cannabisnews.com: Cannabis Law Leaves Open Key Question





Cannabis Law Leaves Open Key Question
Posted by CN Staff on January 06, 2006 at 08:32:20 PT
Editorial
Source: Newport Daily News
Providence, R.I. -- Now that the General Assembly has said it's legal for some people to smoke marijuana, we would like to know one thing: Where are they supposed to get it from? The answer, in most cases, will be: an illegal drug dealer. It blows our minds that the legislature supports such a thing. Tuesday's vote in the House of Representatives, which overrode a veto by the governor, made Rhode Island the 11th state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes.
If you can convince a doctor and the state Department of Health that you need pot for your pain or other symptoms, you'll be allowed to possess up to 2.5 ounces of the drug and grow up to 12 plants at home for your own use.The law also allows medical-marijuana users to designate two people as "caregivers," who can also legally obtain or grow the same amounts of weed.The problem is there is no one who can legally sell it to them. There are no "cannabis clubs" or growers' supply shops in Rhode Island, as there are in California (where the clubs have been declared illegal by federal courts and still are routinely shut down by law enforcement). There are no regulated outlets such as pharmacies that can provide the drug and guarantee its purity.There are, however, people who sell it - and who can be arrested for selling it. They get it from unidentified sources that may be as innocent as a hippie farmer in Vermont or as nefarious as a Mexican drug lord. Their product may be good, it may not be. And the profits from its sale may be the cause of robbery and violence.As we wrote in April, it just makes no sense that something can be legal to buy, but not legal to sell, nor for the state to encourage people to give their medicine money to illicit pot dealers.Yes, some of these sick people have been doing that all along. It's supposed to be compassionate to free them from the worry of getting busted. What the state should have done instead is free them from having to associate with illegal dealers in the first place.Medical marijuana has been approved only for people with some serious diseases, including AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, hepatitis C and multiple sclerosis. It's ridiculous to assume that everyone afflicted by such an illness will have the ability or willingness to find and patronize an illegal marijuana dealer, or find a "caregiver" who can.And growing marijuana is no simple solution. Few people have the knowledge, equipment, space and - above all - security to raise and mature the plants. Plus, the seeds they would use would, again, come from marijuana sold illegally.Before the law can be put into effect, the state must come up with a system for designating legal marijuana users and caregivers. Before that happens, the General Assembly needs to take up this issue again and find some way to allow everyone who needs this drug to obtain it safely and with dignity, as with any other medication. Source: Newport Daily News, The (RI)Published: Friday, January 06, 2006Copyright: 2006 Newport Daily NewsContact: Editor NewportRI.comWebsite: http://www.newportdailynews.com/Related Articles:Cheers, Concerns Greet Medical Marijuana Bill http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21446.shtmlPolitics of Painhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21444.shtmlLegislators OK Medical Use of Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21443.shtml 
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Comment #18 posted by unkat27 on January 07, 2006 at 05:52:45 PT
Free to Grow it, better than nuthin!
Well, at the very least, they will be able to grow their own and use it without fear of being informed on by neighbors and busted by the local cops. It's not really too hard to grow pot plants, as long as you don't have to hide it from your neighbors. That's a privilege i would like to have here in western Mass.
Mad Krow (just updated)
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Comment #17 posted by The GCW on January 06, 2006 at 19:33:08 PT
The way I read it...
"Where are they supposed to get it from? The answer, in most cases, will be: an illegal drug dealer. It blows our minds that the legislature supports such a thing." The legislature does NOT support illegal drug dealers.They voted to allow sick citizens to use cannabis; which is much different than voting to support illegal drug dealers.They voted to stop caging sick humans for using a plant.
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Comment #16 posted by runruff on January 06, 2006 at 19:05:46 PT:
That dog just won't hunt!
This was a favorite saying of Ol' LBJ. Johnny Pee's wishful
thinking saying, Well that as they say is that. [I'm paraphrasing of course.] Refering to the supreme snort decision last summer, LBJ would have said," Well that dog just won't hunt"! Texas lingo for bull$#!+. I say the drive ain't over 'till the last cow comes home. There's still a lot of cows out there in the bush and it ain't even getting dark yet. There's a lot of time 'tween now and supper and the salt licks and feed are in the corral that means all the cows will soon be home. Then we will wash off all the grime we picked along the trail. Have a nice hot soak. A great sperad on the dinner table, hot food-a-plenty. Then we will kick up our wool sock stuffed with cozy warm tootsies and fire up a fattie. Ahhh, now that smells like freedom my friends. 
