cannabisnews.com: Officials Hash Out Medical Marijuana Officials Hash Out Medical Marijuana Posted by CN Staff on November 26, 2007 at 06:50:54 PT By Andy Sher, Nashville Bureau Source: Times Free Press Nashville, TN -- With 40 years experience as a licensed health care professional, Rep. JoAnne Favors, D-Chattanooga, said she thinks legislation legalizing the medicinal use of marijuana in limited circumstances deserves consideration by state lawmakers."Being a health professional, I can see advantages," said Rep. Favors, a registered nurse, citing marijuana's effect in areas such as reducing nausea for cancer patients on chemotherapy. "At this point, I think we need to study just a little more." But Rep. Vince Dean, R-East Ridge, who retired after 27 years from the Chattanooga Police Department as a sergeant, said he worries about the criminal downside of legalization."It's my understanding that in California, where it is legalized for medicinal purposes, it's basically become a legal way for having a storefront (business) for marijuana," Rep. Dean said.The use of medical marijuana, already legal in 12 states, recently came before Rep. Favors and other members of a legislative study committee.Lawmakers heard testimony Nov. 13 on a bill sponsored by Rep. Sherry Jones, D-Nashville, that seeks to legalize medicinal use of marijuana in Tennessee for people with a terminal illness or injury. Members of a House health and human resources subcommittee approved the bill last spring, but it stalled in a Senate committee.Sen. Andy Berke, D-Chattanooga, said the medical use of marijuana could be a "slippery slope with illegal drugs.""As someone who has had family members in intense pain, I sympathize with those who want to use every recourse possible to soothe them," said Sen. Berke, who was sworn into office last week after winning a special election for the District 10 seat. "But the policy of keeping our drug trade illegal is too important."During the Nov. 13 hearing, lawmakers and witnesses sparred over the medicinal value of marijuana versus the problem of controlling even limited use.Dr. Kent Shih, a Nashville-based cancer specialist, said active ingredients in smoked or ingested marijuana have been found to have some benefits for cancer patients and in some other medical areas.But he argued relief is very short-lived, and smoked or ingested marijuana is not as effective as synthetic drugs. Marijuana "is a clumsy and not a very practical drug," Dr. Shih said.Former Sen. David Fowler, R-Signal Mountain, who now heads the conservative Family Action Council of Tennessee, told lawmakers that his teenage daughter, who recently lived in Los Angeles, "tells me of the medicinal marijuana pot houses that become places of drug indulgence on the weekends."The chief scientist of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Dr. David Murray, urged lawmakers to reject legalizing medicinal use of the drug.Dr. Murray said that in some states dispensaries for the drug quickly changed from "houses of compassion to outlets for drug dealing."But Rep. Jones, the bill's sponsor, said her bill is "not about making marijuana legal across the state. This is strictly for medical reasons, only to help people feel better. Any suggestion that there might be something hidden in the legislation is absurd."Rep. Jones, who remains unsure whether she will push the bill next year, said the legislation restricts and regulates the production and distribution of marijuana.But in Tennessee, which the U.S. Justice Department ranked as No. 3 among states in 2005 and 2006 for marijuana production, legalization of limited production has Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Assistant Director William Benson nervous."I believe there are safer drugs," he told lawmakers.During the hearing, Rep. Favors, who once headed the Southside/Dodson Avenue Community Health Centers, took issue at the hearing with Dr. Shih's concerns about the smoking of marijuana."I (have) 40 years experience in health care, which includes hospice, which includes any area from the womb to the tomb," Rep. Favors said. "I have seen situations where hospice is not able to provide effective treatment without giving them dosages which could be classified as euthanasia."Nathan Miller with the Marijuana Policy Project, a legalization advocacy group, said figures don't support claims that legalizing medicinal marijuana encourages usage among teens.He said figures show that in all but one of the 12 states with medical marijuana laws, teen use declined.Most local lawmakers said they are opposed to legalizing marijuana for medicinal use.Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, noted that in California the situation "has gotten really out of control."Rep. Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, said he opposes the legislation and noted that when he began asking questions of some proponents, "they wanted to start growing stuff in their back yards."Rep. Richard Floyd, R-Chattanooga, called medicinal use of marijuana a "terrible idea."Paul Kuhn, of Nashville, a board member of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws whose cancer-stricken wife used marijuana before her death, said surveys show the public supports legalization for medicinal use."I don't think there is a single issue which has more public support than medical marijuana," he said.Rep. Tommie Brown, D-Chattanooga, a cancer survivor, said she needs to know more before making a decision."If this is what the medical profession feels is helpful, then certainly I would want to take a look at it," she said. "The issue is always how you control it. ... How do we control it and keep it out of illegal hands?"Source: Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN)Author: Andy Sher, Nashville BureauPublished: Monday, November 26, 2007Copyright: 2007 Chattanooga Publishing Co.Contact: letters timesfreepress.comWebsite: http://www.timesfreepress.com/Related Article & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/ MMJ Proposal Debated in Legislative Committeehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23473.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #7 posted by greenmed on December 01, 2007 at 10:39:15 PT permalink for link in Comment #4 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/20/AR2007112001777.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on November 26, 2007 at 13:55:35 PT Storm Crow You're very welcome. I have this link bookmarked and when I have a long url I pasted in this link and it converts it to a shorter url. That also helps when you want to send a long url to someone in e-mail too.http://tinyurl.com/create.php [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Storm Crow on November 26, 2007 at 13:40:46 PT No problem, FoM! I am such a computer dummy and didn't know how to fix it right! Thank you! [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by greenmed on November 26, 2007 at 12:15:34 PT OT - MDMA for PTSD The Peace DrugAfter decades of wariness about hallucinogenic drugs, researchers are now measuring the theraputic effects of MDMA, or ecstasy, in a government-approved clinical study. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/print/washpostmagazine/An email address and login may be required. As it is a no-pay site, the following may be used to avoid registering, if you wish:freethepress freethepress.orgfreethepress [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by potpal on November 26, 2007 at 08:20:43 PT Jeez... What idiots run this world.'places of drug indulgence'? oh, you mean like bars, cafes, night clubs, casinos, starbucks, taverns, tobacco shops, cigar stores...How do we control it and keep it out of illegal hands?Well, they been working on that one for 70 years and what do we got? The whole zillion dollar industry is now in illegal hands and cannabis can be obtained anywhere by anyone at anytime. You lose. Everybody's growing it, taking a seed and sowing it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on November 26, 2007 at 07:06:16 PT Storm Crow I'm going to remove your post because it is throwing off the page but I am posting it for you using tiny url. I hope you don't mind.http://tinyurl.com/ypl5wh [ Post Comment ] Post Comment