cannabisnews.com: Veto Lacks Compassion





Veto Lacks Compassion
Posted by CN Staff on June 21, 2007 at 07:22:39 PT
Editorial
Source: The Day
Hartford, CT -- Gov. M Jodi Rell should have signed the medical marijuana bill into law. Her reluctance to do so was understandable. Such prominent medical groups as the American Medical Association, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the American Cancer Society have opposed using smoked marijuana as medicine.And the law provides no legal means for patients to get the drug. It will not be provided in pharmacies.
But those drawbacks are trumped by compassion. Numerous patients suffering from chronic or terminal diseases testified to the legislature that smoking marijuana was the only thing that provided them satisfactory relief without debilitating side effects.It is cruel to deny someone who is suffering a relatively benign drug to ease his or her pain. The bill limited legal possession to within private living quarters and restricted its use for specific circumstances — spinal injuries, glaucoma, Parkinson's disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy.Doctors and caregivers prescribing or helping provide and administer the drug would have been protected from state prosecution.The nation has a long incogruous history with the drug. Alcohol, a highly addictive, more dangerous drug is legal and widely marketed. Another addictive drug that is rolled and smoked, tobacco, is also legal. Our state and federal governments are highly dependent on revenues produced by these legal recreational drugs.But marijuana remains illegal and so unregulated, yet easily attainable by young people as well as adults. Criminal elements are the only beneficiaries of the revenues raised.Allowing people in pain to use the drug without fear of arrest is a reasonable moderation in the public policy on the use of marijuana. But, unfortunately, Gov. Rell's veto has probably derailed the proposal for the rest of her term as governor. Source: Day, The (CT)Published: June 21, 2007Copyright: 2007 The Day Publishing Co.Contact: editor theday.comWebsite: http://www.theday.com/Related Articles: Both Sides See Hope In Marijuana Debate http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23100.shtml Rell Delivers Veto On Bill To Allow For Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23098.shtml
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Comment #11 posted by Hope on June 21, 2007 at 19:33:54 PT
Fed dread, for Gov. Rell
is greater than the fear of God. Maybe the Fed is her god, for all I know.Whoo hoo, Rhode Island! Patriots of the free United States!
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Comment #10 posted by mayan on June 21, 2007 at 16:32:18 PT
The Headline
It should have read, "Veto Exposes Rell's Heart of Stone."
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Comment #9 posted by afterburner on June 21, 2007 at 15:33:20 PT
Amen
Thank you, Rhode Island!
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on June 21, 2007 at 15:15:15 PT
Press Release from MPP
Rhode Island Resoundingly Endorses Permanent Medical Marijuana Law***June 21, 2007Huge Veto Override Comes as Congress Prepares to Consider Medical MarijuanaPROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — With the U.S. House of Representatives expected to consider a medical marijuana amendment within weeks, Rhode Island legislators have resoundingly overridden a gubernatorial veto to make that state's medical marijuana law permanent. Today's 58-11 House vote follows a 29-4 Senate vote to override on Wednesday.Rhode Island's original medical marijuana law – also passed over a veto by Gov. Donald Carcieri (R) – had a one-year sunset clause, and was due to expire June 30."The fact that this override passed by an even larger margin than the original override last year says everything you need to know about how well the law has worked, and how completely uncontroversial it's been," said Ray Warren, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C."Thanks to this law, I have safe and legal access to my medicine, and I'm relieved that it's going to be permanent," said Bobby Ebert of Warwick, who uses medical marijuana to treat symptoms of AIDS."Our legislature has stood with the scientific and medical community to ensure that I and hundreds of other seriously ill Rhode Islanders don't have to live in fear," said Rhonda O'Donnell, R.N., a multiple sclerosis patient who was the first to sign up for Rhode Island's program. "But the job won't be finished until every patient in every state who needs medical marijuana has complete protection. It's time for every state legislature and the U.S. Congress to change cruel and unscientific laws that criminalize the sick."The override heartened medical marijuana supporters in Washington, D.C., where the House of Representatives will soon vote on an amendment to bar the U.S. Department of Justice from interfering with state medical marijuana laws. "This vote helps show members of Congress that medical marijuana simply is no longer controversial, and not an issue they need to fear supporting," said MPP director of government relations Aaron Houston.With more than 23,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit: http://www.MarijuanaPolicy.org 
 http://www.mpp.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=glKZLeMQIsG&b=1157875&ct=3998781
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Comment #7 posted by goblet on June 21, 2007 at 11:22:11 PT:
AMA position - 
using the AMAs' position is a nothing but a cowardly and weak excuse - here it is:
http://tinyurl.com/yr5noc(1) Our AMA calls for further adequate and well-controlled studies of marijuana and related cannabinoids in patients who have serious conditions for which preclinical, anecdotal, or controlled evidence suggests possible efficacy and the application of such results to the understanding and treatment of disease. (2) Our AMA recommends that marijuana be retained in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act pending the outcome of such studies. (3) Our AMA urges the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to implement administrative procedures to facilitate grant applications and the conduct of well-designed clinical research into the medical utility of marijuana. This effort should include: a) disseminating specific information for researchers on the development of safeguards for marijuana clinical research protocols and the development of a model informed consent on marijuana for institutional review board evaluation; b) sufficient funding to support such clinical research and access for qualified investigators to adequate supplies of marijuana for clinical research purposes; c) confirming that marijuana of various and consistent strengths and/or placebo will be supplied by the National Institute on Drug Abuse to investigators registered with the Drug Enforcement Agency who are conducting bona fide clinical research studies that receive Food and Drug Administration approval, regardless of whether or not the NIH is the primary source of grant support. (4) Our AMA believes that the NIH should use its resources and influence to support the development of a smoke-free inhaled delivery system for marijuana or delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to reduce the health hazards associated with the combustion and inhalation of marijuana. (5) Our AMA believes that effective patient care requires the free and unfettered exchange of information on treatment alternatives and that discussion of these alternatives between physicians and patients should not subject either party to criminal sanctions. (CSA Rep. 10, I-97; Modified: CSA Rep. 6, A-01) 
#4 sounds like they almost approve...just use a volcano or hotbox vaporizer, or one of these: http://www.alexza.com/novel/novel.php
AMA policy on Cannabis
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Comment #6 posted by mai_bong_city on June 21, 2007 at 10:09:31 PT
or is it...
connecticutian?
like liliputian?power to their people, however it's pronounced!
mbc
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Comment #5 posted by mai_bong_city on June 21, 2007 at 10:06:49 PT
and i thought my governor sucked.
the new christy minstrels was just on radio, the song - 'green, green'.
i'm singing it for every single sick connecticutan.
the governor should be ashamed of herself.
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Comment #4 posted by MikeEEEEE on June 21, 2007 at 08:23:22 PT
compa$$ion comes at a price 
This govt. has not shown compassion, unless you're Exxonmobil or Halliburton.Today I learned 14 more brave souls have lost their lives.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070621/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraqI would like to see bush and his cronies on the front lines.
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Comment #3 posted by Sam Adams on June 21, 2007 at 08:13:02 PT
Experts
This issue just shows that any American institution can be corrupted. Why would the American Cancer Society be against smoked MJ for cancer victims? Cannabis has now been proven, firmly, to NOT cause lung cancer. It's never been shown to cause any other cancers. It's cheap, safe, and effective - proven time and time again in clinical studies as an effective anti-nausea and pain medication.Ditto for the MS society and the doctors (no surprise there). Follow the money. Who funds their budget & employees? Go looking and I'll bet you'll find Big Pharm.Follow your own heart and experience, that's the message. There's no expert more important than you. There's no study more important than your personal study of n=1.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on June 21, 2007 at 07:58:02 PT
dongenero 
Thank you. I voted.
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Comment #1 posted by dongenero on June 21, 2007 at 07:48:11 PT
Poll on Rell's veto
http://archive.theday.com/re.aspx?re=878c09da-db0f-419f-9bd6-81925f80d266Was Gov. Rell right to veto medical marijuana bill?Yes - 56
No - 177Just from previous public polls we all know how this vote will go. Yet, the politicians feel a need to deny the will of The People.
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