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| Medical Marijuana Exhibit on Displayed |
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Posted by FoM on February 21, 2002 at 07:19:35 PT By Jessica Brice, Associated Press Writer Source: Associated Press 
A shy seventh-grader's hotly disputed medical marijuana science project, dubbed "Mary Jane for Pain," was exhibited at a science fair, but without the pot-laced products that officials refused to allow. Something else was conspicuously absent at the science fair -- the student. Relatives said she was so embarrassed by the media attention about the pot project that she stayed home. The project originally featured literature about medical marijuana alongside fake pot-laced muffins and real marijuana-infused rubbing alcohol. The student had spent three months researching the benefits of marijuana for AIDS and cancer patients. School officials decided that the entry met science fair guidelines if the pot products weren't included. The watered-down version of the project -- newspaper clippings of pot club busts fixed to black cardboard -- failed to place among the finalists at the science fair. "Even though she didn't win and she didn't place, she learned more out of this project than all the kids at that science fair combined," said the girl's aunt, Jackie Fitzhenry. Fitzhenry works at a nonprofit organization that dispenses marijuana muffins and other cannabis-laced products to people suffering from terminal illnesses. When the girl brought her display to Mission Hill Junior High School for approval last week, school administrators sent the pot props back to the girl's home. The officials later said her project could be shown if the marijuana products were left out. "She had some good questions," said Mission Hill Principal Cathy Stefanki-Iglesias. "The value is in what the student learned from the scientific process." The girl has refused to be interviewed about her project and asked that her name not be released. Her father, Joe Morris, agreed that the experience had been a valuable one for his family. "She came up with a hypothesis and a conclusion and, you know what? We learned something," Morris said. "Medical marijuana isn't a bunch of people sitting around taking payments from the government to smoke marijuana." At the fair, the girl's schoolmates and their parents talked less about the blue ribbon entries and more about medicinal marijuana. One mother, Stephanie Raugust, said she didn't have a problem with medical marijuana as a subject matter. But she said she didn't think "glorifying drug use was the best thing to do." Eighth-grader Amelia Telt, 13, said she wouldn't be allowed to tackle the thorny issue for a science project. "My mom would freak out," she said. "She'd probably send me to boot camp." Medical Marijuana Exhibit on Display at Junior High Science Fair, Minus the Pot-Laced Props Source: Associated Press Related Articles & Web Sites: Medicinal Cannabis Research Links ‘Mary Jane for Pain’ Student Pot Project Gets OK Science-Fair Pot Project Causes Consternation Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #13 posted by E_Johnson on February 22, 2002 at 03:11:29 PT |
| If anyone has learned the hard way about how money and politics and social crusades can impact science, it's this girl. Maybe they've seeded the next Donna Haraway. She's at a politically sensitive age. When I was that age my favorite teacher was fired in a knee jerk reaction because she brought a real live Marxist to class to talk to us about Marxism. Never mind that it was a lesson in critical thinking and we'd already covered the Holocaust and the Chinese Cultural Revolution and despite being kids, had detected on our own that something was amiss with the Communist ideal that made it look a lot like Hitler. No, the ignorant right wing parents decided she was promoting Communism, and she was disappeared overnight from the school district and we never even got to say goodbye. That's what turned me into the left wing feminist Commie hater that I am today ;-) I wonder what this girl will take away from this lesson? This was one of those "big lessons about the adult world" that can shock a kid's sensibilities. It was a major major shock for me that my teacher could be fired for teaching us to think independently of the many forces around us encouraging us to adhere to one belief system or another. I guess she's had a lesson similar in a way to the one I had at that age. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #12 posted by FoM on February 21, 2002 at 18:31:15 PT |
| I put his cartoons and links to the web site on this page. It takes a few minutes to load but maybe this will help.
Doonesbury Political Cartoons [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #11 posted by ekim on February 21, 2002 at 18:26:38 PT:
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| cartoon character. What is the name and what do it do:) [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #10 posted by FoM on February 21, 2002 at 17:19:44 PT |
| No problem. All fixed. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #8 posted by Jose Melendez on February 21, 2002 at 17:08:02 PT:
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(FoM, sorry if I posted this twice - please keep this version) from: 'DOONESBURY' DAMAGING Please tell me why the News chose to run Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury on Jan. 27 instead of cutting it as you should have. If ever censoring were justified, that was the proper time to do it. The marijuana cigarette cartoon character ( with liquor in hand ) is saying: "The only thing that I caused was 735,000 arrests." Wrong, Trudeau. Marijuana is the stepping stone into the drug culture. It is illegal. My encyclopedia calls marijuana a "narcotic." Billions of taxpayer dollars are spent on drug interdiction, drug education and rehabilitation. And law enforcement people put their lives on the line daily in an attempt to thwart the insatiable drug appetite of so many Americans. But one "cutesy" cartoon character may have done untold damage in society's efforts to steer young people away from marijuana. How can life hold so little joy for so many human beings that they need drugs to deaden the pain of living or to bolster their sense of well-being? Marijuana harmless? Trudeau couldn't be more wrong. And you, Rocky Mountain News, were wrong to publish his "cartoon." I feel betrayed. Jean Witte, Lakewood I could not resist sending a letter to the editor, maybe I am addicted to posting the truth abot pot? :) To: letters@rockymountainnews.com In Sunday's letter, ('Doonesbury' Damaging) writer Jean Witte included a barrage of what would be persuasive arguments against drugs - if applied to alcohol and tobacco. Cigarettes and beer are stepping stones into drug use, not marijuana.* While their respective industries pour money into the campaign funds of both parties, members of Congress protect dangerous addictive substances as "legal", yet alcohol and tobacco alone are unqestionably responsible for at least 500,000 U.S. lives annually. We have all been betrayed by those who waste so many resources and lives by prohibiting a plant whose psychoactive effects have yet to cause a single fatality. As for the idea of one "cutesy" cartoon character doing untold damage to society, perhaps Ms. Witte shold familiarize herself with the history of a certain Joe Camel. Jose Melendez *"Marijuana: Facts for Teens." U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Washington, D.C. 1995, p.10. "Most marijuana users do not go on to use other drugs." [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by bruce42 on February 21, 2002 at 15:49:41 PT |
| The purpose of any science fair is to teach kids how to question the world around them and use reasoning and research to make an informed conclusion. As much as this girl learned from the research, I hope she has seen that science can have a serious impact on society and vice versa. I hope she found the irony in that a program supposedly dedicated to opening the minds of young students has such a closed mind when it comes to shedding light on important social issues. "Eighth-grader Amelia Telt, 13, said she wouldn't be allowed to tackle the thorny issue for a science project. "My mom would freak out," she said. "She'd probably send me to boot camp..." The thought police are everywhere... even the science fair. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by SirReal on February 21, 2002 at 14:42:34 PT |
| No,..it didn't scare her away from science...but it did teach her that adults lie. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #4 posted by TOKYWON on February 21, 2002 at 14:13:17 PT:
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| LET'S COMPARE ALCHOHOL AND HUCHI-CUCHI. SO MUCH MONEY IS MADE FROM THE DISTRIBUTION OF ALCHOHOL TO THE MASSES. I'VE BEEN A HEAVY DRINKER, SON OF AN ALCHOHOLIC.POT IS SO MUCH MORE WHAT WE ALL NEED THESE DAYS! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by E_Johnson on February 21, 2002 at 10:59:39 PT |
| Glorifying drug use? Like Tipper Gore pimping for Zoloft? A mind-altering substance that she needs to durvive her own life? Did you see this article: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-022002depress.story Utah leads nation in antidepressant use One mother, Stephanie Raugust, said she didn't have a problem with medical marijuana as a subject matter. But she said she didn't think "glorifying drug use was the best thing to do... And do you think she'd let us look inside of her medicine cabinet? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by bruce42 on February 21, 2002 at 10:43:28 PT |
| "One mother, Stephanie Raugust, said she didn't have a problem with medical marijuana as a subject matter. But she said she didn't think "glorifying drug use was the best thing to do..." So presenting facts to the public is now glorification. Of course, this strange attitude only forms when evil drugs like MJ are involved- she like many people seem to forget the glorification of alcohol and tobacco use that is plastered on billboards and magazines. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on February 21, 2002 at 09:17:49 PT |
| Isn't this sort of like what the cannabinoid science community as a whole goes through with respect to the rest of the science community? I hope this experience has not scared her away from science. [ Post Comment ] |
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