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| Senate Tackles Medicinal Marijuana Issue |
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Posted by FoM on March 20, 2002 at 19:51:06 PT By Tracy Schmaler, Vermont Press Bureau Source: Times Argus 
The sleeper issue of the session may find permanent slumber in the Senate if opponents of medicinal marijuana, including Gov. Howard Dean, get their way. A bill allowing marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes with a physician’s consent passed through the Republican-controlled House last week. But its fate in the Democratic Senate is much less certain. Dean strongly opposes the bill. He has called it a move to circumvent the federal regulatory process and legalize marijuana. The Democratic governor has been evasive about whether he’d veto the bill if it makes its way to his desk. When asked at a recent news conference if he’d be put in a spot to veto it this summer in between traveling around the country testing the waters for a possible presidential run, Dean suggested he would try to avert such a scenario. “There are all kinds of interesting spots out there,” he said. “Usually, you try to anticipate them ahead of time, and avoid those problems, which is what I anticipate we will do this time.” But with some leading Democrats in the Senate supporting the bill, or at least the concept of medicinal marijuana, the debate is becoming one of the most anticipated this session. “It’s going to be considered like any other bill,” Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, said Tuesday. “I support it.” Shumlin said he does have some questions about the House bill, including the quantities people are allowed to possess. But he suggested those issues would be aired in the debate. “I’m sending it to the Health and Welfare Committee, where it will get a clear hearing,” he said, adding again, “I support it.” If it passes that committee, it would likely move to the Judiciary Committee. And it was endorsed again Tuesday by another key Democratic senator. “I support it, conceptually,” said Sen. Nancy Chard, D-Windham, chairwoman of the Health and Welfare Committee. Chard said the governor had recently reached out to her through his staff. “They made it clear he strongly opposes it,” she said. Still, she said she planned to give the bill a hearing as long as time permits. “My priorities all year have been pharmacy, Medicaid and health insurance; that hasn’t changed,” she said. “This is not something that will make me drop everything ... but I will give the bill a fair hearing.” Specifically, Chard said she hopes to hear more from the medical community. “My sense of what happened in the House was there may not have been a lot of testimony on the medical side,” she said. “It is certainly my desire to take that testimony.” Pain relief is aim The bill passed the House after emotional debate. It had broad support from Democrats, Republicans and Progressives. The measure allows seriously ill people to obtain a physician’s certificate to use marijuana to alleviate pain, nausea and other symptoms associated with diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and AIDS. The bill limits the amount a patient or caregiver can possess to three mature plants, four immature plants or 3 ounces of marijuana. It also permits those authorized patients or caregivers to grow the plant, as long as they do it in a secure, indoor location. Opponents point out that the bill flies in the face of federal law, and sends a dangerous message to young people about drug use. They point to existing drugs to ease pain, including Marinol, a pill that contains THC, an active ingredient in marijuana. Supporters counter that the Vermont bill is the most restrictive marijuana measure of the eight states that already have such laws, in part by setting up a database with the state Department of Public Safety so police can confirm the identities of authorized patients and caregivers. It also limits caregivers to serving only one patient so they cannot possess more than minimum amount allowed in the bill. Some see problems As is the case in the House, positions on this issue do not follow party lines. “We’ve got enough problems with drugs that are legal in this country, let alone those that are currently illegal,” said Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington, chairman of the Judiciary Committee. “I want more assurance that it’s being properly regulated.” Sen. Susan Bartlett, D-Lamoille, chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, said she opposed the bill. “I think there are a lot of problems with it,” she said. “I do have concerns about the mixed messages it sends to young people.” Several senators on the Health and Welfare Committee interviewed Tuesday supported taking the House bill up and some went further to generally endorse the concept. “Without looking at the details of the bill, I believe in its basic premise,” said Sen. John Campbell, D-Windsor, who sits on both the Judiciary and Health and Welfare committees. “I don’t want to kill the bill before a hearing,” said Sen. Virginia Lyons, D-Chittenden, vice chairwoman of the Health and Welfare Committee. “I think it’s worth consideration.” Sen. William Doyle, R-Washington, a member of the committee, said he had an open mind on the issue. “I’m going to see what they have to say,” he said. Details, details Others offered thin support for the concept, but needed answers to lingering questions about the minutiae of the proposal, such as how patients or caregivers obtain the drug or the seeds if they wish to grow it. “I’m not opposed to the concept. We have a law on the books now,” said Minority Leader Sen. John Bloomer, R-Rutland, a member of the Judiciary Committee. “It does depend on how it’s restricted.” The Legislature in 1981 passed a law allowing marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes, but the rules governing the law were never drafted so it has been an idle statute. Lt. Gov. Douglas Racine, the president of the Senate and a Democrat, said he was reserving judgment until the bill made its way through the committee process. “I have real concerns about the bill as it passed the House. It would need to be tightened up a lot,” he said. “At the same time, I am sympathetic to the folks suffering from AIDS and other diseases. ...There is a way I would support it, but I need to know a whole lot more than I do about it right now.” Source: Times Argus (VT) Related Articles & Web Sites: Marijuana Policy Project Medical Marijuana Information Links House Passes Medicinal Marijuana House Poised to Approve Medical Marijuana Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on March 20, 2002 at 21:12:36 PT |
| “I think there are a lot of problems with it,” she said. “I do have concerns about the mixed messages it sends to young people.” If we got rid of every law that could send a mixed message to young people, we wouldn't have many left. That's kind of why there is a minimum voting age -- because democracy is for adults. Laws happen to exist for a reason that goes beyond propagandizing youth. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by DdC on March 20, 2002 at 20:41:00 PT |
| Subject: CA: Woman Wins medical Pot Case by John L. Mitchell http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000020059mar19.story A woman who said she grew marijuana to treat the effects of sickle-cell anemia was acquitted of several drug charges Monday despite overwhelming evidence that her personal stash was for more than medical use. Police testified that they found more than 200 pounds of marijuana plants in Somayah Kambui's backyard when she was arrested Oct. 5. Also seized were six pounds of marijuana in large glasses, an additional 13 pounds in packaging, 34 marijuana cookies, 32 small brown vials of hash oil, and a pot on the stove with three liters of oil. But after six days of testimony, a Superior Court jury spent only three hours deliberating before finding Kambui, 51, not guilty on all five counts. JURY BACKS PROP. 215 A Big Victory for Medical Marijuana: Sister Somaya's Trial
excerpt from a report by Mikki Norris (email) On Friday, Somaya took the stand and explained what she was doing. She said that she wasn't growing marijuana, that she was growing Nigretian Kif. She said that prior to being called "Africa", her people referred to her land as Nigretia. She viewed it as a sacred and healing herb. She spoke of her Sickle Cell disease and her center, how she instructed many people on how to use it, through ingesting it, putting it on topically, bathing in it, using leaf, bud, seed oil and so on. "They're all mine," she said, taking responsibility for her garden, trying to leave others out of the path of the criminal justice system. She denied providing it, as she didn't have enough for herself and the police keep coming and taking it away. The people she was helping were poor, and they were doing their best to help themselves and not rely on the government for their health needs. The former Black Panther spoke of the war on her people that has lasted 500 years already, and the Drug War that is also a war on us. She was wonderful on the stand, and she presented herself as a dignified woman who was doing what she could to help herself and others deal with a terrible disease. How FIJA Saved My Life! Harlan Stone [ Post Comment ] |
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