cannabisnews.com: Souder Battles Medical-Marijuana Laws Souder Battles Medical-Marijuana Laws Posted by FoM on June 30, 2000 at 15:59:50 PT By Sylvia A. Smith, Washington Editor Source: JournalGazette States shouldn't be allowed to relax laws against marijuana use and possession, even for medical use, Rep. Mark Souder, R-4th, said Thursday as he introduced a bill to pre-empt those state laws.Souder said he wrote the legislation at the urging of organizations that have campaigned against efforts in states that have passed referenda to ease marijuana laws. Voters in seven states have passed referenda to legalize marijuana for ill people, said NORML - the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws. Also, Hawaii lawmakers voted to legalize medical use."When you've got 60, 65 percent of the voters in a state saying we no longer want to arrest patients who use medical marijuana, what business is it of Congress to come in and undermine that? That is truly the will of the people," said Keith Stoup, NORML executive director."Does he believe there's something undemocratic about a member of Congress or even Congress as a whole tossing out the will of the voters in a state?" he asked about Souder.Souder doesn't.He said billionaire George Soros and two employees paid for much of the legalization campaigns in the states that passed the referenda.Soros "bought that 60 to 65" percent, Souder said. "What this shows is the American people are an empathetic group of people who, if they're told the only way to alleviate pain is this way . . ., they want to be sympathetic."But when they learn there are alternatives, that they've been lied to about the medicinal use and the fact is just a bunch of pot clubs, the polls flip the other direction immediately."Souder said if the people using marijuana were truly only alleviating pain, police - state or federal - would look the other way.There's already an exemption for medicinal use, he said, if a person proves to the Department of Health and Human Services it's necessary.Souder said efforts to make medical use legal "is just a phony excuse to be a pot head."Stroup said Souder is misguided."Under both state and federal law, a doctor can prescribe amphetamines, cocaine, barbiturates - there are any number of drugs which are dangerous and can be abused on the street but which have valuable uses in the hands of a physician. No one ever suggested that the fact that we allow cancer patients to regulate their own morphine, for example, when they're on a cancer ward - no one ever suggested that sends the wrong message to kids about morphine use."So why are we so concerned about sending the wrong message to kids when we're allowing sick and dying patients to use medical marijuana?" Stroup said.He said legislation such as Souder's "suggests to me that Mr. Souder and the others in the Republican leadership are more interested in trying to show that they're tough on drugs than they are in establishing a compassionate program for the sick and dying."Souder said the time has passed in which only marijuana quelled effects of drugs used to combat illnesses.Now, he said, the component in marijuana that is used to counter nausea and pain can be taken as a pill.E-Mail Staffhttp://www.jg.net/jg/newspaper/staff.htmContact Information:http://www.jg.net/jg/newspaper/contact.htmWashingtonPublished: June 30, 2000Copyright: The Journal Gazette Related Articles & Web Sites:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/The Soros Foundation Networkhttp://www.soros.orgJust an Excuse for Peddling Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6172.shtml Legalize Pot? How Absurd http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6156.shtml Legalization of Pot is a Matter of Privacy http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6111.shtmlLegalizing Pot Would Be Less Harmful Than The Ban http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6093.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana & Cannabis Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtmlhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #9 posted by sm247 on February 17, 2001 at 11:54:06 PT So what Geee why can't we buy off the government everyone else is and that is a fact. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by David Watson on July 01, 2000 at 01:10:07 PT: Souder Battles Medical-Marijuana Laws Rep. Mark Souder's disgust with the way cash can influence the voters outcome is hypicritical at the least. Did he accept any cash donations to help his election? Does he accept soft cash from special interests groups? Of course he does, allmost all polititions do so. They only complain when the money is used to achieve goals they don't aggree with."He said billionaire George Soros and two employees paid for much of the legalization campaigns in the states that passed the referenda.Soros "bought that 60 to 65" percent, Souder said." Pretty typical of polititions, if Soros would have given millions to help pass new drug laws it would of been fine with Rep. Souder. It is not the act of using your own funds to affect change that Rep. Souder really objects to but rather what the end foal is. But guess what, the people have spoken, Rep. Souder better listen or the people will remember whom is undemocratic, and vote them out of office.-David Watson [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by zion on June 30, 2000 at 21:20:09 PT Hmm What kind of Republican supports big government tax costs from throwing "potheads" in jail? I am continually amazed at how people like Souder call themselves Republicans, then waste my tax money fighting nickel and dime pot smokers, whether they're sick and dying medical marijuana users or just your average everyday casual recreational user. Souder needs to go back to the GOP and read the party platform - smaller government and lower taxes. It certainly isn't smaller government to pass more federal laws by undercutting states' rights and it certainly doesn't lower taxes by propping up an incarceration war on marijuana users. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by observer on June 30, 2000 at 19:37:18 PT Political Grandstanding He said legislation such as Souder's "suggests to me that Mr. Souder and the others in the Republican leadership are more interested in trying to show that they're tough on drugs than they are in establishing a compassionate program for the sick and dying."Yes .. pure political grandstanding.Politicians like this huckster, Souder, are a dime a dozen. Too wicked or duped to go after real criminials (the ones stealing and killing), politicians like Souder need straw men as sparring partners, and windmills at which to tilt."Even if drug law reformers manage to present their research findings to public policy makers, those officials are largely indifferent to facts about the issue. A senior official in one state frankly told me that he was simply demagoguing the issue to get votes. Prosecutors at the Nuremberg trials noted a similar attitude among Nazi conspirators, in which they promoted anti-Semitism not because they were concerned about a Jewish problem but because they felt anti-Semitism would be politically popular.190 Drug warriors sneer that talk of drug legalization is trendy, but their claim is rhetoric designed to make fellow warriors feel embattled and thereby whip up support for harsher measures."Richard L Miller, Drug Warriors and their Prey, 1996, pg.32 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0275950425/Cannabisnews/ Souder said the time has passed in which only marijuana quelled effects of drugs used to combat illnesses.Wishful thinking, Prohibition-boy. How the heck would he know, anyway? Drugs act differently for different people (obvious, but to fascistic morons like Congresscritter Slammer there, sometimes we need to bring things down to his level). What puts most people to sleep (like morphine), may cause a severe reaction like anaphalactic shock, in the next person. when this was a free country, people were free to go to the corner drug store and order whatever they felt helped them. Did "we" have problems? Yes, some people had problems with drugs. A tiny fraction of the percentage of people who have drug problems today. Prohibition, as always, made tiny problems much worse. (Unless you are a drug dealer or a police state employee: then it's fat city, baby! Keep the Prohibition gravy train a-rollin!)Now, he said, the component in marijuana that is used to counter nausea and pain can be taken as a pill.What a bonehead (pardon my ad hominem: I've slandered all boneheads). When someone is throwing up, Congressman Slammer (or anyone with the intelligence of a sea-slug) should know that you cannot hold down a pill: you're throwing up. Is that not absurdly obvious? When you're upchucking, you can't hold down a pill, because you're puking. And why the heck should we have to buy a $30+ pill when we're sick from chemotherapy toxins, when a cheap plant most of us could grow in our yards would work as well or better? Because it can't be patented? Because the drug companies contributed to his campaign? Because police and prison unions are fat from gorging on drug-war proceeds ? I don't think that's a good reason to arrest people who want to grown their own medicine. In fact, it is a downright wicked reason. Grandstanding politicians like Congressman Slammer need to walk a mile (or so) in a chemotherapy patient's moccasins. then let's see how Herr Slammer likes being pumped up with compazine (which, by the way, is the front line anti-nausea drug). see; "Compazine, side-effects"http://www.google.com/search?q=compazine+side-effects&num=10&meta=hl%3Den%26lr%3D&safe=off [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by dddd on June 30, 2000 at 18:20:16 PT liquor FoM....I just drank a drink for you. SS does look good in red....dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on June 30, 2000 at 17:38:55 PT Just me again Suspect Stereotype you look good in red like dddd now! Cool!This type of article could drive a person to drink and I don't drink. Maybe that's what he had been doing when he wrote this article. I'm just being sarcastic now! I get that way!Have a Happy and Safe 4th of July Weekend! It's our time to celebrate our future Freedom!Peace, FoM! [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by dddd on June 30, 2000 at 17:36:12 PT National vote SSs' suggestion for a national vote is excellent.Perhaps this Stroud idiot is doing us a favor by bringing the subject into a more national limelite.....dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by dddd on June 30, 2000 at 17:31:58 PT unbelievable It is always astonishing to hear such idiotic statements from people like Souder.It is even stranger,when you realize he is an elected official.....The only explanation for why someone would be such a mega-Jackass,and go so far as to try to pass a federal law,that nullifies voters in 7 states,and then,try to say that people who voted in favor of MMJ,have been misled by some diabolical funding,,,,,,All this is so absurd,that it becomes obvious who the mysterious un-named," organizations " are.Do you suppose he's on their payroll? This guy is tragicly silly,and his words make it un-necessary to critisize him.He has already made an ass of himself....dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Suspect Stereotype on June 30, 2000 at 17:29:35 PT Misdeeds goes to town "Stroup said Souder is misguided."Suspect says Souder is misanthropic.His position that the people of this country would not support MMJ needs to be put to the test.How's about a national referendom on the subject?Let's see where the nation stands on this issue. Nobody has ever asked us all at once. It's my guess that they don't dare--they know what the answer will be.It is the misinformed machinations of malevolent miscreants like this that have lead to so much misfortune and misery.(Dad-gummed thesaurus paid for itself today)SS [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: