cannabisnews.com: Committee To Hear Medicinal Marijuana Testimony





Committee To Hear Medicinal Marijuana Testimony
Posted by CN Staff on June 08, 2006 at 08:01:26 PT
By Tom Baldwin, Gannett State Bureau
Source: Asbury Park Press
Trenton, NJ -- TV personality Montel Williams, who says he daily breaks the law by medicating himself with marijuana, presaged emotionally charged testimony expected today when New Jersey, for the first time, considers allowing prescribed pot."I break the law every day. I will continue to break the law every day," a sometimes teary Williams told reporters at a Statehouse news conference where the Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey — which supports medical marijuana — issued results of a poll it commissioned which showed support for their positions.
Today the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee will hear testimony, but not vote, on a proposal to allow seriously ill patients to possess one ounce of marijuana and six marijuana plants, if their doctor recommends it. The state would oversee the program and issue registration cards. In the poll, provided those specific descriptions of the rules, 71 percent of registered voters approved.One sponsor is Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, who is a onetime prosecutor. "These people are not a threat to society," he said. "We owe it to them to adopt a policy that places a premium on compassion and relief."The Assembly version is jointly sponsored by two of the more liberal and more conservative lawmakers. Assemblyman Michael Carroll, R-Morris, usually stands spheres to the right of Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer, but not on this issue."There is no such thing as an evil plant," Carroll says, noting medicines have always come from plants and that a decision to prescribe should be made by a doctor."It does not make sense for many of New Jersey's citizens to suffer when there is a viable way to ease their pain," Gusciora said.Scutari said he felt the intent of the law was being trivialized by critics who suggested backers hoped to legalize recreational marijuana through a "back door." "Let's open a dialogue," Scutari said."The governor says that he will sign the bill, if it gets to him," he added.Williams fought back tears as he described how marijuana eases night-and-day pain caused by multiple sclerosis, which the 49-year-old said he was diagnosed with years ago. Snipped:Complete Article: http://tinyurl.com/kzu2oSource: Asbury Park Press (NJ)Author: Tom Baldwin, Gannett State BureauPublished: June 8, 2006Copyright: 2006 Asbury Park PressContact: yourviews app.comWebsite: http://www.app.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:CMMNJ http://www.cmmnj.orgThe Cherylheart Foundationhttp://www.cherylheart.org/ A Compassionate Solutionhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21893.shtmlMontel Williams Joins Push for NJ MMJ Lawhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21891.shtmlLegalize It? N.J. Weighs Medicinal Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21886.shtml 
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Comment #14 posted by afterburner on June 09, 2006 at 23:58:38 PT
RE #11 & 12
{David Evans, a spokesman for the Drug Free School Coalition, agreed.{"I have a lot of compassion for sick and dying people," Evans said. "But what I'm angry about is using sick people to further legalization of marijuana."{A cancer survivor himself, Evans says there are several legal medication already available for truly ill individuals. He also contends that prolonged marijuana use can actually do more harm than good, citing testimony from a 2005 Connecticut judiciary hearing asserting that smoked marijuana can affect the lungs' ability to defend themselves from infection.}
--Trenton Is Next Battleground in Marijuana Fight.
Sunday, May 14, 2006.
by Kim Predham, Staff Writer,
Ocean County Observer.
TOMS RIVER, NJ 
http://www.hemp.net/news/?article=1147968943David - Catharina: father - daughter?{David G. Evans of the Drug-Free School Coalition of Flemington said his opposition to the bill "is really a consumer protection issue.{"We don't allow any other home-grown drug to be used. Plus, the science just doesn't back it up," he said.}
--MMJ Hearing Pits Talk Show Host, Drug Officials
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/21/thread21899.shtml"Bishop David G. Evans is the pastor/teacher of the Bethany Baptist Church in Lindenwold, New Jersey and Prelate of the Abundant Harvest Fellowship of Churches."
http://abundantharvest.com/bishopevans/Is this the same David G. Evans?
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Comment #13 posted by mai_bong_city on June 09, 2006 at 06:18:10 PT
hiya' Max
when what to my wondering eyes should appear!
it's kina' funny, i was at the eye doc yesterday and they were talkin' about 'peeling' off the cataracts that are forming.....and then i open my banana-baby-blues this morning and blink.....
my irish eyes are smiling indeed.
birds of a feather - it is so nice flocking with you all!
many thanks, much peace, tears of joy..
mbc
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Comment #12 posted by runderwo on June 08, 2006 at 23:17:32 PT
afterburner
Good catch. I bet that 'Evans' personality is just a plant and not a real person at all.
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Comment #11 posted by afterburner on June 08, 2006 at 21:21:00 PT
#1: Are These 2 Prohibitionists Related?
