cannabisnews.com: Souder Decries Evil Position of Medical-Marijuana Souder Decries Evil Position of Medical-Marijuana Posted by FoM on March 30, 2001 at 13:20:39 PT By Sylvia A. Smith, Washington Editor Source: Journal Gazette Suggestions that marijuana laws should be eased so people can use it to treat severe pain "sends an even more confusing and contradictory message to our kids," Rep. Mark Souder, R-4th, said Tuesday. Another congressman called it "lunacy."But during a House subcommittee hearing on the medical use of marijuana, a witness who endorses the idea said, "Sick people, as well as healthy people, should not be arrested and put in jail for smoking marijuana." Souder told the witness, Robert Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, that he is "an articulate advocate for an evil position."The Supreme Court will hear arguments today about whether federal laws can prevent marijuana from being given to seriously ill people to cope with pain.The case involves a marijuana-buying cooperative that was set up in Oakland, Calif., after California voters approved a law in 1996 that allows the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes on a doctor's recommendation.The federal government sued the cooperative and five other California clubs in 1998 to prevent them from distributing the drug. A federal judge ruled in favor of the government, but a federal appeals court ruled last year that "medical necessity" is a legal defense.The Supreme Court will consider whether medical necessity may be used as a defense against federal drug bans.If the justices agree, it would be easier to distribute medical marijuana in California and the eight other states with similar laws: Alaska, Arzona, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.The Justice Department argues that allowing clubs to hand out marjuana hampers enforcement of federal drug laws. Advocates say marijuana is a reliable and non-toxic therapy that in some cases is the only relief for suffering people.Souder introduced legislation last year to pre-empt state laws that allow medical use of marijuana. There were no hearings or votes on the legislation.At the time, Souder said if the people using marijuana were truly only alleviating pain, police state or federal would look the other way and that there's already an exemption for medicinal use if a person proves to the Department of Health and Human Services that it's necessary. At Tuesday's hearing, Souder said the idea of states passing their own laws about drug use makes no sense when the federal government already has done so."It leads to anarchy," he said.Kampia said the state laws that allow medicinal use of marijuana only apply to enforcement by state and local police, not federal officers."If the committee is afraid of state laws, I encourage you to encourage the (Drug Enforcement Agency) to arrest large numbers of cancer and AIDS patients," he said.Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., a physician before he entered Congress, said he treated the majority of cancer and AIDS patients in his home county."I have never seen a case where there was a medical indication for marijuana. . . . It's lunacy."Complete Title: Souder Decries `Evil Position' of Medical-Marijuana Advocates Source: Journal Gazette (IN)Author: Sylvia A. Smith Washington EditorPublished: Wednesday, March 28, 2001Copyright: 2001 Journal GazetteAddress: 600 W. Main Street, Ft. Wayne, IN. 46802Contact: mroeger jg.netWebsite: http://www.jg.net/jg/Feedback: http://www.jg.net/jg/emailform2.htmRelated Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org Marijuana Sparring Before Hearinghttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9177.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Mark Souderhttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=Mark+Souder Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #19 posted by New Mexican on March 31, 2001 at 12:14:38 PT Wheels of Fire Forever! DDDD...it's good to see someone knows where to go whenyou need inspiration! That album (as well as Disraeli Gearsgot me through the trying teenage times of 68/69.Eric Claptons birthday was yesterday (Mar 30th) soit's no surprise we're talking about him now! I also recommend Jethro Tull's Stand Up and Benefit. Music fromthe 60's was devinely inspired and will transport yourbeing to higher places, with or without the sacred herb.Most of this music was written, recorded and performedin altered states. A testament to cannabis and its' glories! [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by swampie on March 31, 2001 at 01:41:31 PT evil position I think that all of these people should be taken to a weekend retreat with alot of vaporizers and brownies at their own free will,and lots of food too,and they should try cannabis themselves!this would end alot of the misconceptions about our beloved herb!and they wouldnt have to do anything illegal if the president was there too!!if they want to drive,give them go-carts so they could see for themselves how "bad we really are"!!please understand,i'm not advocating DUI,but just trying to open some closed eyes.Let the media be there to record it,and put it on TVfor everyone to see.DONT KNOCK IT TILL YOU'VE TRIED IT!!!If they get sore from the go-carts,give them some more!!!!!!!NO PAIN,NO GAIN!!! PEACE [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by swampie on March 30, 2001 at 23:30:07 PT asinine 'corporate 'drug laws this whole mess is really getting out of hand!we really need to unite further on this issue,and get the antis to listen to some common sense.I,as well as many of you out there,have been using cannabis for most of my adult life and I am in no way addicted.alcohol and tobacco are far worse as we all know,but this bull these people are trying to feed everyone is just too tough to swallow!maybe we need another "Erin Brockovich"type movie to expose these pigs and propogandists for who they really are.maybe we should all go to washington and just lie down and surrender to them and tell them we are all criminals so we can overload the system...or just start sowing the good seed everywhere so they spray roundup all over amerikkka!!!!!! what a "free society we live in!!!