cannabisnews.com: Senate Cans Part of Pot Bill





Senate Cans Part of Pot Bill
Posted by FoM on January 23, 2002 at 10:50:29 PT
By Steve Terrell, The New Mexican 
Source: Santa Fe New Mexican
Some state senators who last year backed a bill to legalize marijuana for sufferers of serious medical conditions panned a new bill to allow "medical marijuana" users to grow their own. By a 6-2 vote, the Senate Public Affairs Committee voted to remove all language concerning home cultivation of marijuana from Senate Bill 8. The committee postponed further action on the bill to consider other possible amendments.
Sen. Rod Adair, R-Roswell, led the charge against the grow-your-own provision. "I voted for last year's bill," he said.Last year's measure, which passed the full Senate, called for the state to distribute marijuana to approved medical patients. The marijuana to be used would be grown and stored in an unspecified "secure" state facility.But, Sen. Allen Hurt, R-Waterflow, argued he liked the idea of people being allowed to grow their own marijuana. "It's so much simpler to have a few plants in their back yard than have the state start a huge pot-growing operation."But the idea of marijuana growing freely in some back yards horrified other senators. Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, told the committee she once lived next door to some pot-smokers. One time she came back from a vacation, Papen said, to find marijuana plants around her daughter's playhouse.The bill's sponsor, Sen. Roman Maes, D-Santa Fe, said he did not oppose gutting the home-grown provision. He said he was worried about that provision but concerned about how medical marijuana would be distributed.Under SB8 as initially proposed, patients accepted into the medical-marijuana program would be allowed to have up to an ounce of marijuana plus three mature plants and four immature plants.Only Hurt and Public Affairs Chairwoman Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, voted to keep the "homegrown" provision.The committee heard testimony from several people who said smoking marijuana eased the pain and symptoms of their respective conditions. AIDs sufferer Jeff Hammond of Carrizozo said he used to spend a majority of his day "hovering over the toilet and feeling miserable." However, Hammond, who was living in San Francisco, said he got into California's medical-marijuana program and the drug helped him.Some law-enforcement opponents of medical marijuana say the pharmaceutical drug Marinol - which contains THC, a chemical found in marijuana - is a better alternative to smoking marijuana.However, Jack Kaplan, who suffers from both AIDS and hepatitis B, argued that Marinol - which costs about $6 a pill - is "cost prohibitive and not as effective."Kaplan said smoking marijuana has eased his nausea and other side effects of the medication for his diseases.A parade of law-enforcement officials, including District Attorney Henry Valdez and Santa Fe County Sheriff Ray Sisneros, spoke against the bill.Santa Fe Police Chief John Denko told the committee he is worried about second-hand smoke from marijuana - that people not on the state program would be inhaling marijuana smoke.Former state Public Safety Secretary Darren White, who now heads an anti-drug group called Protect New Mexico, said medical marijuana is not approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration, and thus there is no recommended dosage.White held up copies of magazines targeted at marijuana users, saying, "Should we let the advertisers of High Times magazine decide (the dosage levels)?"Opponents also seized upon a ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that said a California cooperative supplying marijuana to medical patients was not exempt from the federal law against marijuana.However, Clifford Rees, an attorney for the state Health Department, said the ruling would not affect New Mexico's proposed law. He produced a legal opinion from the Maryland state attorney general that backed him up.But Rees said it is questionable whether the federal government could prosecute those participating in a state medical-marijuana program.Several states - including Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, California, Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon and Washington - have medical marijuana laws. Maryland is considering such a law, Rees said.After Public Affairs is finished with SB8, it must then go to the Judiciary Committee before reaching the Senate floor. Newshawk: Jim J.Source: Santa Fe New Mexican (NM)Author: Steve Terrell, The New Mexican Published: January 23, 2002 Copyright: 2002 The Santa Fe New MexicanContact: letters sfnewmexican.comWebsite: http://www.sfnewmexican.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmN.M. Legislature To Vote on Decriminalization http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11801.shtmlN.M. Lawmakers Push To Change Drug Lawshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11713.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by Nuevo Mexican on January 23, 2002 at 18:41:12 PT
In New Mexico...
