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| A Joint a Day Keeps Illness Away? |
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Posted by FoM on February 19, 2002 at 08:21:55 PT By Stephen Hunt, The Salt Lake Tribune Source: Salt Lake Tribune 
Searching for someone to sponsor a bill to legalize marijuana for medical use, Dennis Robert Peron has written letters to every member of the Utah Legislature. No one has responded yet, Peron said Monday during a rally on the Capitol steps. But the 55-year-old Californian -- who in 1996 drafted a similar bill in his home state -- believes Utah will eventually join nine other states that allow people with cancer, AIDS, glaucoma and other diseases to use marijuana to alleviate pain and nausea. Calling it a fight for democracy, Peron said: "I hope to empower a lot of people." Meanwhile, Peron is fighting criminal charges in Cedar City, where he and two friends were vacationing in November when they were busted for pot possession. "We brought our message to Utah kind of accidentally," quipped Peron, who is to be arraigned today before 5th District Judge Robert Braithwaite. Allegedly found in possession of nearly a pound of marijuana at a Cedar City motel, Peron and his two companions -- 37-year-old John Entwistle and 19-year-old Kasey Conder -- are each charged with third-degree felony drug possession with intent to distribute and possession of drug paraphernalia. A conviction on the felony carries a possible prison term of up to 5 years. Peron and Entwistle say they have used marijuana to cure their alcoholism. Conder said he uses it for depression. The three carry documents signed by California medical doctors approving their use of the drug. Peron said he plans to bring the doctor who prescribed marijuana for him to his preliminary hearing. Reed Morrill, who drove from Ogden to attend the rally, said he has treated his depression with marijuana for 20 years by smoking about "a joint a day." He said he prefers marijuana to prescription medications, which make him drowsy. "I did get my medication [marijuana] today," Morrill said. California's law, Proposition 215, allowed those with medical permits to obtain marijuana if they "grow their own" or establish unregulated "clubs" where marijuana can be procured without resorting to street purchases of black market pot. Peron founded San Francisco's Cannabis Cultivation Club and runs a 20-acre farm, of which about 1 1/2 acres is under marijuana cultivation. Entwistle, who emphasized that the co-op neither buys nor sells marijuana, said they produce enough for about 100 patients. Peron claimed medical marijuana patients don't get high from using the drug. "They become normal when they smoke marijuana," he said. Utah prosecutors say a May 2001 U.S. Supreme Court decision invalidated existing state medical marijuana laws, and prevents the creation of a Utah law. The high court's decision held that there is no exception to federal laws that forbid medical marijuana use. But Peron insists the fight is far from over. "States have a right to regulate things, otherwise why have states?" he said. Meanwhile, Peron said there has been no enforcement crackdown in California or other states that have legalized medical marijuana use. The May 2001 U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing marijuana for medical use reversed a 1999 ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling medical necessity can be a legal defense in marijuana cases. The federal government triggered the case in 1998, seeking an injunction against the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative and five other marijuana distributors, including Peron's co-op. Note: Californian Seeks Utah Pot Law. Source: Salt Lake Tribune (UT) Related Articles & Web Sites: Marijuana.org Medical Marijuana Information Links One Toke Over The Line Busted Tourist Vows To Fight Drug Charges Stirring The Pot - Sacramento News & Review Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #3 posted by Toker00 on February 19, 2002 at 12:38:27 PT |
| "Peron and Entwistle say they have used marijuana to cure their alcoholism. Conder said he uses it for depression." I have used it for thirty years for BOTH these reasons. At forty-seven, my father was a roaring alcoholic. Though, a sensible and intellegent man when sober, well...most of you know the horrors of alcoholism. He died at 64, from schlerosis (sp) of the liver. His heart was as strong as a forty year old. At forty-seven, I have my own business, good friends, wonderful family, and no desire to get drunk. But before I came to this plateau, I spent mamy years as a practicing alcoholic. Depressed to the point of taking Amitriptiline for three years. Then I remembered an old friend. I had smoked during my alcoholism, but haden't realized the rehabilitating qualities of Cannabis. Once I did, my life began to improve. This is not a testamony from a "druggie". I experimented but never continued use of hard drugs. This is a testamony like hundreds of thousands of others who benefit from this plant. End the HYPOCRACY. Man made beer. God made Cannabis. Who do you trust? Peace. Realize. then Legalize. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on February 19, 2002 at 09:26:03 PT:
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| I am not sure I read this correctly: "Meanwhile, Peron said there has been no enforcement crackdown in California or other states that have legalized medical marijuana use. "Are they going to haul cancer patients to jail?" he said. "I don't think so." This has to have been written before the recent crackdown on the 6th street club, and sat on someobody's desk for a while before being printed. In an aside: It is arguable that the entire intent of the Feds is actually quite simple: ethnic cleansing. In this case, 'cleansing' of the 'eyesore' of people responsibly using cannabis to alleviate terminal or chronic medical conditions which standard allopathic medicine cannot treat effectively. It's rather embarrassing, isn't it, when a relatively cheap joint can do what Kytril or Marinol cannot? (It was $50 a pill for Kytril in 1997 when I had to pick up that prescription for a cancer patient I was caring for; if she hadn't had supplentary insurance, it would have completely bankrupted her. In any event, it made no difference, for she was still wracked with both nausea and pain during and after the chemo treatments...when a joint would have relieved both symptoms on the spot. Whatever happened to the First line of the Hippocratic Oath? Is it nullified the moment you cross over the thresh-hold of an oncologist's doorway?) So, rather than make the AMA eat crow for their years of support for the DrugWar by admitting their transparent greed, the Feds are trying to save face for them...by killing the recipients of cannabis therapy. No patients, no problem. (Fed bureaucrat holding gun to patient's head, daring them to speak up) "Cannabis therapy? What cannabis therapy?" Many years ago, the Feds cracked down on people so desperate to save their cancer-devastated children, they took them to experimental cancer clinics in Mexico to try something called 'laetrile'. Whether the treatments ever worked or not, I don't know. But I do remember the FDA making every effort to stop them, including having the parents of one child arrested to stop them from taking their son to Mexico. The child, of course, died...but the FDA continued it's legal pursuit against the parents...to make an example of them to others entertaining similar desperate hopes. All done with our tax dollars...for our own good, you see... [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo MD on February 19, 2002 at 09:04:19 PT:
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| In early May in Portland, OR, Patients Out of Time will be presenting an excellent program over 2 days: http://www.medicalcannabis.com/conference/ This is available for continuing education credit, and is a great opportunity to educate yourself about the current state of the art. Try to get your doctor or other health care provider, elected official, LEO, parole officer, Aunt Tilly or whoever, to attend. [ Post Comment ] |
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