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by swampie on March 30, 2001 at 23:29:29 PT asinine 'corporate 'drug laws this whole mess is really getting out of hand!we really need to unite further on this issue,and get the antis to listen to some common sense.I,as well as many of you out there,have been using cannabis for most of my adult life and I am in no way addicted.alcohol and tobacco are far worse as we all know,but this bull these people are trying to feed everyone is just too tough to swallow!maybe we need another "Erin Brockovich"type movie to expose these pigs and propogandists for who they really are.maybe we should all go to washington and just lie down and surrender to them and tell them we are all criminals so we can overload the system...or just start sowing the good seed everywhere so they spray roundup all over amerikkka!!!!!! what a "free society we live in!!!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by dddd on March 30, 2001 at 22:30:36 PT look at it this way This is a strange game,from the anti point of view.Is there anyone out there,who thinks that Souders comments,and arguments,are notthe strange rantings,and "puppet show"cacophonous ravings of a desperate freak?..Wellif that's what you think,,,,you are WRONG!.......Souder and his peers are speaking from awell defined,and officially approved podium of specifically influenced disinformation. We hear alot of talk from these people,but when push comes to shove,,no one's home.There has yet to be ANYONE!,,who will seriously discuss "drugs",from the anti side.We are talking ZERO,actual debate,or discussion......ZERO!!!!It's time to cut the CRAP,and have a reality check!!Is it not extremely disgusting that no discourse exsists?...I know that I'm not the only one who cant believe all that is happening,and I am alsoquite sure that I am not the only one who doesnt know what to do about it....We arethe mouse,who is battling a mega monster,,we are drag racing a new Lexus,with anold Yugo!..It's getting hard to tell if we are just getting closer to further distancingourselves from trying to scream sanity into a new and strangely bizarre world ofbig weirdness,,and even bigger money.I will admit to all,that I wrote this while DRUNK!,,,and I just listened to a classic albumby The Cream.....Wheels of Fire....I hope no one minds if I highly recommend it.It's evenbetter after all these years....I gotta go now,because it seem I have misplaced one ofmy classic Jethro Tull items.....someday,,,all old hippies will all die....but they will never be DEADPlease accept my apologies for the slatheringly abstract commentary.........I'm gonna takemy dog for a walk now......My dog is equal in I.Q. to G.W.Bush,but he doesnt use what littleintellect he has for evil.......If someone were to make a GW Bush sock puppet,and triedto make it look like he was real,,,it would be quite akward to convince everyone that he wasnt a joke,,,,,,,yet it seems as if this is the new fabric of reality....my apologies....foolishly posted....dont tell the kids....ddddrunk [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by MDG on March 30, 2001 at 20:22:16 PT The sooner, the better. As soon as a Libertarian becomes President, I'll scream "Hallelujah!" from the top of the nearest building/steeple/mountain I can find. Hell, I'll probably be in such a good mood that I'd just float around in the sky.For anyone living in Massachusetts, please encourage Carla Howell to run for Governor.Mike......with the earth far below them, they'd tumble and dive through the clouds... Massachusetts press wonders: Carla Howell for governor? [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by Ben Cohn on March 30, 2001 at 19:14:28 PT: States' Rights? "At Tuesday's hearing, Souder said the idea of states passing their own laws about drug use makes no sense when the federal government already has done so.'It leads to anarchy,' he said."Once again, the Republicans demonstrate that their concept of States' Rights is the right of the states to do whatever the federal Republicans tell them to do.Everything else, is of course, "anarchy."Please, vote LP.BC Real supporters of State's Rights (and yours, too!) [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by Jeaneous on March 30, 2001 at 18:51:04 PT: I agree I agree with you MDG,Such a fuss over a plant that grows freely without man's "planting". For this government to brainwash so many to believe this plant is so dangerous is silly. Children believe what they are told. If they are raised with knowledge, then you give them freedom. If they are raised with fear of knowledge you cage them. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by sm247 on March 30, 2001 at 18:44:54 PT Poll !! I would like to thank FOM for posting this article out of the Journel Gazette which is "harry's" hometown paper hehehe I would like to add that they are doing a poll Their question is ..."Should the Supreme Court approve the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes?"please call219-424-1414 ext. 1893 then press 1 for yes or 2 for noafter which you may leave a brief comment please include some god addy's like cannabisnews.com or www.pot-tv.net norml.org .... be sure an say hi to Harry too !!!!!!! This poll ends at 8am monday EST [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by MDG on March 30, 2001 at 18:31:13 PT Come on guys, you know it's dangerous! Ignorance propagated by fools, that is. If one were to think about it, the mere idea that a person could go to jail for growing a plant is absolutely proposterous. I mean, for the love of God, it's a plant/herb, not a nuclear bomb!Mike...FoM, did you by chance catch the links I left about the Medical Privacy urgency? In case you had, thanks in advance. I just hadn't looked around here yet today. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by Dave Baughman on March 30, 2001 at 17:14:40 PT: "The Right Message" I too am tired of the "giving our children the wrong message" crap. It's time they heard the truth and notall of the false propaganda the government spin doctors dish out. The "Right message" should be that our government has been wrong for over 70 years on the potissue and they don't want to admit guilt. Could theypossibly be wrong about other issues? Kids find out thatpot isn't harful, well then what about crack or heroin.Please stop the madness! [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by mayan on March 30, 2001 at 16:19:07 PT Confusing Message? I'm so sick of the "wrong message to the kids" phrase. It has been run into the ground. It sends the right message to let people use medicines which give them an appetite,hold their food down,ease their naseau & keep them "ALIVE"!!! This IS a matter of life & death for a lot of people. The anti's underestimate the intelligence of the children & the children know they are being lied to. What kind of message does it send to favor the will of the pharmaceutical companies over the will of the people? [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by ras james rsifwh on March 30, 2001 at 15:53:53 PT NEW ACT TEST 420. Sounds like "Souder" is a _________________......(A) jerk........... (D) dumb f**k..........................(B) hypocrite...... (E) drinker............................(C) Republican..... (F) answers a, b, c, d, and e..... [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by RAS JAMES RSIFWH on March 30, 2001 at 15:37:45 PT REPUBLICAN MARK SOUDER Souder! What is the message the Republican Party is sending to young people when it accepted $8,000,000.00 from Big Tobacco? Tobacco killed over 400,000 American citizens last year, and addicted 1,000,000 young people last year.Cannabis Sativa has never killed anyone...so what are you saying Souder? THE NEW ACT TEST420. Sounds like Souder is a ____________________________? a. jerk d. dumb f**k b. hypocrite e. drinker c. Republican f. letters a, b, c, d, and e [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by jAHn on March 30, 2001 at 15:32:08 PT "Mad Dog" Souder OK! You're Officially Whacked out of your Mind! White people running around in White Sheets isn't Anarchaic? The Ku Klux Klan can Adopt-A-Highway, but if a Pot-Smoker wants to, it's not Ok??? Someone (Souder) doesn't have any focking clue that Anarchy has been Prevailent in America for Centuries, Stoopid!!! I wonder which side he favors??? [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by naciremA... on March 30, 2001 at 15:27:48 PT Souder, you effing NUT!,What does.. ..The Unconstitutional Implementation of George W. Bush equal??? Anarchaic patterns of Society?? nope, not here! Not amerikkka! Sheep Herding L I A R !!! You're making us ALL suffer you CREEPY human!!!Mark "Harry" Souder is a Racist and Unthoughtful person who NEEDS to undergo some serious treatment! [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Paul Schreer on March 30, 2001 at 14:58:47 PT: Contradiction??? Cogressman Mark Souder is the lunatic! I agree with the first commentor - He needs to sit down & shut up...or get educated on the subject. Washington as a whole needs to wake up and smell their own hipocracy...they are the ones fueling the contradictions on this subject. They are the ones being paid off by the legal American drug cartels, like Phizer and Squibb etc. Our government needs to admit its' mistake, stop jailing people for growing a plant and get their unjust laws off our backs.Everyone on the Supreme Court, with the exception of Clarence, is over 60 years old and obviously out of touch with the population as a whole. The people have spoken in California and other states. This government is supposed to be of by and for the people. We have lost our representation. We are losing our freedom.I could go on and on but I'll stop for now...Peace to all the freedom fighters in the world...we shall overcome!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on March 30, 2001 at 13:42:15 PT: Another Authority Speaks "Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., a physician before he entered Congress, said he treated the majority of cancer and AIDS patients in his home county. "I have never seen a case where there was a medical indication for marijuana. . . . It's lunacy."He's wrong. Had he been open to it, and not so incredibly judgmental, his patients would have told him the benefits that they derived from cannabis. I do not know what his specialty was, but it sounds to me that he has fallen for the propaganda, and has had little exposure to the positive literature on the subject. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by meagain on March 30, 2001 at 13:37:13 PT Souder go home Mark souder is lying just like Harry anslinger wonder if they are long lost relatives ??we are renaming souder lol Mark "harry" Souder Someone should tell souder to sit down and shut up [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: