cannabisnews.com: Pot For Patients 





Pot For Patients 
Posted by FoM on May 16, 2001 at 10:23:17 PT
Editorial
Source: Boston Globe
Efforts to make marijuana use legal for reducing pain and nausea in patients suffering devastating diseases were dealt a setback Monday when the Supreme Court ruled 8-0 that federal narcotics law permitted no exemption for medicinal use. The ruling specifically referred to an Oakland, Calif., cooperative that distributed marijuana for this purpose. Lawyers were unsure of the impact on individuals' use or on distribution by a state government, which Maine and Nevada are considering.
But there is a straightforward way for Congress to end the uncertainty and let states set their own courses. Lawmakers could pass the bill sponsored by Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank, which would put marijuana in the category of controlled substances that do have a medical purpose, such as morphine, and can legally be used with a doctor's prescription. Under Frank's bill, the nine states that have given marijuana this status in their own laws (there will be a hearing on such legislation in the Massachusetts House tomorrow) would no longer be in the legal limbo that the conflict with federal law has created. Other states could adopt this approach or continue to ban marijuana for all purposes.If Congress passed the Frank bill, it might just get the approval of President George Bush. As Justice John Paul Stevens noted, Bush in 1999 said he was opposed to legalizing marijuana for medical use but also said, ''I believe each state can choose that decision as they so choose.'' Advocates of the medicinal use of marijuana were encouraged by the 1999 report of the prestigious Institute of Medicine, a private, nonprofit agency chartered by Congress to provide policy advice, which found that the drug could be useful in treating patients with cancer, AIDS, and other diseases. The report, which said there was no evidence that marijuana is a ''gateway'' to harder drugs, predicted that its future as a medicine would be in the development of pharmaceuticals or other delivery systems, such as a vaporizer, that used marijuana's active ingredients.The institute had studied the issue at the behest of President Clinton's drug czar, Barry R. McCaffrey, who was concerned by the trend of states adopting medicinal-use laws. The study called for more study of the effect of marijuana's active ingredients on pain and nausea. Such study has been limited not just by the federal ban and the government's reluctance to supply a source of the drug, but also by the fact that it is not patentable and no pharmaceutical company will reap profits from developing it.The Frank bill calls on the National Institute of Drug Abuse to make marijuana available for study under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.There are many legal drugs physicians can recommend for pain and nausea. But if some patients find marijuana best for their needs, politicians should not stand in their way.This story ran on page 14 of the Boston Globe on 5/16/2001. Source: Boston Globe (MA)Published: May 16, 2001Copyright: 2001 Globe Newspaper CompanyContact: letter globe.comWebsite: http://www.boston.com/globe/Related Articles & Web Sites:Congressman Barney Frankhttp://www.house.gov/frank/welcome.htmFor Some, Cannabis is Balm http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9750.shtmlPot Backers Call for Reeferendum http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9472.shtmlO.C.B.C. Versus The U.S. Government News http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/mj.htmCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on May 16, 2001 at 11:30:51 PT
Easier Yet! - Take Action!
Support Medical Marijuana We are supporting H.R. 1344, a bill to allow states to pass pro-medical marijuana laws without federal interference. Write Congress to Help Make Medical Marijuana Legalhttp://www.stopthedrugwar.org/medicalmarijuana/
Medical Marijuana Information
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Comment #2 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on May 16, 2001 at 10:54:14 PT:
I'll make it even easier:
Check out:http://congress.org/and use their search engine to find your representatives based on Zip code. They'll even send a letter for you. Please resist the temptation to use the E-mail option. A few trees may need to lay down their lives for the sake of hemp in our future! A personal letter plus stamp is best. It's in your hands now.
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on May 16, 2001 at 10:39:51 PT:
Anonymous Finally Gets It Right
The path is clear. An available method for dealing with the clinical cannabis issue is present. Barney Frank has a bill filed that could end the controversy, at least allowing patients and doctors to make decisions as to whether to use or not use this venerable medication.I would suggest that each and every cannabisnews.com reader write to your Congressperson and suggest that they co-sponsor this legislation: H.R.1344, which makes cannabis Schedule II, and allowable for prescription under the rules of the states themselves.I would then have you write to your senators and request them to sponsor similar legislation in the Senate.I would then write to President Bush, and request he make a public statement in support of such legislation.I would then suggest you contact all your state and municipal representatives and urge them to draft reasonable local statutes.A lot of work, huh? Not really. If you are reading this, you have computer access, and likely an available word processing program. You can easily draft one letter and adapt it slightly to personalize each additional one. Then, for the price of a few stamps, your legislators will know that you care deeply about the issue. They will be less likely to thwart their constituency when they realize that a majority feel as we do, and not as they have postured. Democracy is cumbersome, and frequently elitist and unresponsive. However, it is the best available system, and it is certainly time for it to work for us. We all deserve sutiable cahnge in the law, but need to work for it just a little harder and a little longer. Can you say, "Freedom!" Make it your mantra.
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