cannabisnews.com: Congressional Hopefuls Offer Views on Medical Pot





Congressional Hopefuls Offer Views on Medical Pot
Posted by FoM on October 22, 2000 at 06:21:30 PT
By Bill Simmons
Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 
The idea of allowing marijuana for medicinal purposes has little support among Arkansas candidates in contested congressional races. The same is true of federal legislation to punish crimes motivated by hate.  The candidates are U.S. Rep. Marion Berry, D-Gillett; Republican nominee Susan Myshka of Jonesboro; and write-in George Moody of Jonesboro, all in the 1st District; U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock, and GOP nominee Bob Thomas of Little Rock, both in the 2nd District; and U.S. Rep. Jay Dickey, R-Pine Bluff, and Democratic nominee Mike Ross of Prescott, both in the 4th District.
 The election is to be Nov. 7.  Berry did not link his response to each question singly. Portions of his response are presented here with particular questions where it seemed clear that he was addressing them. The rest of his response is presented below.  The questions, with the candidates' responses:  1. Should the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes be made legal at the federal level?  Berry: "I am against the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes."  Myshka, Moody, Snyder, Dickey and Ross: "No."  Moody: "Yes."  Thomas: "If you can extract the chemical that makes marijuana useful for cancer patients and put it in a pill form controlled through a pharmacy, then I am all for it. However, I am not a proponent of getting a doctor's note to allow anyone to smoke marijuana."  2. If so, why?  Moody: "Because it has been found to be medically useful for relieving pain."  3. If not, why not?  Myshka: "Too much potential for abuse."  Snyder: "The pharmacological properties of marijuana and other plants can be made legally available if found efficacious through the normal FDA [Food and Drug Administration] process."  Dickey: "The dangers to society of the legalization of marijuana far outweigh any potential benefits. Several studies have shown that marijuana is often a gateway drug to more serious drug use, a major burden for our country."  Ross: "Other drugs can be used for those medicinal purposes, which are not common to street sales or abuse."  4. Would you support capital punishment for people convicted of international drug trafficking?  Moody, Snyder and Thomas: "No."  Myshka, Dickey "for appropriate crimes," and Ross: "Yes."  5. If so, why?  Myshka: "Criminals that engage in this kind of behavior calculate the 'costs of doing business' against the perceived 'benefits.' Such drug traffickers view the present punishments as an acceptable level of cost given the huge monetary rewards. Raise the cost to capital punishment and the cost will become too great for all but only those willing to take very great risks."  Dickey: "The Office of National Drug Control Policy estimated that drug-related illnesses, death and crime cost the nation approximately $66.9 billion annually. Every man, woman, and child in America pays nearly $1,000 annually to cover the expense of unnecessary health care, extra law enforcement, auto accidents, crime and lost worker productivity resulting from substance abuse. As with all crimes that result in the senseless taking of American life, that person should be subject to the death penalty."  Ross: "We need to send a message to drug traffickers -- stop smuggling drugs into the U.S. More importantly, the drugs sold in the U.S. kill thousands and thousands of lives, and traffickers should be found guilty for that."  6. If not, why not?  Moody: "I don't believe in capital punishment."  Snyder: "The possibility that citizens of a foreign country may face the death penalty in U.S. courts makes it less likely in many cases that the country will cooperate in extraditing those criminals to the United States. The death penalty should be reserved for heinous crimes that intentionally lead to the death of the victim."  Thomas: "It doesn't make sense."  7. Should capital punishment be imposed for additional federal crimes?  Myshka, Moody, Snyder, Thomas, and Dickey ("at this time"): "No."  Ross: "Yes."  8. If so, which ones?  Ross: "Drug trafficking."  9. Would you propose in Congress any changes in sentencing laws?  Myshka, Ross: "Yes."  Snyder: "Justice in federal courts is better served if federal judges have more discretion over sentencing."  Thomas: "No."  Dickey: "I would oppose any change in sentencing laws that would weaken our enforcement of laws."  10. If so, what changes would you propose?  Myshka: "One I would propose would be stiff mandatory sentences, such as 10 years in prison, for any person convicted of selling drugs to a minor, to be served in addition to any other conviction that person received as a result of that action. This relates to my philosophy spelled out in Number 5 above."  Moody: "Life sentence should have parole."  Snyder's answer is recorded under Question 9.  Ross: "We need truth in sentencing -- 40 years should mean 40 years."  11. What would you propose in Congress to curb the problem of illegal drugs?  Myshka: "Raise the cost of doing business by increasing the punishment to levels that even most hardened criminals would find unacceptably risky and costly."  Moody: "Rather than imprisoning people for drugs, I think these people should be treated for addiction. This is a mental problem and not a criminal problem. With over 60 percent of females being put in jail for drugs or drug-related problems, we could free up a lot of jail space by treating them as a medical or psychological problem."  Snyder: "Unfortunately, we will always have a small part of humanity with addiction problems, either alcohol or drugs. We need to recognize that fighting the influence of drugs is difficult without available treatment. I support increasing funding for treatment research and programs. Finally, we must recognize that America's addiction problems have wide impacts -- the narcoguerrillas in Colombia threaten to destabilize democracy in the area."  Thomas: "Strong education policy about the downside and dangers of drugs."  Dickey: "I have endorsed Arkansas' application for the federal designation as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). It is my hope that successfully obtaining this designation will provide Arkansas with additional resources to stamp out the illegal drug trade in our state. We must also strengthen the integrity of our national borders. Currently, drugs flood into our country because we have failed to deploy adequate resources along our borders."  Ross: "Tougher penalties for drug dealers and mandatory rehabilitation for drug addicts."  12. What would you propose in Congress to deal with the rising inmate population?  Myshka: "Build prisons as we need them. The rising inmate population has paralleled the drop in crime that most of the country has experienced. This is not a coincidence."  