cannabisnews.com: EDITORIAL: Dr. Feelgood EDITORIAL: Dr. Feelgood Posted by FoM on February 01, 2000 at 20:36:18 PT Staff Editorial, Michigan Daily U. Michigan Source: U-WIRE According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, more than 688,000 Americans are arrested each year on marijuana charges. Many of these people are arrested because they choose to use marijuana for medicinal purposes. Just this week, Ann Arbor resident Renee Emry Wolfe received a prison sentence - and became another victim of the war on drugs. Wolfe was arrested in 1998 for lighting up a joint in Washington, D.C. Wolfe, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, was protesting U.S. Rep. William McCollum's opposition to medical marijuana. Wolfe was arrested despite Washington residents' vote to legalize medicinal marijuana - a vote that was suppressed by Congress for 10 months. And we thought elected officials were there to serve the people. Another high-publicity case is that of Peter McWilliams, who used marijuana to alleviate the symptoms of AIDS and cancer. He found the plant to be useful in taking a potent drug cocktail of the newest AIDS and chemotherapy drugs because marijuana was the only way he could keep from throwing up. Since his arrest, in which six armed troopers descended on his California home, McWilliams has been unable to control his vomiting and has been awaiting trial in a life of pain. California's pro-medical marijuana laws require that one have a prescription for marijuana - and that the plant is grown by a licensed grower. McWilliams was growing his own. What kind of drug policy denies citizens the right to make informed decisions on their choice of medicine? People should be free to use marijuana as treatment for illnesses without the intervention of armed drug goons. In truth, these patients could take prescription drugs like sedatives to alleviate symptoms, but choose to ingest a drug that does not disrupt their normal lives. They are not ready to live their lives in a stupor. Marijuana dulls their pain, but allows them to live their lives. McWilliams, who had not smoked marijuana in 20 years before his cancer treatment, told the Boston Globe, "'I had this epiphany: 'Oh my God, this stuff really works.' Then I got mad, furious, thinking about all the millions of cancer patients who this could be helping.'' But marijuana is a charged word. Users of medical marijuana are being incarcerated because they choose a natural substance loaded with negative connotations. Talk centers on issues of legality instead of giving us the kind of dialogue necessary for rational discussions. Americans have been brainwashed by the obnoxious propaganda of television ads, DARE and Nancy Reagan's "just say no" campaign. This stance has criminalized a plant which has been used by people even before the discovery of America and probably kills no more brain cells than an hour of television. This attitude is also responsible for America's war on drugs, which has not only denied citizens the right to consider a natural and healing substance on their own terms, but given them lengthy prison terms and heavy fines as punishment. In the case of marijuana, the power of citizens to make informed decisions regarding their own health and well-being has been denied, even in areas where the plant has been legalized for medical reasons. The drug issue is not going to go away. Informed citizens are waking to the truth that marijuana cannot be lumped together with with hard drugs like heroin, crack, amphetamines and cocaine. The dialogue must be changed. Marijuana is a natural substance that should be part of our war on cancer and AIDS, not our war on plants. (U-WIRE) Ann Arbor, Mich. Updated 12:00 PM ET February 1, 2000 (C) 2000 Michigan Daily via U-WIRE Copyright © 1995-2000 Excite Inc.NORMLhttp://www.norml.org Renee Emry Wolfe Articles:Medical Marijuana Patient Convicted - 1/28/2000http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4513.shtmlDoctor Testifies Thousands with Multiple Sclerosis-1/21/2000http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4423.shtmlPeter McWilliam Articles:AIDS Victim Hammered By Pot Charge - 11/20/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3742.shtmlActivists Plead Guilty to Drug Charges - 11/20/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3734.shtmlMedical Marijuana Activists Plead Guilty - 11/19/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3733.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: