cannabisnews.com: Manistee Doctor Supporting Marijuana Initiative





Manistee Doctor Supporting Marijuana Initiative
Posted by CN Staff on October 16, 2008 at 09:54:19 PT
By Kevin Braciszeski, Daily News Staff Writer
Source: Ludington Daily News 
Michigan -- The U.S. government’s 1937 Marihuana Tax Act made marijuana possession illegal throughout the country and the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 continued the federal ban.Many states, however, have recognized that marijuana use can be beneficial for patients with some debilitating diseases and several states passed laws allowing its use for medical reasons.
Michigan’s voters will decide Nov. 4 if the state will join the others who allow marijuana use for specified medical conditions, although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that the federal government can still prosecute patients using marijuana for medical reasons.‘… her nausea disappeared’Dr. George Wagoner of Manistee said the proposal is flawed, but he supports it and said he will do everything he can for the rest of his life to make marijuana available for medical use.The proposal is flawed, Wagoner said, because it still will not allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to people who need it, but it will at least make it legal for people to use it in Michigan for medical reasons.Wagoner made his decision to support legalization of marijuana for medical use after seeing how it helped ease his wife’s suffering before her death of ovarian cancer in July.Beverly Wagoner’s cancer was diagnosed in January and she suffered from severe nausea after chemotherapy treatments and could not eat.“She took all the prescribed medications but they didn’t work,” he said. “There was Zofran, and that cost $47 a pill but the good news was I could afford them, but it didn’t work. It helped a little bit but didn’t help her quality of life.”Wagoner said he discussed the issue with his family physician, who told him he’d heard for 20 years that marijuana use was good for treating nausea caused by chemotherapy. That doctor couldn’t prescribe marijuana for Beverly, but did prescribe Merinol, which is a synthetic form of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.“My wife took one pill and then a second (hours later) and it lessened the nausea, but produced hallucinations and she wouldn’t take it anymore,” Wagoner said. “I was feeling pretty helpless at this time and told my friends in Manistee if I could purchase marijuana I certainly would.“The next day, a small amount of marijuana appeared in my kitchen,” he said.He and Beverly had no experience with marijuana or smoking so they had to figure out a way to use it.His first attempt was to make tea with some marijuana leaves.“She promptly threw it up,” he recalled, adding that he couldn’t put it in brownies because she couldn’t eat them.He then looked for a pipe at local gas stations, but didn’t find any so he decided to make a pipe at home using wood for a bowl and a plastic straw for a stem.“I put a pinch of marijuana in that bowl and lit it and my wife took two breaths, two breaths, that’s all, and her nausea disappeared. It just left for the first time in hours,” Wagoner said.Beverly’s nausea disappeared for six hours at a time as she repeated her smoking for three or four days, he said, until the worst of her nausea was over.“It was very, very effective and the only drug that was effective,” he said.Wagoner noted that doctors can prescribe morphine for patients but not marijuana and said the government’s classification system for the drugs is wrong. He said he’s working to push for reclassification.“But that’s going to take a long time and I feel it’s far too important to wait — there are many people on chemotherapy now and they shouldn’t be made to wait for it,” he said.He’s also heard marijuana may help in the treatment of diseases, but said he’ll leave those potential benefits for others to study.Wagoner attended a recent meeting of the Michigan Sheriff’s Association, he said, and learned the organization is taking a stand against Proposal 1.“I certainly wouldn’t want to make their job harder, but street use is a different story,” he said about marijuana, adding that he believes it is already available illegally in every town in the country and doesn’t think Proposal 1 would make a difference to street use of the drug.“I’ll do everything I can the rest of my life to make marijuana available for medical use,” Wagoner said. “People should not have to break the law, as I did, to obtain relief.”‘… more harm than good’Mason County Sheriff Hartrum opposes the proposal.“I think marijuana is bad in the first place and I think the use of medical marijuana should be dictated by science, not public opinion,” Hartrum said. “I think ultimately, it will do more harm than good,” he said about the possibility of the proposal passing. “The reality is that marijuana is a gateway to other drugs and once it’s legalized for one use … special interest groups will chip away at the legislation in attempts to get it legalized.“It’s a slippery slope.” Hartrum also said he’s not sure people need to use marijuana for medical reasons because he said there are other medicines patients can use in place of the illegal drug.And the law would cost taxpayers money, he said.“It would be hard to enforce and you would have to create a new bureaucracy to govern it and we don’t have the money to fund the bureaucracy we have now,” Hartrum said.Source: Ludington Daily News (MI)Author: Kevin Braciszeski, Daily News Staff WriterPublished: Thursday, October 16, 2008Copyright: 2008 Ludington Daily NewsWebsite: http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/Contact: sbegnoche ludingtondailynews.comRelated Articles & Web Sites:Stop Arresting Patientshttp://www.stoparrestingpatients.org/Officials Ask Voters To Nix Pot Proposalhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24228.shtmlIt's Immoral To Not Vote 'Yes' on Onehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24225.shtml
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Comment #46 posted by E_Johnson on October 17, 2008 at 21:05:46 PT
Thanks everyone
I have to confess though, sometimes I like to explain things so much, people don't like to talk to me at parties. OH well. :-)
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Comment #45 posted by Nicodemus on October 17, 2008 at 15:59:59 PT
Comment #43  Jurisprudence And Religion
Thanks EJ.
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Comment #44 posted by Hope on October 17, 2008 at 15:35:42 PT
E_Johnson
Thank you very much.I've just noticed you're good at explaining things, at helping people, me anyway, make connections that I didn't get before. I think it's a gift some people have and many don't.The first time I ever really noticed it in anyone was in a high school friend of mine. In one study hall session of less than an hour, she made me understand algebra, at which I was floundering, and made me understand enough that I did well enough on a final test... not to fail it. I'd never failed anything. I always made good grades... but I'd failed my last six weeks algebra test, not a little, but miserably.
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Comment #43 posted by E_Johnson on October 17, 2008 at 15:15:03 PT
Gosh Hope I'm very flattered
Let me try. I think the original colonies had very diverse populations and different varieties of Christianity and the people who wrote the Constitution realized that the country would have a hard time staying together if the people who controlled federal government were allowed to boss the states around too much. Unfortunately, Americans in the different regions were SO different that they weren't all ready to let go of the revenue from slavery at the same time and we had a war.Same thing with Jim Crow, still fighting that old war.That's how states rights got a bad name -- because not everyone was ready to let go of slavery and Jim Crow at the same time and the federal government had to step in and make them all let go by force, because they were holding the nation back from fulfilling its ideals of freedom and equality for EVERYONE.On the other hand, the War on Drugs has actually just been a giant nationwide experiment. There was never any scientific proof that any of this would work and now we see right here on this website that it doesn't work. The drug use rates fluctuate but they're not heading towards zero by any means.This war has been a failed experiment that has failed on everyone in the country all at once. So this brings up another side of states rights. A failed experiment on a state is a lot smaller failure than a failed experiment on the whole country. Individual states can experiment with social policy. The states can try new ideas out on a small scale to see if they work first before they are applied to all Americans at once.It's too risky for the federal government to be an innovator and an experimenter. The states should be the innovators and experimenters in policy. The policies that work in the states can then be lifted up to federal level.Unfortunately this is not how the War on Drugs was designed. Nobody wanted any experimentation, because they thought they had all the morally obvious answers already.The argument became: "It's morally obvious that drugs are evil, so let's do this experiment on the whole country all at once and punish everyone who doesn't want to go along."And here we are, telling them, "Your big experiment hasn't worked, so we want the right to run a smaller experiment with a different approach from yours."
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Comment #42 posted by Nicodemus on October 17, 2008 at 14:19:35 PT
re: Comment 21
The Moon is Broken Come On Up To The House.Here at The Broken Foot it is time, Light The FiresThe Everlasting Awaits Your Answer.Here In The Mix, It is my personal vote, where I may say somewhere into my Most Final Destiny.The Politics and The Most Tired Elections, Be It Understood EVERY participant has A place, Prepare To Receive Your Instructions, be Complete Be Full.If you did not inhale you missed The Most Complete Experience and now you ask do I have a soul?Welcome ObamaLight The Fires
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Comment #41 posted by FoM on October 17, 2008 at 11:52:18 PT
Hope
I guess I don't think that deeply about what it all means. I see states that are so behind the times that they seem almost light years behind the most progressive state which I believe is California. My state is one of them. Pennsylvania was progressive and when we moved out here many years ago we felt like we took steps back in time. 
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Comment #40 posted by Hope on October 17, 2008 at 11:47:00 PT
EJ has that marvelous gift 
I've seen in people from time to time over the years.An astounding ability to get a person (like me) to understand things that seem overly complicated or incomprehensible. 
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Comment #39 posted by Hope on October 17, 2008 at 11:41:46 PT
E_Johnson
Could explain the State's Rights issues to you that would be understandable and give you a real idea of what it's about.EJ?
