cannabisnews.com: It's Time To Approve Medical Marijuana
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It's Time To Approve Medical Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on November 30, 2009 at 05:13:40 PT
Editorial 
Source: Courier-Post 
New Jersey -- State lawmakers should pass bill whose time has come. With the state Legislature back in session following elections, a variety of bills are up for consideration. One that we think ought to be afforded priority status would allow patients suffering from debilitating, painful ailments to use medical marijuana without the fear of being arrested.Thirteen states allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes. It's value as a pain-reliever has been clearly established. Hundreds of thousands of people suffering from a wide range of diseases, everything from AIDS and cancer to glaucoma, swear by marijuana, that it relieves constant pain, makes nausea go away, prevents seizures and helps clear up cloudy vision.
Understanding this, the Obama administration recently changed Department of Justice guidelines. Federal prosecutors will no longer go after the use and distribution of marijuana for medical purposes in states where it has been legalized.This was the right thing to do. The inconsistency of missions between local and state law enforcement and federal agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration has been a problem for years. It does no one good to have one set of authorities saying something is legal and another showing up at people's homes, ripping out marijuana plants and arresting them.People who are suffering, many of them from sicknesses that will ultimately kill them, deserve to live in peace, and without fear of arrest and prosecution just for trying to relieve their suffering. If marijuana is what eases their pain, the government should not deny them that elixir.Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine has said he'll sign a medical marijuana law. Republican Gov.-elect Chris Christie, a former federal prosecutor, has even said he supports the legalization of marijuana for medical use in principle, although he would prefer restrictions beyond those written into the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act.The act would do as other states have done -- establish a registry for medical marijuana users and verify their qualifying medical conditions through medical records or a written note from a doctor. Users would be issued a state identification card that would allow them to possess no more than six marijuana plants and one ounce of usable marijuana. The law would also allow for the Department of Health and Human Services to license medical marijuana dispensers -- small businesses where the plant could be grown and sold to patients with valid medical marijuana cards.While there are of course concerns about legalized medical marijuana perhaps leading to confusion about the laws regarding recreational use of this drug, we think those concerns are outweighed by the need to clear up the law for those who have real medical needs. People suffering from debilitating, painful conditions in this state deserve the same rights afforded to those in other states and other countries, where medical marijuana is legal and is regulated.There is a legitimate war on drugs that we must fight, but using marijuana for legitimate medicinal purposes is not a battlefront in that war.Source: Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ)Published: November 30, 2009Copyright: 2009 Courier-PostURL: http://drugsense.org/url/z1K8AKq9Website: http://www.courierpostonline.com/Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/SuuG7xhYCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by Sam Adams on November 30, 2009 at 07:59:37 PT
West Virginia
another mainstream legalization editorial!http://sundaygazettemail.com/Opinion/Editorials/200911290251
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on November 30, 2009 at 05:57:46 PT
Two Articles From AlterNet.org
A Smart Way To Battle Drug Addiction and Save Lives: Harm ReductionNovember 30, 2009URL: http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/144198/***The Feds Are Addicted to Pot -- Even If You Aren'tNovember 30, 2009URL: http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/144243/
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