Moody: "I think we are giving prisoners the easy life by giving them air-conditioned shelter, good food, etc. They should be made to work during their incarceration, they should be paid for their work in jail or be put on a work-release program if they qualify. In addition, they should be offered education so they will have a marketable skill when they are released and won't have to resort to their former criminal behavior to make a living. It is a crying shame that we jail more people than any other country in the world."  Snyder: "If federal judges have more discretion in sentencing, it would likely free up beds in prisons. We should also make better treatment options available for inmates with addiction problems. We should focus on providing training to teach better parenting skills. Congress should act to modernize schools, improve teacher quality, and reduce class size. We should continue to support law enforcement programs, such as Cops on the Street."  Thomas: "Inmate population may be up, but crime is down. Maybe there is a cause and effect relationship."  Dickey: "Crime is declining in our country because we are finally keeping violent criminals behind bars. We must provide adequate resources to ensure that we never release a prisoner into the general population because we have run out of space."  Ross: "Require inmates to support themselves while incarcerated, and require participation in rehabilitation programs."  13. Would you support legislation to provide for crimes based on sex, sexual orientation, and disability to be prosecuted as federal hate crimes?  Berry: "I would not support hate crime legislation."  Myshka: "No."  Moody: "No. This question is unclear, but in general the state should jail people who commit crimes regardless of their sex, etc."  Snyder: "Yes."  Thomas: "Crime should not be classified by victims. No, I do not support federal hate crime legislation."  Dickey: "No. It would be a mistake to believe that these acts are allowed within our current legal system. Though not classified as crimes of hate, these crimes are already acts of violence prohibited by law. With all violent crimes, we have a judicial system in place that prosecutes these acts."  Ross: "Murder is murder, torture is torture -- we should enforce the laws we have."  Berry's response to the questions also said:  "I think the best way to combat crime is to educate our children, and to show them the difference between right and wrong. However, when someone has chosen to engage in criminal activity we need to send them a strong message, which is why I have supported COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) when it has come before Congress. The program grants local and state police with the resources they need to fight crime, and gives community police the tools they need to cater to their specific needs and crime trends.  "Punishment for any crime should be swift and sure.  "I believe current laws are sufficient to punish offenders, regardless of his or her motivation."  U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson, R-Fort Smith, was omitted from the questionnaire because he is unopposed for re-election in the 3rd District.Complete Title: Congressional Hopefuls Offer Views on Crime, Medical PotSource: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (AR)Author: Bill SimmonsPublished: October 22, 2000Address: 121 East Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72201Copyright: 2000 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.Contact: voices ardemgaz.comWebsite: http://www.ardemgaz.com/Forum: http://www.ardemgaz.com/info/voices.htmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by Ed Carpenter on October 22, 2000 at 18:10:55 PT:
Arkansas candidates
There should be a 'none of the above' on ballots. And if that classification wins, disqualify the bunch and start over.
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Comment #3 posted by Antianti on October 22, 2000 at 09:40:45 PT:
I agree on the Arkansas candidates
But you are a fool to waste you're vote on the status quo. By now you should know that "they" own the polls. Polls are an abomination to liberty in that they manipulate the free choice of all Americans. If you think either Gush or Bore is going to change anything, you just have to look at the last thirty years. Or even the last eight. I used to be proud to identify myself with the democratic party, but I have seen no chage forthcoming from the wriggling, centrist Clinton white house. And many of the choices of the supreme court of the land have not suffered the cause of freedom for which so many have died. You, and the other "sheeple" whose votes are rigged by the polls are "wasting" you're vote for more of the same old shit. Ralph Nader has been a champion of the people for so many years. He was fighting for us when Gush and Bore were playing little league. You do not see him in the polls because they turn him away at the door of the debates. The major parties and the 4th estate own the media, and Nader is their WORST nightmare. If any debate would have been worth watching it would have been between Nader and Browne: two red-blooded Americans who are not afraid of telling it like it is. In Isreal there were 6 people running for their highest office. They had a better than 90% voter turnout. In Germany, there were 7 candidates. The turnout was even better. To be fair, at least the top six should be at the dabates, as there were in the republican party debates. The two "choices" are not choices at all. They are a coronation.
Make your own choices with the New Media: the NET
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Comment #2 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on October 22, 2000 at 09:18:54 PT:
Sorry State of Affairs
This just goes to show that we have the best government that corporate money can buy.
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Comment #1 posted by Tom on October 22, 2000 at 08:00:39 PT
Klinton's Kronies
Berry - Nah...The name is too similiar to the infamous crack smoking mayor of Amerika's largest disenfranchised city. Too much potential for cases of mistaken identity.Myshka - Hails from the town of one the saddest chapter's in recent Amerikan history. From the bleating of the WOD rhetoric, does not learn from history so therefore is doomed to repeat it.Ross- What "other" drugs are you talking about? Perhaps oral medication for nausea? Suppositories for diarhea?Thomas - So, it's ok to use MJ if a rich nazi-collaborating pharmaceutical company processes it first but jail the sick and dying if they choose to go organic or can't afford it?Dickey - Gateway? Don't stop at MJ, outlaw air, the biggest baddest gateway on God's green earth. Opens the door to ALL sorts of bugaboos.Moody - Prisons too comfortable? Why stop at shutting off air conditioning? Take a cue from some middle eastern countries and require the relatives and friends to provide the food for the inmates.I feel sorry for all the people of AK if these trailer-babies are all they have to choose from to represent them.But then again, look at our two candidates we have to choose from come November. (I know, I know, there are a few others, but come on , get real, do you really think that they have a chance? Sorry folks, there are only TWO candidates) My sympathies extend to all Amerikans.
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