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Comment #38 posted by Hope on October 17, 2008 at 11:02:42 PT
That's what quite a few people think of
when they think of State's Rights. But it's actually a whole lot more than that. Actually it's not even about that... although that's what was put forth as an excuse for the secession that led to the Civil War.Part of the agreements the states go into to be part of the federal union is that they retain a certain degree of autonomy.  It was, and is, very important, for many reasons."When I think of state's rights I think of states that don't like the rest of us ( states ) and want to do their own thing which was slavery."
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Comment #37 posted by FoM on October 17, 2008 at 10:07:16 PT
State's Rights
As far as politics go I don't get a lot of things. When I think of state's rights I think of states that don't like the rest of us ( states ) and want to do their own thing which was slavery. To me using state's right's as an issue is more like politicians trying to scapegoat on an issue instead of changing the law or honestly addressing the issue. That's simple but that's how I see it.
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Comment #36 posted by Hope on October 17, 2008 at 09:48:01 PT
Dongenero
In other words... You're so right... and I agree.
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Comment #35 posted by Hope on October 17, 2008 at 09:16:48 PT
The Interstate Commerce Clause
Drug war exceptions to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights....All we'd likely see from the supreme justices is a boatload of bull cockey delivered up in their judgment to keep from having to do the right thing.Excuses. Excuses.You never know... but you can look at history and come up with a pretty good estimation.
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Comment #34 posted by dongenero on October 17, 2008 at 08:39:36 PT
comment 24
It will be interesting to see this suit against state's rights go to the Supreme Court.It is time to test the hypocrisy of the supposedly federalist, republican led, conservative US Supreme Court.
You always hear them blow their horn about smaller federal government, how abortion rights should be decided at the state level, how the federal government should not meddle in every aspect of one's life. Well, if that's the case, the feds have no business in thinking they supersede California's propositions 215. It will be interesting to see the struggle between consistency, reason and hypocrisy. The use of the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution as a basis for the federal drug laws, is as ridiculous as it was when Nixon put it in motion. On the other hand, I think the conservatives on the Supreme Court are as shameless and arrogant as any of the neo-cons such as Cheney, Wolfowitz and all the other PNAC gang. They probably don't mind being blatant hypocrites. What are you going to do about it? 
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Comment #33 posted by FoM on October 17, 2008 at 06:47:06 PT
Robin and Beth RIP
May they Rest in Peace and know we will keep trying for as long as we are able.
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Comment #32 posted by The GCW on October 17, 2008 at 05:24:27 PT
DUMB cops.
The cop in this article along with other ones like Him are a bunch of crap speaking people & are more harmful to America / Michigan than cannabis could ever be.DUMB IGNOIDS.Why do I dislike cops?Listen to them speak!
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Comment #31 posted by afterburner on October 17, 2008 at 00:07:06 PT
fight_4_freedom #2 & #25 yard signs & Robin
Thank you for your hard work and enthusiasm in helping to get Proposal 1 passed. Just a suggestion. When the campaign is over, win (likely) or lose (unlikely, despite the federal and local leo interference), please take responsibility to remove the then clutter of old yard signs. That would be appreciated by those who are lukewarm to Proposal 1. Good will.Thanks too, for the Robin Prosser A Tribute MPP TV link. My modem is too slow to load the video tonight, but I bookmarked it for later viewing.
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Comment #30 posted by Hope on October 16, 2008 at 22:56:50 PT
Thank you, Goneposthole!
That was great. I love it!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nTSU-mFWGs&feature=user
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Comment #29 posted by Hope on October 16, 2008 at 22:28:53 PT
Beth Wehrman has passed away.
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n943/a01.html?397US IA: Elizabeth Wehrmanhttp://www.mapinc.org/images/BethWehrman.jpg
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Comment #28 posted by Hope on October 16, 2008 at 22:24:15 PT
Comment 26
I know enough not to get excited about what good might happen from this reaching the venerable justices and dignity of the Supreme Court. But... the old San Diego City Council just might lose again... depending on how Federalist the court might feel that day. Wouldn't that be ironic?:0)
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Comment #27 posted by Hope on October 16, 2008 at 22:18:30 PT
Robin
Thank you, Fight_for_Freedom.I knew that was going to be hard... and it was. But it was so beautiful and so beautifully done. MBC/Robin would be so thankful and so honored, I think. It's beautiful.Thank you, MPP.
