Cannabis News Marijuana Policy Project
  Ed Thompson Joins Call for Medical Marijuana
Posted by FoM on May 01, 2002 at 10:59:37 PT
For Immediate Release 
Source: Common Dreams 

medical Ed Thompson, brother of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, joined the call for compassionate access to medical marijuana today, asking his brother to meet with representatives of the Coalition for Compassionate Access.

Thompson, a candidate for governor of Wisconsin, is the newest member of the Coalition, whose full-page ad in the March 6 New York Times -- signed by such prominent citizens as Walter Cronkite, Hugh Downs, and former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders, as well as the American Public Health Association, other medical and public health organizations, and more than 300 elected officials -- called on the Bush administration to allow legal access to medical marijuana for seriously ill individuals.

He presented his letter to Sec. Thompson at the conclusion of the secretary's National Press Club luncheon talk, titled "A Little Prevention Won't Kill You."

The Coalition has been trying to arrange a meeting with administration officials since the ad ran. "After nearly two months the White House drug czar's office finally agreed to sit down with us, but we've heard nothing from their health officials," said Jason Young, director of special projects for the Marijuana Policy Project. "While we appreciate the opportunity to meet with people on the enforcement side, this is first and foremost a health issue, and the administration's health officials have been missing in action. We've been trying to talk to Secretary Thompson, to Ann Phelps, the president's domestic advisor on health issues, and to AIDS czar Scott Evertz, but they've been like deer caught in the headlights."

Since the Coalition's ad first appeared, the list of signatories has grown. Recent additions include noted conservative writer William F. Buckley Jr. and a host of celebrities, including Sharon Stone, Lily Tomlin, and Patricia Arquette. The full list of signatories is available at: http://www.compassionateaccess.org

The Coalition for Compassionate Access is an ad hoc group of concerned citizens and organizations seeking compassionate access to medical marijuana for seriously ill individuals. MPP has given financial and staff support to the Coalition.

The Marijuana Policy Project works to minimize the harm associated with marijuana -- both the consumption of marijuana and the laws that are intended to prohibit such use. MPP believes that the greatest harm associated with marijuana is imprisonment. To this end, MPP focuses on removing criminal penalties for marijuana use, with a particular emphasis on making marijuana medically available to seriously ill people who have the approval of their doctors.

For more information, please visit: http://www.mpp.org

Complete Title: Brother of HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson Joins Call for Medical Marijuana

Contact: Marijuana Policy Project
Bruce Mirken 202-462-5747 x113

Newshawk: dddd
Source: Common Dreams (ME)
Published: April 30, 2002
Copyright: 1997-2001 Common Dreams
Contact: editor@commondreams.org
Website: http://www.commondreams.org/

Coalition for Compassionate Access
http://www.compassionateaccess.org/

Medical Marijuana Information Links
http://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htm

CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives
http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml


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Comment #2 posted by Jose Melendez on May 01, 2002 at 12:41:51 PT
"Everybody doesn't do it..." *


CAP HILL DRUG BUST: 11 HOUSE PAGES CAUGHT
Wed May 01 2002 14:42:00 ET

Eleven teenage House pages are in hot water after getting caught using marijuana -- ROLL CALL's Ed Henry reported late Wednesday.

The pages were dismissed from their duties, acording to sources familiar with the investigation.

One well-placed staffer said the pages got kicked out for behavior "that anyone shouldn't be doing, let alone kids."

MORE



Henry reports: "The trouble started when one female page whose family lives in the Washington, D.C., area brought several other pages to the family home unsupervised. The pages involved allegedly smoked marijuana in the basement of the house."

The female page then allegedly "brought some drugs back to the House page dorm on Capitol Hill, where her roommate turned her in to authorities. That led to everyone involved being disciplined. "

Two Democratic sources tell ROLL CALL DAILY that all 11 pages were sponsored by Republican House Members.

Developing...

*quote courtesy Haley Barbour

from:
http://www.texnews.com/opinion97/ivins072997.html

The Republicans did nothing wrong. The Republicans didn't break the law. "People who say everybody does it are wrong. It's not true. Everybody doesn't do it." And then the man sits there defending the most obvious money-laundering scheme imaginable.

According to Congressional Quarterly, a $1.6 million transfer from a Hong Kong concern accounted for 67 percent of the RNC's money transfers to state party committees in the three weeks before the '94 election. But, says Barbour, this was not foreign money because it came through the U.S. subsidiary of the Hong Kong firm. You dignify that "U.S. subsidiary" by calling it a shell corporation - it did no business, had no assets and consisted of the address of a former RNC chairman.

Also, from:http://www.peekaboo.net/archives/cat18/171.html
WASHINGTON: A Houston businessman told Senate investigators Thursday that he informed then-Republican Party leader Haley Barbour in 1994 that a Hong Kong company was providing $2.1 million to support a GOP-backed think tank.

Some $1.6 million of those funds wound up in the Republican National Committee's coffers, but Barbour insisted it was only recently that he had "credible evidence" the money originated in Hong Kong. "I found out when they went through the records," he said.

A defiant Barbour insisted during six hours of often rancorous grilling that the Republican fund-raising record is unblemished, and that it is irrelevant where the money came from because the original Hong Kong loan to the National Policy Forum, a GOP-supported think tank, was legal. "Those who say everybody does it are wrong. Everybody doesn't do it."



[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #1 posted by Gary Storck on May 01, 2002 at 11:56:06 PT
Go Ed!
It's really great to see Ed Thompson's committment to medical marijuana remains stronger than ever. From being present when the Wisconsin mmj bill was announced last December to putting out a press release lauding the results of IMMLY's poll that found 80.3% support for mmj in WI, to appointing Jacki Rickert, IMMLY's Founder and a well-known WI mmj activist as Buffalo County campaign chair, Ed Thompson has left no doubt to where he stands.

Come November, Wisconsin will most likely have a new governor. If Ed can pull off the upset, it should be smooth sailing for Wisconsinites who need legal access to medicinal cannabis.

Gary Storck

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