cannabisnews.com: Raising Medical Marijuana From The Dark Ages





Raising Medical Marijuana From The Dark Ages
Posted by CN Staff on April 16, 2005 at 09:19:54 PT
By Gary Storck
Source: Core Weekly
Wisconsin -- Born with glaucoma, I stumbled upon marijuana as a way to save my eyesight at age 17 in 1972. In 1997, after surviving a life-threatening infection following my third open-heart surgery, I decided to dedicate the extra time I was given in this life to work to make medical marijuana legally available to patients who can benefit. That same year I met Jacki Rickert, a Mondovi, Wis. resident who had suffered for years from symptoms of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and other ailments. Jacki had led a 210-mile wheelchair "Journey for Justice" to lobby for a state medical cannabis law from Mondovi to the state Capitol, but the legislature would not listen.
Jacki and I began working together at both the state and federal levels and in 2000 founded, "Is My Medicine Legal YET?". IMMLY's website at: http://www.immly.org/ lays out our efforts, including a poll we commissioned in February 2002 that not only found 80 percent support statewide among Wisconsinites for legal access to medical cannabis with a doctor's note, but also 92 percent in Dane County. I am also a co-founder of Wisconsin NORML and Madison NORML, and post on Madison NORML's new weblog at: http://www.madisonnorml.org/Cannabis is an ancient medicine utilized for more than 15,000 years by humans for medical purposes. It was a legal medicine in the United States up until 1937, when Congress voted to prohibit marijuana without debate and against the wishes of groups including the American Medical and American Bar Associations. Before 1937 pharmaceutical companies, including Merck and Parke-Davis, distributed cannabis in a wide variety of forms. Advertised uses included appetite stimulation, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory for rheumatism, migraine, dental pain, corn relief and more. Despite federal prohibition, 11 states have now passed workable medical marijuana laws that allow patients or their designated caregivers to use, posses and cultivate marijuana for medical use. Anecdotal and clinical evidence demonstrates cannabis is useful for treating symptoms of a wide range of ailments including cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, ALS, arthritis and many more. Recent scientific evidence is very promising; cannabis' powerful antioxidant and neuroprotectives properties can halt or slow the progression of diseases like multiple sclerosis, and block the formation of plaque in arteries, protecting the heart and brain from stroke. As I write this, a ruling is expected any day from the U.S. Supreme Court in the blockbuster medical marijuana case, Raich v. Ashcroft. If affirmed, the case could mean the federal war on medical marijuana patients is over. If not, existing local and state medical cannabis laws, like Madison's Ordinance 23.20 and California's Prop 215, will still stand. We hear a lot of talk out of Washington about freedom, liberty and democracy, but here in America today patients do not have the freedom under federal law to legally access this medicine even with their physician's recommendation. Generations of sick and dying Americans and their families have been forced to sneak around like criminals to help a loved one feed themselves, ease pain, sleep and get back a little quality of life. It is time to err on the side of life and allow patients to utilize this gentle therapy if they so choose. Newshawk: The GCWSource: Core Weekly (Madison, WI)Author: Gary StorckPublished: April 14, 2005Copyright: 2005 Core WeeklyContact: ncomp coreweekly.comWebsite: http://www.coreweekly.com/Angel Raich vs. John Ashcrofthttp://freedomtoexhale.com/raich.htmCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on April 21, 2005 at 22:06:29 PT
Gary
You're very welcome! Keep up the good work. We are making progress! 
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Comment #3 posted by Gary Storck on April 21, 2005 at 21:52:07 PT
and Thanks to FoM for posting it here!
Thanks FoM!
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Comment #2 posted by Gary Storck on April 21, 2005 at 21:51:09 PT
There was more
This was part of a special 420 edition with several great articles. Unfortunately they are not online and I have been unable to get an electronic copy. My thanks to Core Weekly for the opportunity to share some thoughts about my medicine.
Is My Medicine Legal YET?
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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on April 16, 2005 at 14:54:56 PT
To and from the spirit of truth.
  If We are, “Raising Medical Marijuana From The Dark Ages”, then it is important know where the Bible stands on the cannabis issue because of the brainwashing effects of disobedient Christians saying cannabis is evil. It isn’t an accident that God created all the seed-bearing plants and said they were all good, on literally the very first page in Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30? The only Biblical restriction placed on cannabis (kaneh bosm, before the King James Version) is that we use it with thanksgiving -- see 1 Timothy 4:1-5, where it even describes who will promote its prohibition as those who have fallen away from the faith.   The Federal government would like citizens to think cannabis is a chemical weapon of mass destruction; in reality, the table of the Lord is not defiled -- see Malachi 1:6-14, subtitled ¨Sin of the Priests" ( New American Standard Bible ). One reason to stop supporting cannabis prohibition is because when We obey Christ God Our Father and love one another (see John 14-16 & 1 John) We are able to receive the "spirit of truth"; You can not love someone and cage them for using what God says is good. Truthfully,
The Green Collar Worker
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