"Marijuana is intoxicating. There's no surprise that sincere people report feeling better after taking it. They may be feeling better, but they're not getting better," said Catharina *Evans* --APP.COM - Committee to hear medicinal marijuana testimony | Asbury Park Press Online
http://tinyurl.com/kzu2o"Marijuana is intoxicating, so it's not surprising that sincere people report relief of their symptoms when they smoke it. They may be feeling better -- but they are not actually getting better. They may even be getting worse due to the detrimental effects of marijuana." said David *Evans* --A dose of bad medicine. North Jersey Media Group Inc.
http://tinyurl.com/s6byg
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Comment #10 posted by whig on June 08, 2006 at 18:09:03 PT
mayan
Please don't say that, even though I know you're being ironic. They would very quickly put Montel in a cage if they didn't know how much negative publicity it would generate for themselves. He is Spartacus to them. This is a slave uprising to them. This is their plantation (as they see it) and pot makes the workers disobedient, which they call "lazy." If it helps some people who are in pain, who are suffering from diseases which it treats, it is a small matter compared to the complete loss of their power that they would have if a majority of people had cannabis.The last time that happened the British were in charge. Do you think it's an accident Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and so many others of the revolutionaries were cannabis farmers?Give us some pot, man. Give us some pot. Is it too much to ask? We aren't looking to fight. We don't want a war. We just want to be free.
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Comment #9 posted by mayan on June 08, 2006 at 17:28:49 PT
Jail Montel
He's a criminal! Cage him!!! Just because his life is now bearable doesn't mean he's getting better!
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Comment #8 posted by global_warming on June 08, 2006 at 13:00:27 PT
Sincere people
Should not be treated as criminals, especially when they are trying to help someone in the depths of pain and dieing, they should be an inspiration to all of us, they should not have to hide in the shadows for helping their loved ones.
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Comment #7 posted by global_warming on June 08, 2006 at 12:56:53 PT
Then why are they allowing idiots to testify?
Makes you wonder, just what are they hearing?
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Comment #6 posted by Sam Adams on June 08, 2006 at 12:35:42 PT
Cathy
I love the paper's retort to her though!"Marijuana is intoxicating. There's no surprise that sincere people report feeling better after taking it. They may be feeling better, but they're not getting better," said Catharina Evans, whose father is a cancer survivor.Evans acknowledged, in response to a question, that there are a number of drugs prescribed as painkillers that don't cure illnesses.In other words, yes, she's basically an idiot. If you want to know the editor's opinion on an issue, always check the last paragraph.
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Comment #5 posted by global_warming on June 08, 2006 at 12:35:16 PT
wonder
how those hearings are going, I can just imagine, the drug warriors are beating the same old tired drum, it has a high potential for abuse, the message to the children and of course that oldie but goody, the FDA has not approved it, and maybe someone will say, we need to do more testing to see if anything bad might happen.Something bad happened a long time ago, when people like the Anshitters and Duponts decided to muscle in their brand of legislation, and now look at this problem, millions of human beings in prisons in this insane drug war, the jailers and judges are lined up to take a piece of human flesh in this insane war on people.Listening to a morning talk show, that is available on-line, I heard people call in with some of the most tragic stories, men, women and children with horrible cancer, having exhausted every legal mean possible, had to turn to the streets to get Cannabis, they felt like criminals trying to get some relief to their loved ones, imagine that, here in America, a New World that was built on the principals of Freedom and Justice.Can we, as alleged civilized human beings ever grow enough to see the futility of this madness?End the prohibition of Cannabis Today.
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Comment #4 posted by Max Flowers on June 08, 2006 at 12:15:41 PT
mai bong city
A little bird has told me that something nice is about to manifest for you... keep your eyes peeled... (that phrase always sounded weird to me..."peeled eyes" sound painful!)
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Comment #3 posted by runderwo on June 08, 2006 at 09:50:32 PT
relief
Whether pain is relieved is obviously subjective, but nausea, wasting, spasticity, blood pressure, and immune response can all be measured externally. These people that try to use anti-painkiller arguments against marijuana, thinking they have some kind of smug point about how people should buck up and deal with the pain because it's only in the patient's head, are only demonstrating their ignorance as to the range of medical effects it has. Playing doctor, as it were. 
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Comment #2 posted by Max Flowers on June 08, 2006 at 08:32:23 PT
Clueless, heartless Catharina
That's a very ignorant statement she made there. If a patient perceives relief from pain, nausea, spasticity, or whatever by using cannabis, then in no uncertain medical terms, that treatment is worth doing for the sake of that relief. I am amazed over and over again by people's inability to grasp that simple fact because they are blinded by their fear and hatred for a plant.So is she saying that when her father had cancer and had pain and nausea, since cannabis would have made him "feel better but not get better," she would deny him that relief if he wanted it? What a cruel person. Who died and made her the expert on what relief during illness means to the rest of humanity??
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Comment #1 posted by global_warming on June 08, 2006 at 08:20:52 PT
So Lets Lock Them Up,
and throw away the key."Marijuana is intoxicating. There's no surprise that sincere people report feeling better after taking it. They may be feeling better, but they're not getting better," said Catharina Evans, whose father is a cancer survivor.Catharina neglects to mention, in medicine the doctors have done their best, there are no more accepted drugs you can give a person, nothing works..they have exhausted everything that science, the FDA and medicine have to offer, so why not?
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