cannabisnews.com: Reefer-endum: Prescription Pot is Priority Reefer-endum: Prescription Pot is Priority Posted by CN Staff on December 01, 2004 at 08:42:59 PT Editorial Opinion Source: The Lantern On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments regarding medicinal marijuana and the role of the federal ban on marijuana in those cases. Whichever way the court decides, the decision will directly affect thousands of seriously ill individuals in 11 states where medicinal marijuana is legal. Whether these individuals will be able to live in a state of lessened pain and suffering as they do now will be up to the justices.Marijuana prohibition has enough negative consequences, like the prosecution of thousands with drug-related charges and the consumption of billions of tax-payers' dollars. It was President Jimmy Carter who said, "Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself. Nowhere is this more clear to me than in the laws against possession of marijuana in private for personal use." The most tragic consequence of the U.S. war on drugs is denying seriously ill patients the benefits that marijuana can provide.The symptoms that marijuana cures are not simply discomfort from headaches and sprained ankles. Furthermore, medicinal marijuana is not solely an excuse for people to get high. Instead, marijuana relieves the terrible symptoms of life-threatening and terminal illnesses like AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis. Often these illnesses are accompanied by extreme pain, and because of the overwhelming nausea some cause, swallowing a pain pill is not an option for many patients. Forcing patients to adhere to a federal marijuana ban is hypocritical and heartless. Other narcotics, like morphine, are at a high risk for abuse. However, because of their medicinal properties, these drugs are legally prescribed. The blame for why marijuana is exempt of the same categorization of these narcotics lies within the U.S. government. And that fault has increased the suffering of thousands in the United States.Written references of medicinal marijuana date back 5,000 years. It wasn't until the Marijuana Tax Act of 1941 that physicians had trouble prescribing marijuana. Paul Clement, the Bush administration's top court lawyer, said "Smoking marijuana really doesn't have any future in medicine." Perhaps Mr. Clement and the Supreme Court justices should ask the opinion of more than 60 U.S. and international health organizations - including the American Public Health Association and the Federation of American scientists - who support medicinal marijuana under a physician's supervision. More than 60 health organizations, over 5,000 years of medical use and thousands of U.S. citizens using medicinal marijuana can't be wrong.Source: The Lantern (OH)Published: Wednesday, December 1, 2004 Copyright: 2004 ngda - The Lantern Contact: lantern osu.eduWebsite: http://www.thelantern.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Raich vs. Ashcroft http://www.angeljustice.org/Angel Raich v. Ashcroft Newshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/raich.htmHigh Court High Anxietyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19935.shtmlMedical Marijuana vs. The War on Drugs http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19932.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #4 posted by OverwhelmSam on December 02, 2004 at 03:23:41 PT Ah, But Don't Forget... There's also a natural alternative to the synthetic drug marinol, it's called marijuana. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by ekim on December 01, 2004 at 09:42:29 PT potpal sounds like England will get Treatment soon Top Story: Bush’s New Freedom Initiative: “Treatment” For Using Cannabis, From The Wonderful Folks Who Brought Us Vioxx, Baycol, Etc. Author of IOM Report Says, "I can't understand why it isn't rescheduled." http://marijuananews.com/news.php3?sid=769 http://www.leap.cc/events [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by dididadadidit on December 01, 2004 at 09:23:50 PT Supremes on MMJ (Don't We Wish They Were) Repigs and Dems have engaged in a 30 some year dance around the issue of marijuana, with each side bidding on who can out stupid each other in showing off their “tough on crime” credentials. The result has been a disaster of a drug war, filling the criminal justice system with non violent drug offenders. This, in large part has been driven by racial overtones, getting the blacks off the voting roles (why the Dems have gutted a portion of their base by outstupiding all these years being a mystery to me, but possibly because they felt they couldn’t afford to look soft on crime next to the Repig they run against).On the medical front, the Dems are finally starting to embrace this no lose proposition where polls consistently show 60 to 80% support, and where red state Montana, although voting for Busch, also became the 10th (or 11th) state to approve medical marijuana (MMJ) by voter initiative this election cycle, clearly not buying in to all the Busch moral values BS. Each of the past 2 summers have seen an amendment in the House to the justice department funding bill which if passed would have denied funding to the DEA jackbooted thugs for the purpose of screwing with medical users, their doctors and providers in states which have allowed legal usage by their state laws. In a total lack of “compassion” the Repigs have been unable to find double digit percentage support for this “states rights” concept, while the Dems have favored the amendment by about 2 to 1 both years. It seems the Repig support for states rights is only in play if the state is looking to expand the death penalty, keep undesirables from voting, or in some other way, screw people over. If the state is trying to end some form of discrimination or expand individual rights within their state, then the federal nanny calls the shots and states rights be damned.Lest we forget, in a fascist nation, the corporations are in tight with the government, and big pharma is no exception (witness the 539 billion (advertised as 397 billion to keep it under 400 billion to get enough Repig support to pass the House) senior drug support bill). It will be pointed out that there are legal alternatives to marijuana, MARINOL being the synthetic THC drug of choice. There are 3 problems with MARINOL. If one is throwing up sick it’s a bitch keeping the capsules down, whereas smoking goes around that problem. Eating MARINOL poses dosage difficulties, whereas smoking goes around that problem. MARINOL can easily cost about a thousand dollars a month, whereas smoking goes around that problem, in that a twenty dollar a month bump in the electric bill can grow enough MMJ to more than equal the mg of THC (real for the homegrown, synthetic for the MARINOL) found in big pharmas preference. A ratio of 50 to 1 in favor of taxpayer subsidized big pharma obtains. Speaking of corporats in league with the government, we cannot forget the vast prison-industrial complex (check the stock price history of Corrections Corp of America and Cornell (up a bunch) against popular averages (down, especially the Nasdaq) since Busch’s appointment in December 2000).Here is hoping the supremes do the right thing, but I’ll not be holding my breath.Cheers? [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by potpal on December 01, 2004 at 08:55:01 PT anti food http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4052963.stm [ Post Comment ] Post Comment