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| Federal Pot Patient Visits Capitol |
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Posted by FoM on March 23, 2002 at 12:25:26 PT By Rob Moritz Source: Times Record 
George McMahon, one of only seven people in the U.S. who can smoke marijuana legally, said Thursday that Arkansas needs a law to allow pot-smoking for medical purposes. “This is not about recreational smoking,” the 51-year-old Tyler, Texas, man told a small crowd on the steps of the state Capitol. “This is about sick folks.” McMahon said he suffers from several medical conditions, including a neurological disease. He receives 300 marijuana cigarettes from the federal government every month and smokes the drug to ease pain as well as control nausea, he said. McMahon was in Little Rock to show support for the Northwest Arkansas-based group, Alliance for Reform of Drug Policy in Arkansas, which is working to change state law to allow chronically-ill people to smoke the illegal drug for medicinal purposes with a doctor’s prescription. The organization has collected nearly 6,000 signatures and must collect about 56,000 by July 1 to get the proposed initiative on the November ballot. The group also is lobbying the Legislature to change state law. One state senator has already said he will propose such a law during the next legislative session. McMahon cited results from a recent poll by the University of Arkansas’ political science department that showed two-thirds of the 767 state respondents supported allowing seriously ill patients to use marijuana for medicinal purposes. Sen. John Riggs, D-Little Rock, has said that if he is re-elected he will sponsor a bill that would allow a chronically-ill person to smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes with a doctor’s permission. The law is patterned after an Oregon law and would be regulated by the state Health Department. Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon and Washington allow people who are ill and suffering to receive, possess, grow or smoke marijuana for medical purposes without fear of state prosecution. Related Articles & Web Sites: George McMahon's Home Page Medicinal Cannabis Research Links Legal Marijuana User Visits UM Kind Bud - Village Voice Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #1 posted by FoM on March 23, 2002 at 12:57:27 PT |
| I am having connections problem and missed this web site in the article so here it is.
ARDPArk [ Post Comment ] |
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