cannabisnews.com: The Argument To Legalize Marijuana Still Burns The Argument To Legalize Marijuana Still Burns Posted by CN Staff on November 23, 2004 at 23:01:14 PT By Jeff Andrews, Staff Writer Source: North Texas Daily Brandon Scott sometimes feels pain after eating meals. Especially after vegetables or orange juice, the Southlake senior gets nauseous, has heartburn or just feels general discomfort. While some people head to the medicine cabinet looking for Pepto-Bismol, an antibiotic or other medicines, Scott heads to the back porch and rolls a marijuana cigarette. Scott, diagnosed with Crohn's disease at 14, is one of many who support marijuana legislation reform designed to get marijuana decriminalized, legalized for medicinal purposes or legalized all together. Crohn's disease is a rare condition that causes inflammation of the intestines, limiting the amount of food that can pass through the intestines and causing a number of digestive problems. "It's something that's with you your entire life and even after it's inflamed and they treat it, you still have a lot of scar tissue," he said. "It can be really uncomfortable every time you eat. It can cause a lot of pain and you can feel a lot of discomfort. It definitely affects every meal if you really have it serious." Marijuana helps ease nausea better than the traditional treatments for Crohn's disease, according to Scott. Because the disease isn't widespread, research on Crohn's isn't as well developed as other diseases, but significant progress has been made since Scott was diagnosed. "They know a lot more about it now," he said. "At first they thought it was just like a virus you could pick up at the lake. Or they thought it was an ulcer. They really don't know what causes it. They just give you treatments for it." At the same time groups such as NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, are trying to have marijuana laws relaxed, others believe they are good or even need to be strengthened. Chris Brown, president of the NT Young Conservatives of Texas, believes marijuana doesn't have medicinal value that other drugs can't provide and that the side effects of the drug can be dangerous to society. "I don't feel that there's any basis to legalize it at all," he said. "Yes, it doesn't kill people like heroin does, but I had a friend in high school shoot his friend because he was high on a few things, including marijuana. So, just because it's not the drug people tend to use when they do stupid things, it's a gateway drug, and it also leads to other things. It impairs your mental capacity to make decisions." Scott disagrees saying he hasn't felt any major side effects from smoking marijuana. "Nothing more than the side effects of smoking that you would probably get no matter what you were smoking," he said. "As far as the marijuana is concerned, I don't think it has any harmful side effects especially dealing with medically. It doesn't seem to interfere at all." Eleven states already have laws that allow possession of marijuana, including California, Alaska, Colorado and Washington, but other groups want marijuana decriminalized to lower the number of marijuana cases in the courts. "I think it has a damaging effect on our judicial system in terms of case load," said Brian Godboldo, political science senior and former president of the NT College Democrats. "Strong drug laws in general have a tendency to cause our judicial system to spend too much time on frivolous cases. Also, it just puts too many people in jail for reasons they don't need to be. We shouldn't be punishing people for drug addiction. We should be putting them in hospitals or an institution that will help them with drug addiction." Godboldo believes marijuana doesn't cause people to commit violent crimes and that a marijuana conviction on a person's record can unfairly hinder their ability to get a job. "If they can't get a job, then the government spends more money on those people," he said. "The government spends money on welfare, food stamps and they're paying for the lawyer to prosecute the marijuana charge. It's a waste of government resources." Regardless of the reasons, the marijuana issue seems to be picking up steam as marijuana referendums were on the ballot in three states in the 2004 election. Alaska even had a referendum to completely legalize marijuana in the state. It was defeated but some see the fact that it was even on the ballot as a victory for marijuana reform. Brown disagrees. "I think what you saw there is a public interest group rallying support for their cause," he said. "With the population so small, it's very easy to sway an election if you have one interest group really hitting on one thing to go vote for." Godbolod disagrees and believes the pro-marijuana movement made a mistake in asking for too much, too soon. "It's a sign that the liberalization of drug laws in general is progressing but I think that's why the leftist movement isn't winning right now," he said. "If you want to decriminalize marijuana, I don't think a referendum to legalize it is a good step because if you push too hard, the party that's in power right now is going to push back harder. They're going to make drug laws even stricter. They can't do it while Bush is in power. They can't do it