cannabisnews.com: The Moral High Ground The Moral High Ground Posted by CN Staff on December 04, 2006 at 07:15:55 PT Opinion Source: Michigan Daily Michigan -- The fight to reverse Michigan's ban on medicinal marijuana is understandable given that the drug has been used as such for thousands of years. Eleven states have already legalized its use for the treatment of serious medical conditions - and with good reason.It is widely accepted that marijuana may prevent blindness in glaucoma patients and can ease appetite loss among patients suffering from AIDS or undergoing chemotherapy. It is also a cheap, safe and risk-free painkiller. The state and federal governments need to recognize what many already do - medicinal marijuana can be a legitimate alternative to more addictive and risky drugs. It is disappointing that a recent bill proposing to legalize the use of marijuana in Michigan by those with debilitating medical conditions failed in a state House committee. Despite its lack of mainstream acceptance, there is no reason to criminalize marijuana use for chronically ill patients seeking pain. How can the state government callously deny it to elderly cancer patients? How can the state deny patients a drug that can lessen the effects of chemotherapy and diminish the violent nausea that some pills can induce? Marijuana is hardly different from the vast number of legally prescribed drugs, like morphine and Vicodin, that are routinely abused. It is time for our state government to look past the stigma surrounding marijuana and recognize its possibilities.The Food and Drug Administration argues that there is no sound evidence to support the safety and effectiveness of medicinal marijuana. But the lack of scientific studies is the fault of strict federal guidelines that force researchers to jump through years of hurdles to obtain a small amount of marijuana from the one legal marijuana farm in the country for research. And it's not even good marijuana - a 2005 New York Times guest editorial piece described it as "notoriously weak and poorly manicured." It is no surprise that conducting research is so hard. A victory for medicinal marijuana would look like a loss for the federal government's misguided war on drugs. And more important, it would deal a blow to the pharmaceutical companies that are no doubt pressuring the federal and state governments against legalization. But don't be misled. These drug companies aren't taking the moral high ground; they're responding to a real fear that if medicinal marijuana is legalized, their profit margins could fall as patiens and doctors flock to the cheaper and safer alternative.The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that Congress can supersede state governments to enforce the federal ban on marijuana. However, legalizing medicinal marijuana on the state level will undoubtedly lower the priority placed on medicinal marijuana by local law enforcement and legitimize its use as a medical treatment for the sick. In addition, as more states legalize the medicinal use of marijuana, the federal government would be forced to review its position - and maybe even more generally its costly and counterproductive war on drugs. Come January, the state Legislature should re-examine this issue and lift the ban.Note: State should allow medicinal marijuana use.Source: Michigan Daily (MI Edu)Published: December 4, 2006Copyright: 2006 The Michigan DailyContact: daily.letters umich.eduWebsite: http://www.michigandaily.com/ Related Article:Medicinal Marijuana To Be Core of Hearinghttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22410.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #33 posted by whig on December 06, 2006 at 21:08:44 PT Toker00 It will be some time before the bakers have enough to feed everyone, but I am supposed to start teaching next week in San Francisco.I will tell you it isn't very hard if you just have patience. A little flour, water, oil, honey and sea salt with fine herbs to season. You can make your own without help, I always post my ingredients and eventually pictures get posted -- but not here, elsewhere.Just search on google for how to make sourdough. Let me know if you have questions. [ Post Comment ] Comment #32 posted by Toker00 on December 06, 2006 at 09:28:37 PT whig Hey dude, I would really like to try that bread. I come here hungry, and I read how you and GW are making all this bread, and my stomach is growling right now! No, I'm not broke, I could Dine with Wine, if I chose. But, I would prefer to Dine with Kine. Get me some of that bread, whig. Any way you can. I'm waiting. I know you can't, so I'm just gonna have to make it here. You have to understand I'm a Toker not a Baker. I may choose to overuse some Key (One Kilo?) ingredient. Maybe I just better buy a Volcano.Toke. [ Post Comment ] Comment #31 posted by whig on December 05, 2006 at 22:31:40 PT Toker00 My plan is to feed the world, by teaching how to make and share bread. It is a simple enough plan, which can hardly be called a non-starter. I have to feed my own family too, and my sister will have bread to eat tomorrow. What we eat, passes through us and into our environment, and causes changes we cannot understand.I know those who suffer, and bread has been shared, and more will be shared as more is made. [ Post Comment ] Comment #30 posted by whig on December 05, 2006 at 22:13:17 PT Toker00 Do you know how to reduce suffering?So do we all.We are offering the choice, and anyone can take what comfort they need, but to be safe in doing so you have few sanctuaries.I reiterate again in the event that it is not clear to some readers: San Francisco is a sanctuary city. We will survive the uncertain times to come, unless the earth should give way (always a theoretical possibility out here). [ Post Comment ] Comment #29 posted by whig on December 05, 2006 at 22:04:03 PT museman Rome never turned Christian, they just took the parts they could use and killed the dissenters. [ Post Comment ] Comment #28 posted by FoM on December 05, 2006 at 16:30:40 PT Toker00 Glad you liked it. I was hoping that my husband would set up his trains to run them but he isn't really into it this year. I believe we need to find joy in all that we can and we have been enjoying our first Christmas in our new living room. The two men that have worked on our house all summer haven't been back to finish up and it's been a couple of months so my husband went to see the one man and the other man is very ill. He worked so hard and is a great drywall person but he drinks beer frequently. He didn't drink on the job though. He got seriously sick just like that (he's in his mid 40s) and he was diagnosed with Cirrhosis of the Liver. Marijuana isn't legal and alcohol is. It drives me more then a little crazy. [ Post Comment ] Comment #27 posted by Toker00 on December 05, 2006 at 16:30:03 PT whig Yeah, well that was real close. I suppose any summer you find Love is a Summer of Love. Remember the movie: Summer of '42? Mine was the summer of '71. Oh well, I guess I'm thinking about a different kind of Love. What we need now is not only that kind of Love. What we had found back in the sixties/seventies was Love for Mankind. That is the Love we need back, NOW. Mankind doesn't even Like itself anymore, much less Love itself. We are ALL hurting, and we all need to HEAL. Love can heal your Heart the way Cannabis can heal your Body (includes your mind). When you have those two things Healthy, your Soul can achieve Happiness, or Natural balance.Toke. [ Post Comment ] Comment #26 posted by Toker00 on December 05, 2006 at 16:11:46 PT FoM Nice set up! Yours and his. That reminds me to pull out my hand made nativity scene that a friend in Arkansas made me a few years ago. It's all wood. The lady who made it for me is now in her seventies and lost her husband just this year. He was 81 and a fine Northern gentleman. I must stop by and see her if I am $$ able to take a trip this year.Toke. [ Post Comment ] Comment #25 posted by museman on December 05, 2006 at 09:35:16 PT Roman logic A lie is not a lie when a leader states it, it then becomes a 'state truth.'Once made, a political judgement -or law- is defended with all the resources at administrative command, regardless of it's unjust, immoral, or unethical aspects.The defenders of the state can do wrong only if the state itself finds internal or public cause to scapegoat a few designated losers.Facts and 'documentation' are considered the foundation of 'truth'. This gives new insight into Pontious Pilates question of Y'shua, "What is truth?" He too was an upright citizen and servant of Rome.The plebians (people) are not suited to rule, or to even rule themselves, but are like ingnorant children in need of stern guidance. The rulers of the state are born to their station, in other words God (or the gods) obviously made them the rulers because they were born with resource and afluence. The high moral ground is established in the prisons and jails, where the innocent suffer for the crimes of their rulers. The criminals still run free, riding high on the backs of the people, waving flags of false bravado, false patriotism, and false religion. The criminals own the show. The criminals have more voice because they can afford to pay for airtime. The criminals take great satisfaction in their domination of the meek, and their bullying of children in their schools and other institutions of programming.Rome never died, it just turned christian. [ Post Comment ] Comment #24 posted by museman on December 05, 2006 at 09:15:53 PT G_W "Is it only me?"No, but I sure know what you mean. [ Post Comment ] Comment #23 posted by FoM on December 05, 2006 at 09:05:11 PT Whig I didn't think they were hippies but it was a special year of awakening and love flowed freely. I wasn't a hippie either. I had a 3 year old son and was doing the thing people do when they start a family. I was a late bloomer and only found out about hippies etc in 72 but I will never forget seeing news about WoodStock on tv. It amazed me even back then and still does. [ Post Comment ] Comment #22 posted by whig on December 05, 2006 at 09:01:00 PT i didn't do it! :) that dupe just happened again. [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by whig on December 05, 2006 at 09:00:23 PT FoM My parents weren't hippies, though. My dad was already a practicing lawyer in a big city firm. [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by FoM on December 05, 2006 at 08:54:18 PT Whig What a year to be married. The year of WoodStock. [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by whig on December 05, 2006 at 08:51:39 PT Toker00 My parents were married in '69. So they call that the summer of love. [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by FoM on December 05, 2006 at 07:25:03 PT Toker00 I like that. Born Again Woodstockers.I tried to get a picture of our fiber optic tree but it doesn't show how pretty it is. Here is a picture of my husband's train and my houses. He was given the train the year he was born. That was 1950 so the train is 56 years old now.http://gallery.marihemp.com/Just-Our-Life/village [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by Toker00 on December 05, 2006 at 03:48:17 PT Born Again Woodstockers Look out World! The WSers are at the age when the Elders among us are entering their Second Hippiehood! What we brought you the first time will seem like an old people's Bingo game!It's time to have that Winter of Love in '07, like we had that Summer of Love, '67. Some would argue '68, but it's ALL LOVE. Don't you remember the special love we had for the World and each other back then, and the few short years it lasted? It's time to do it again. We are Wiser. We are Tougher. We tried to spread Love from the bottom up, now let's try it from the top down. Maybe it will meet in the middle. All we need is Love. We have Three Seasons to prepare.Wage Peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW! [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by FoM on December 04, 2006 at 19:32:17 PT Interesting Reading for the WoodStock Generation You Got to Speak Out Against the Madness! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-gerdy/you-got-to-speak-out-agai_b_35377.