cannabisnews.com: Some Lawmakers Want Pot Legalized for Sick People 





Some Lawmakers Want Pot Legalized for Sick People 
Posted by FoM on February 27, 2001 at 19:44:31 PT
By Tom Zolper, Free Press Staff Writer 
Source: Burlington Free Press 
Card-carrying marijuana smokers. A nonprofit organization approved to sell the weed. A state government that allows some residents to grow a few pot plants in the garden. All these are envisioned in a bill that will be introduced today in the Legislature. The measure allows people suffering from cancer, glaucoma, AIDS or other chronic illnesses to use marijuana legally to ease their pain -- with a physician's note. 
The bill is sponsored by 21 members of the House of Representatives, a mostly liberal group but with Republicans sprinkled in. The Legislature passed a law 20 years ago that permits marijuana smoking for medicinal reasons, supporters of the bill say. Successive governors' administrations, including that of Gov. Howard Dean, have refused to develop the necessary rules to implement the law. This bill would force the creation of such rules in 90 days. Political anxieties surrounding the issue have changed little in those 20 years, and one lawmaker said the bill probably won't have a hearing. "I guess you could quote me: It's not high on my list of priorities," said Rep. Tom Koch, R-Barre, chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee and a lawyer. It was hard enough recruiting sponsors. "Some people I would have thought would have been sure sponsors were like, 'No way.' They're afraid of this as if it were a lightning rod," said Rep. Frederick Maslack, R-Poultney, the prime sponsor. Under the bill, patients would obtain a physician's permission to grow or buy marijuana. The state would allow them to cultivate no more than three mature plants. A nonprofit agency could grow and sell small amounts of the drug to registered patients. Maslack said he sponsored the bill for a friend, Joel Williams, a former candidate for governor from the Vermont Grassroots Party. The group wants to legalize marijuana. Maslack also said he watched another friend die of throat cancer whose suffering might have been eased with marijuana smoking. Eight states have laws on the books allowing sick people to use marijuana, including Maine, according to Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C., organization that wrote a model bill that Maslack borrowed. The National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine noted in 1999 that marijuana can be beneficial for treating or alleviating pain or other symptoms associated with certain debilitating illnesses, the bill says. Robert Melamede, an assistant research professor in the microbiology department of the University of Vermont, and a supporter of marijuana use, said the body uses compounds similar to the main chemical in marijuana to naturally self-medicate itself. Marijuana does cause temporary loss of short-term memory and can impair or help the immune system of some people, he said. Capt. Steve Miller of the Vermont State Police said some young people can start experimenting with marijuana and then move to more dangerous drugs. He said medicinal marijuana bills are an attempt to have marijuana use legalized. Montpelier, VermontSource: Burlington Free Press (VT) Author: Tom Zolper, Free Press Staff Writer Published: February 27, 2001Copyright: 2001 Burlington Free Press Address: PO Box 10, Burlington, VT 05402 Contact: letters bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com Website: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/ CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #6 posted by dddd on February 28, 2001 at 23:22:56 PT
Right on Mungo
Be careful though Mungo,,you have been hitting too many nails inthe head lately,,Watch out for the new hate crime legistlation fromthe nail lobbyist,whose skulls you have been hatefully smashing.
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Comment #5 posted by mungojelly on February 28, 2001 at 23:04:33 PT:
legalize it!
observer, i agree that they are using the word "legalize" as a linguistic barb. but i don't think we should play into their ploy of transforming legalization into a dirty word! let's not play their game of hiding behind euphemisms. we want legalization and we shouldn't be afraid to say it. 
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Comment #4 posted by observer on February 28, 2001 at 09:31:30 PT
''LEGALIZED''
Note the language: "Pot Legalized for Sick People". This is like "Legalizing Marijuana for medical purposes". The propagandists know that they have tainted the word "legalize". This is why they like to punch it, why these propagandists never say that these bills merely stop arresting/jailing people who use medical cannabis. No. They instead emphasize "legalization" and are careful to phrase the idea as "legalizing marijuana", and are very careful never to mention prison. Like this article never mentioned prison. Better to stir up the sheeple against "legalization" than to allow them to think about prison for the sick and dying people who use marijuana.
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Comment #3 posted by greenfox on February 28, 2001 at 07:59:14 PT
We cannot win this war
Until they give us the media channels. Right now, we have no voice. It is depressing. -gf
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Comment #2 posted by QuietCrusader on February 28, 2001 at 06:13:27 PT:
Like the good doctor says,
Hit 'em every chance you get and DO NOT RELENT until this S*** is over. We WILL win this war!
Take the World's Smallest Political Quiz
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on February 28, 2001 at 05:33:45 PT:
A True Story
Governor Howard Dean is a physician by training, but not a very enlightened one. A while back, Howard was attending a press conference and was asked his opinion of industrial hemp. He said something to the effect of, "I'm against it. It'll never happen. Hemp--- marijuana--- both Cannabis sativa--- no difference!"Some astute and bold member of the audience stood and shouted, "Criminals----politicians----both Homo sapiens---no difference!"The crowd erupted in laughter, Governor Dean left in a huff, and the news conference was over. It is rare that openings like this for such a classic rejoinder emerge, but our kind needs to be there, asking the hard questions, and nailing people with their hypocrisy at every opportunity.
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