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on January 06, 2006 at 16:56:58 PT
NPR: Now on Line
Rhode Island Legalizes Medical Marijuana By Anthony Brooks All Things Considered, January 6, 2006 · This week, Rhode Island became the latest state to legalize medical marijuana -- and the first since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that patients who use the drug can still be prosecuted under federal law. At that time, the White House drug policy office declared "the end of medical marijuana as a political issue." But with Rhode Island becoming the 11th state to legalize it, pro-medical marijuana groups say the issue is still alive and well.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5133456
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Comment #14 posted by ekim on January 06, 2006 at 14:58:26 PT
great little story of struggle
said one lawmaker has been tring for six years to pass a med cannabis bill.hope many listened-- and give a good thought that ONLY one Gov. veto could have stoped this bill like so many states before.
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on January 06, 2006 at 14:17:04 PT
ekim
I've been busy making dinner and checked and the program will be available it says at 7:30. Since I only want to hear about Rhode Island I thought I'd wait until the show is broken down and posted.
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Comment #12 posted by ekim on January 06, 2006 at 14:02:32 PT
well so much for the first hour of the show
here is hoping that they will still run the story.
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on January 06, 2006 at 11:39:45 PT
ekim
Thank you. I will check NPR out at 4.
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Comment #10 posted by ekim on January 06, 2006 at 11:01:48 PT
11 States and counting NPR All things considered
today at 4:pm on National public radio. about R.I. just overriding the Gov veto of Med Cannabis.
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Comment #9 posted by global_warming on January 06, 2006 at 10:41:04 PT
Its Symbolic
How long will the Feds remain in denial, when all the states have enacted similar symbolic legislation, will Calvina Fay continue to call all them lawyers and legislators idiots, fools who are easily tricked by drug legalizer's deceptive tricks?I wish I could dredge up the list of the 'nays on that Hinchey Amendment, all those that voted 'nay, do they fit on that dirty spreadsheet of Jack Abramoff and his filthy dirty bribe stained recipients.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on January 06, 2006 at 10:22:00 PT
Blows Our Minds 
My mind gets blown all the time. I love that expression. They seem to get it up north at least with this newspaper.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on January 06, 2006 at 10:19:29 PT
whig 
Neil's a wise dude! 
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Comment #6 posted by whig on January 06, 2006 at 10:18:42 PT
Poor minds all blown out
"It blows our minds that the legislature supports such a thing." Wow. That must be some potent legislation.
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Comment #5 posted by whig on January 06, 2006 at 10:17:50 PT
FoM
I agree with Neil, but I think I've said so before. :)
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Comment #4 posted by global_warming on January 06, 2006 at 10:12:34 PT
Cannabis Prohibition Makes No Sense
"it just makes no sense that something can be legal to buy, but not legal to sell,..Tuesday's vote in the House of Representatives, which overrode a veto by the governor, made Rhode Island the 11th state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. "Them dang lawyers up their in Rhode Island have slapped the face of them fat corrupted folks in DC, again and again, sure hope they give the money back that jack, I can just smell the stink and rot from that DC town.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on January 06, 2006 at 09:08:03 PT
whig
And as Neil Young says in his one song:Homegrown's alright with meHomegrown that's the way it should be
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Comment #2 posted by whig on January 06, 2006 at 08:56:27 PT
They want to know: Where do flowers come from?
Where have all the flowers gone?Long time passingWhere have all the flowers gone?Long time ago
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on January 06, 2006 at 08:48:24 PT
Medical Marijuana Advocates To Rally Against DEA 
January 06‚ 2006 Medical marijuana patients, caregivers, and advocates will rally at City Hall today to protest the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA’s) recent raid of the home of the owners of a local medical marijuana co-op. Last month, the DEA raided the apartment Catherine and Steve Smith’s, who operate the Hopenet Co-Op. Federal officials then tried to raid the co-op itself, despite their lack of a warrant to do so, but were stopped by nearby citizens and members of the co-op. The protest will call on Mayor Gavin Newsom to stand with medical marijuana advocates against federal raids upon pot clubs in San Francisco. The protest will be from 1 pm to 6 pm. http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=2812
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