cannabis is entrenched in the culture. And that means law enforcement is selective, as police departments throughout the state are filled with cannabis users. I know people who are pulled over by stoned cops! They are much cooler in parts of the state where cannabis is used by all of their relatives. And they are a known source for distribution. Thus the profit motive is mostly to blame here. The lack of educated people in law enforcement doesn't help as you can see by the article. It is hard for the continued demonization of cannabis with the Govenors outspoken and articulate stance of the issue. Things will change soon, but with so much poverty in the state, alot of people are feeding their kids due to the illegality of cannabis (bigger profits). Of course, everybody would profit if it were legal to grow hemp and cannabis as we all know. IT's time for Johnson to take the ball and run with it, as he has done such a great job so far. Go Gary!!!!!!!!!!!
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Comment #4 posted by Jose Melendez on January 23, 2002 at 14:59:00 PT:
Looks like Steve Tuck was right...
Orange Book' of Drug Patents Gets Attention in FTC Probe
     By Theresa AgovinoThe Associated Press
         Published: Jan 23, 2002
   NEW YORK (AP) - The drug industry's bible, known as the orange book, might 
 not make great reading but it's pretty good at inflaming passions.
 With its official title, Approved Drug Products for Therapeutic Equivalents Evaluation, 
 it's a stretch to even call it a book. It is list of patents.
 But those patents are at the heart of pharmaceutical profits, and company executives 
 lean on it heavily - too heavily, according to generic manufacturers who accuse them of 
 filling the book with invalid entries.
 The Federal Trade Commission, investigating allegations of anticompetitive practices 
 in the industry, is looking with particular interest into whether companies are improperly 
 tagging new patents on existing medicines to keep generic brands off the market 
 longer...
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA7SZFMTWC.html
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Comment #3 posted by Ethan Russo MD on January 23, 2002 at 12:31:48 PT:
Simply Stated
"Some law-enforcement opponents of medical marijuana say the pharmaceutical drug Marinol - which contains THC, a chemical found in marijuana - is a better alternative to smoking marijuana."Being an LEO does not require medical school training. You don't ask a fireman to do your taxes, either.
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Comment #2 posted by aocp on January 23, 2002 at 11:35:29 PT
Re: Sam Adams
Will someone explain to me why, without fail, politicians ALWAYS prefer to send the sick to criminal drug dealers for marijuana, rather than have a few plants?My take: cannabis is illegal and so anyone that deals it (or by way of association, grows it) is ALWAYS a criminal. Therefore, they don't want to be associated with such stigma, even for sick folk. This is why i want horrible cancer (or any other debilitating disease that can be helped by MMJ) for these people. I don't arbitrarily wish for harm. This is the only way these f***s will ever be able to see the flip side of the coin. It's all good if it's happening to someone other than them. I'll bet they "believe" in xianity as well. How sick and sad.
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Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on January 23, 2002 at 11:15:51 PT
Scum of the Earth Politicians
Will someone explain to me why, without fail, politicians ALWAYS prefer to send the sick to criminal drug dealers for marijuana, rather than have a few plants?I'm thinking, someone that was 18 in 1972 is now 48 years old. I'm guessing all the politicians quoted here are older. It appears we'll have to wait another decade or two for the goddamn ignorant bigots to retire and/or die off.I strongly feel that the medical MJ issue is one of the worst outrages of our time. As I've stated before, I can't understand why Soros & company have given up on med MJ referendums, the battle is clearly not won, and state and federal politicians are not going to legislate reform of any kind in the near future. Why don't they continue to do 1 or 2 states per year, instead of sacrificing the momentum gained since 1995?
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