when the conservatives are in power." The other two states with marijuana referendums on the ballot split. Oregon voted against expanding its medical marijuana laws, which were already in place, and Montana voted in favor of enacting medical marijuana laws. With social values issues dominating the Republican vote, a seeming split in the vote appears with the marijuana referendum passing in Montana, a Bush state and an anti-gay marriage state. Also, Oregon, a Kerry state and one with medicinal marijuana laws already in place, voted against expanding it. "I don't think it matters if the state is conservative or the state is liberal," Godboldo said. "It has to do with the individual situations within the state. Montana might have some doctors there that are pushing for medicinal use of marijuana. They may have a good lobby for it there. I don't think it's necessary a blue state, red state thing." Had it passed, the referendum in Oregon would have created a system of dispensaries, allowed patients to have as much as a pound of marijuana and ten plants. Montana's referendum will allow patients to possess or grow marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. It will also penalize forging medical conditions or fake identification cards. Canada has flirted with idea of decriminalizing marijuana possession, but the possibility of trade slowing down between the United States because of increased border patrols has some Canadian officials thinking twice. "If Canada did indeed decriminalize marijuana it would put a lot larger problem on us and I think they're smart enough not to do that without thinking very hard on it and getting our opinion on it," Brown said. "I don't think they're in a rush anyway. Although they don't have it decriminalized, a good portion of Canada kind of pulls an 'Amsterdam' and look behind their backs and let it go on without any repercussions. I doubt they really care. I'm sure marijuana lobbyists are pushing them to decriminalize it but until they have a very strong reason to do it, I don't think they'll do it." The United States isn't likely to decriminalize marijuana any time soon. Brown believes it won't happen as long as the federal government and the general population remain against it. "The states can do what they want but until the federal government changes their position, nothing is going to happen," he said. "Most of the drug laws in the books are federal law. Each state can pass as much stuff as they want but the federal government is going to support their drug law. [Alaska and Oregon] are very low population states so for a vote to go that way, that's not a huge amount of support going in either direction." But Scott and people who want it to treat diseases still remain confident they can gradually change how America views marijuana. "Everybody in our society has had different experiences with marijuana and it's starting to be viewed differently by different regions of the country," he said. "I think especially as years come and the younger people start getting older and start to hold office, their experiences with marijuana will definitely transcend partisan politics. "It's hard to say how long because there are just certain dominoes that need to fall in its favor and there's no telling how long it's going to take for each one to fall. I think the younger kids now will make it happen." Source: North Texas Daily (TX)Author: Cindy Brown, Staff WriterPublished: November 24, 2004Copyright: 2004 North Texas DailyContact: stories ntdaily.com Website: http://www.ntdaily.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Texans For Medical Marijuanahttp://www.texansformedicalmarijuana.org/Pot Advocates Need Lobbyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19857.shtml Poll Finds 75% of Texans Support Med Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19840.shtmlNew Group Backs Medical Marijuana in Texashttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18431.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #5 posted by JoeCitizen on November 24, 2004 at 09:53:11 PT Conservative vs. Liberal is an easy trap A one axis continuum (a simple line) cannot define the range of political attitudes. Simple "Left vs. Right" thinking leads to wrong conclusions about what is happening in the political world.The Libertarians define political space with a two axis space ( a square, turned on one corner, so really a diamond.) Left vs. Right is one axis. But top to bottom is Libertarian (free) vs. Authoriarian (controlled). The Bush people aren't conservatives at all, that would put them out towards the right corner of the diamond (with people like William F. Buckley, who are right-leaning but respectful of individual freedoms.) The Bush crew are AUTHORITARIANS. They are at the bottom most point of the diamond, believing that all people need to be controlled all of the time. As you can see (or imagine, sorry for the lack of visual aids!), there is little difference between left and right at that bottom-most point. Do you really care if the jack-booted thugs knocking down your door are fascists(Right) or communists (Left)? Will it make your jail-time or death sentence easier if you know their supposed ideology? Or can we agree that thugs are thugs, whatever their excuses?And the Bush crew are thugs of the worst sort. Utterly authoritarian. They make true conservatives ill. See where you fit on the diamond...take the quiz [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Max Flowers on November 24, 2004 at 08:47:01 PT Too bad Too bad this poor old guy's doctor is letting him down big time. Crohn's disease can be cured with probiotics and enzymes and a raw food diet. But of course his doctor won't know this, as he's always so busy boning up on the latest pharmaceutical drugs coming down the pipe, and because the doctor/clinic can't make any money off probiotics and enzymes. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by The GCW on November 24, 2004 at 06:29:45 PT Yes, mayan, Conservative? Chris Brown, president of the NT Young Conservatives of Texas, believes marijuana doesn't have medicinal value that other drugs can't provide and that the side effects of the drug can be dangerous to society. (As long as people like Brown make the calls, We are going downhill; Brown illustrates a microcosm of what’s going on in America) (Brown isn’t being conservative when He chooses to perpetuate caging humans for using a plant; He is being Biblically disobedient, perhaps with out even knowing it, being untaught in the ways of Jesus Christ. Through the spirit of truth, I see Jesus Christ bending down and picking cannabis off the ground and presenting it to the Brandon Scott's. I do not see Jesus Christ, turning the key to secure Him in a cage for using what is said to be good on literally the very 1st page of the Bible in Genisis 1:11-12 & 29-30.)"I don't feel that there's any basis to legalize it at all," he said. "Yes, it doesn't kill people like heroin… [comparing cannabis to heroin???] (There is one basis to Re-legalize cannabis that escapes many prohibitionists; Biblically there is every reason to Re-legalize cannabis man needs to have even kept it from being prohibited to begin with.)In My conservativism, I deem it very important to not harm anyone, It would be better for the Chris Brown’s of the would to not put government in the position of harming people that do not harm others. I request that Chris Brown reconsider his stance as a prohibitionis and do so with the Bible in hand.In the mean time I pray that Brandon Scott receives comfort and not persecution, till those who persecute Him realize the truth."Conservative" (is getting to be a dirty word) is going to get additional deffinition in Websters... [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by mayan on November 24, 2004 at 06:16:06 PT Conservative? Chris Brown, president of the NT Young Conservatives of Texas, believes marijuana doesn't have medicinal value that other drugs can't provide and that the side effects of the drug can be dangerous to society. "I don't feel that there's any basis to legalize it at all," he said. "Yes, it doesn't kill people like heroin does, but I had a friend in high school shoot his friend because he was high on a few things, including marijuana. So, just because it's not the drug people tend to use when they do stupid things, it's a gateway drug, and it also leads to other things. It impairs your mental capacity to make decisions."Chris Brown's ignorance is what's really "dangerous to society". A gateway drug? Wrong. That tired myth has long been run into the ground. Most people drank water before they smoked cannabis. Does that mean that drinking water leads to smoking cannabis? Better ban water! Obviously, Chris Brown's mental capacity is miniscule at best. He doesn't even know that a true conservative is supposed to let people live their own lives and make their own decisions. Where do these people come from?Here's more cannabis-related news...Lode board split on medical pot - Deadlock leaves marijuana dispensary plan up in air: http://www.recordnet.com/daily/news/articles/112304-gn-9.phpFormer pot cafe owner wants jury trial: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/story.html?id=b67406a5-8455-4525-9bd5-8b5277b8e8f1ADVISORY for Monday, November 29 - Ashcroft v. Raich, Press Conference: Federal v. State Power, Compassion for Sick, at Heart of Supreme Court Medical Cannabis Case Involving Severely Ill Mother Persecuted by Federal Government: http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20041123.095635&time=10Regarding the rigged election, it seems that Cobb & Badnarik are suing Ken Blackwell... Suit asks court to hasten Ohio presidential recount: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1101205903101550.xml$250k Raised, Ohio Recount Proceeding: http://www.votecobb.org/The way out is the way in...Tower Collapse questioned: Kevin Ryan's story hit mainstream paper: http://inn.globalfreepress.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=10599/11 COMPLAINT AND PETITION AS FILED WITH NY AG ELIOT SPITZER - 11/19/04: http://www.justicefor911.org/RE-OPEN 9/11: http://www.reopen911.org/index.htmlCrossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil - by Michael C. Ruppert: http://www.fromthewilderness.com/announce.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by potpal on November 24, 2004 at 06:12:03 PT legal drug vs illegal drug And it's legal...imagine that.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4034597.stm [ Post Comment ] Post Comment