cannabisnews.com: Reefer Madness Abates, Somewhat 





Reefer Madness Abates, Somewhat 
Posted by CN Staff on February 24, 2005 at 08:27:51 PT
By John Beydler
Source: Quad-City Times
Reefer madness still rages in the land, but ever less virulently. The Iowa Supreme Court, on a split vote, this month rejected an AIDS patient's argument that the marijuana he was charged with possessing was a medical neccessity. The ruling was on fairly narrow technical grounds -- the court noted that the Legislature has instructed the Iowa Board of Pharmacy Examiners to establish guidelines for the use of reefer for medicinal purposes and declined to anticipate the outcome of that legislatively launched process.
Justice David Wiggins, in a dissent, said the court shouldn't wait, given such facts as testimony from a medical professor from the University of Iowa that ``one could say that marijuana might have been lifesaving in this particular case.'' Iowa lawmakers have at least requested medical-marijanua guidelines, which makes them more sane than their fellows in Illinois. A medical marijuana bill died last week on a 4-7 vote in a House committee after White House drug 'czar' John Walters flew into Springfield to testify against it. He dragged out all the old lies about marijuana being addictive, leading to hard-drug use and said the fact that it helps sick people feel better is no reason to OK its use. Fewer and fewer people are willing to listen to such nonsense, given the mounting body of evidence -- gleaned through formal studies and personal experience -- that says otherwise. Voters in Montana, a very RED red state, approved a medical marijuana initiative last fall by a 62-38 margin. The vote made Montana the 11th state to OK marijuana for medicinal use, and in most every case the approval came through referenda. That fact should give pause to those hundreds of lawmakers around the country who believe the only safe thing to do is to try to be more anti-marijuana than the next guy. Also bothersome to reflexively 'anti' lawmakers is what happened in Vermont last fall. Pro-medical marijuana forces targeted six legislators who voted against that state's medical marijuana law and beat three of them. A great many ordinary folks are willing to go even further. In Alaska, a referendum to legalize personal possession of less than ounce of marijuana was defeated, but the margin was just 56-44. Referenda on the same subject in a number of smaller jurisdictions passed. Rundown of November, 2004 marijuana initiatives: http://www.mpp.org/victorygrid.htmlEven some cops are willing to bail out. Chicago police Sgt. Thomas Donegan said last fall he'd done a study of the way the courts handle minor pot posssesion cases, and had concluded it was pointless to arrest people. Instead, he suggested, they should be given a ticket and fined a couple of hundred dollars. The reaction from Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, a former prosecutor and a law-and-order kind of guy? He said the sergeant was on to something, and that its a colossal waste of time and money to be hassling people for small-time pot possession. It can also be a colossal waste of other valuable resources. But more on that later, perhaps, as the misdemeanor pot possession case against a local school teacher plays out. John Beydler is news editor at Quad-Cities Online. Source: Quad-City Times (IA)Author: John BeydlerPublished: February 24, 2005 Copyright: 2005 Quad-City TimesContact: opinions qctimes.comWebsite: http://www.qctimes.comRelated Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmCommittee Rejects Medical Marijuana Proposalhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20256.shtmlCourt Turns Down Man's Med Marijuana Appealhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20226.shtml
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Comment #9 posted by JoeCitizen on February 25, 2005 at 08:29:17 PT
REEFER?!!
"the court noted that the Legislature has instructed the Iowa Board of Pharmacy Examiners to establish guidelines for the use of reefer for medicinal purposes and declined to anticipate the outcome of that legislatively launched process."What decade is this guy from? Hey man, can I score a lid of that reefer? WTF?JC
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Comment #8 posted by mayan on February 24, 2005 at 17:13:12 PT
Killers
Justice David Wiggins, in a dissent, said the court shouldn't wait, given such facts as testimony from a medical professor from the University of Iowa that ``one could say that marijuana might have been lifesaving in this particular case.''Those on the Iowa Supreme Court who denied the sick and dying their medicine just became killers.There's no other way around it. 
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on February 24, 2005 at 10:31:50 PT
dongenero
Thank you. My that was so very kind. 
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Comment #6 posted by dongenero on February 24, 2005 at 10:28:02 PT
FoM as a legislator
FoM , we should all be so lucky to have legislators as even handed as you are.
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Comment #5 posted by dongenero on February 24, 2005 at 10:25:39 PT
FoM
I mean that metaphorically of course:)...and FoM, I would say you do have balls (metaphorically heh) or you wouldn't be fighting the good fight here. 
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on February 24, 2005 at 10:05:13 PT
dongenero 
I sure am glad I'm not a legislator! 
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on February 24, 2005 at 09:17:52 PT
dongenero 
Thank you very much as Elvis said.I'll pass though! LOL!
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Comment #2 posted by dongenero on February 24, 2005 at 08:44:11 PT
and if you don't......
...have balls,a set will be appointed for you.
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Comment #1 posted by dongenero on February 24, 2005 at 08:40:48 PT
we need to pre-qualify legislators...
........to make sure they have balls. With all due respect, this goes for the female legislators as well.
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