This is the real problem(as we all know)
The 57-year-old said the drug helped ease the effects of chemotherapy, allows him to sleep better, and enables him to cut in half the amount of narcotic painkillers he uses to keep comfortable. 
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Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on June 27, 2004 at 14:37:15 PT
America's deadly obesity problem speaks
""No family, no community, no city and no state is better off when it makes drugs more available to its young people with these ridiculous propositions," said Andrea Barthwell, the White House deputy drug czar.
"The severely obese White House deputy drug czar.
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