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by global_warming on December 04, 2006 at 16:55:19 PT Old Economy Can you see it? [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by Hope on December 04, 2006 at 16:49:56 PT Isn't it odd that we have to pay millions to "find out" the stuff that we've been saying for years and years and years is true? [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by whig on December 04, 2006 at 16:30:27 PT New economy The internet functions by karma economics. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by global_warming on December 04, 2006 at 16:23:30 PT I Hope You are all well and in some warm place, free people.Green People, and the hopelessly so lost, is it time?It is time [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by global_warming on December 04, 2006 at 16:03:53 PT re: money when you see our samenessyou will through your money to the windalong with your kissesfor they will be bonnetsto the son of man [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by FoM on December 04, 2006 at 15:48:29 PT global_warming That's how it is in political things too, I believe. What matters in our current climate is money. Money is of upmost importance and worth is determined by wealth. Hopefully we will see that change in the near future. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by global_warming on December 04, 2006 at 15:36:08 PT funny about hits, internet hits do not equal real hits [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by global_warming on December 04, 2006 at 15:08:30 PT re: the moral high ground "The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that Congress can supersede state governments to enforce the federal ban on marijuana. "Let me see, the pimps of justice say that the fattened whores opinion supersedes poor sick people from using a natural plant that eases their pain and discomfort.What a lovely world, so full of compassion and understanding, yes that check is in the mail, and my modern day constitutional rights are sacred and protected.Is it only me? That see's this filth and disgrace?Is it only me who wonders about Freedom?The Magna Charters and the American Constitution, are they merely some words on some faded parchment?Has all this human history and evolution been for nought?Surely there is some moment when something catches your eye, from the side, did you wonder what that was, were you becoming sick, was it the end for you?That was an ember, it is not in the forest, it is in your mind, closely connected to your Everlasting Soul.Look around, look up at the stars, so many untold stories, in this vast universe, and they are all the same, it is about you and me, how 'we come to our manifest destinyThere is one destiny, and every eye can see it, yes the check is in mail, be assured, your plate will be full, [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on December 04, 2006 at 09:46:26 PT whig The stats just aren't easy for me to figure out. I have a free stat counter on my FTE web site and I could answer your question if it worked like my personal page does. Ron Bennett a year or so ago said that we are at least 20 times bigger then the stats show on CNews. He said they don't count everything. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by whig on December 04, 2006 at 09:32:05 PT FoM Are those unique visitors or total hits? I know that when I'm commenting on a thread I might refresh it a dozen times or more over the course of the conversation.I know you said they had to do some changes to reduce your bandwidth but you should be able to get better statistics.Also, do you have a complete archive of everything on CNews preserved against loss? [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by paul armentano on December 04, 2006 at 09:20:36 PT Pot "Gateway" Theory Disputed by 12-Year Stud http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/uopm-ng120406.phpPublic release date: 4-Dec-2006 [ Print Article | E-mail Article | Close Window ] Contact: Kelli McElhinny McElhinnyKM upmc.edu 412-647-3555 University of Pittsburgh Medical CenterNo 'smoking' gun -- Research indicates teen marijuana use does not predict drug, alcohol abusePITTSBURGH, Dec. 4 -- Marijuana is not a “gateway” drug that predicts or eventually leads to substance abuse, suggests a 12-year University of Pittsburgh study. Moreover, the study’s findings call into question the long-held belief that has shaped prevention efforts and governmental policy for six decades and caused many a parent to panic upon discovering a bag of pot in their child’s bedroom. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/uopm-ng120406.php [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on December 04, 2006 at 08:45:06 PT ekim Thank you. All the years of doing CNews I could follow the stats easily. Now they are diced up and different so it's hard for me to figure out. I have to add things to come up with the total. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by ekim on December 04, 2006 at 08:32:52 PT what do you mean FoM-diced into so many pieces Since CNews has been downsized it is very hard for me to figure out the stats so I went ahead and tried to give you an idea of how we did on a few articles during the month of November. Here is the best I can do now since we have been diced into so many pieces.has this change affected the daily readers in any way.FoM you are doing a wonderful service for all thank you so much. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on December 04, 2006 at 08:01:09 PT Just a Note Since CNews has been downsized it is very hard for me to figure out the stats so I went ahead and tried to give you an idea of how we did on a few articles during the month of November. Here is the best I can do now since we have been diced into so many pieces.http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22361.shtml -- 4,772http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22346.shtml -- 3, 319http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22362.shtml -- 3, 241http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22366.shtml -- 2, 910http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22367.shtml -- 2 ,851http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22369.shtml -- 2, 640 [ Post Comment ] Post Comment