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Comment #26 posted by John Tyler on October 16, 2008 at 20:02:02 PT
San Diego
California is running a $7 billion deficit I have heard, so why is San Diego blowing hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe even millions of dollars appealing a lawsuit they have already lost three times. Do they have that much money to waste? Are they idiots or ideologues or what? Where does their stupidity end? I bet if they were spending their own money they would be more frugal.
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Comment #25 posted by fight_4_freedom on October 16, 2008 at 20:00:20 PT
Thank you Marijuana Policy Project
http://tv.mpp.org/shorts/robin-prosser-a-tribute/I don't think this has been posted yet, but in case it has I'm sorry.This future win in Michigan is for you Robin. Rest in Peace.
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Comment #24 posted by Storm Crow on October 16, 2008 at 19:29:35 PT
OT- MMJ suit rejected by Cali Court! 
http://www.10news.com/news/17736810/detail.html?rss=sand&psp=newsSuit Challenging Medical Marijuana Law RejectedPOSTED: 4:52 pm PDT October 16, 2008SAN DIEGO -- A lawsuit filed by San Diego and two other counties challenging California's medical marijuana law was rejected Thursday by the state's highest court, but will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, a county counsel said.San Diego, Merced and San Bernardino counties sued the state in February 2006, claiming federal laws banning marijuana use and possession supercedes Proposition 215, a state measure approved by voters in 1996 that allows pot dispensaries to sell the drug to people who have a doctor's prescription.The counties' challenge was rejected by the San Diego Superior Court in 2006, and that court's decision was upheld in July by the 4th District Court of Appeal.The California Supreme Court today declined to review the appellate court's decision.The lower and appellate courts found that the state's program for issuing ID cards to medical marijuana users is valid and does not violate the state constitution.San Diego County will appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court within 90 days, (snipped)
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Comment #23 posted by FoM on October 16, 2008 at 19:16:26 PT
 goneposthole 
Just enjoy the show! I sure agree. It was very good.
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Comment #22 posted by goneposthole on October 16, 2008 at 18:53:59 PT
ot: some great talent on this earth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nTSU-mFWGs&feature=user
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Comment #21 posted by museman on October 16, 2008 at 18:33:07 PT
Nicodemus
"You Gotta Up To The House."Dig it!That is, if by 'House' you mean the 'big' house we're livin' in. (which I am inclined to interpret) If by chance you mean the 'house' as in the political casino, well..thats a different story.
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Comment #20 posted by museman on October 16, 2008 at 18:12:06 PT
Obama
Is just a man. Is he a better man than McCain? It certainly appears that way, at least in terms of political polarities. Anyone who can support the policies we have witnessed and suffered under since Nixon extablished his little constitutional coup with the NSA (now well established and metamorphed into the HSA, and the Patriot Act,) -creating the 'politics-as-usual' republican 'moral compass' of getting in the pockets of the rich and powerful -and staying there- has got to be either a wealthy republican, an idiot, or has lived in suspended animation for 40 years and just woke up. -and I stand by that as a fact, not an 'opinion.' (although I may have left out a few hundred or so other undesirable characteristics of a 'republican')The Republican Way is Roman. That's so fine for the endowed, but the rest of us 'people' have had enough. The world has had enough. The Democrats aren't much better, but in contrast to the last 8 years, even Slick Willie looks pretty good.To place all of ones hopes and dreams in a political figure, or leader, is in my opinion foolish and naive. And it may play out to be just a mellowing, a slight slow down in the juggernaught velocity towards destruction, but at this point Barak Obama is a straw well worth clutching at.Just the fact that a half white, half black man actually is running for president, and is most likely even going to win, is the biggest statement of all. The bigots, racists, and rich-white-and-right have ruled the world for long enough. Perhaps, just perhaps, THE PEOPLE are ready to RULE THEMSELVES. Ya think?FREE SKUNKWEED FOR EVERYONE
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on October 16, 2008 at 17:26:56 PT
McCain
He's a heck of a lot better then McCain. His social issue concerns are my concerns. He might only go as far as leaving state's alone that have medical marijuana laws but that's a beginning. He isn't a messiah but a thoughtful, calm, and intelligent man.
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Comment #18 posted by Mark Entre on October 16, 2008 at 17:19:50 PT:
Don't bet on Obama for help
Obama has consistently towed the line on every Democrat issue. Which includes maintaining prohibition. Obama will not be legalizing anything. He's for keeping government as big as possible. Legalizing marijuana would mean the reduction of government. Namely jobs in the DEA/ONDCP/NIDA complex. Proof of this is the fact that Obama picked our nations meanest drug warrior for VP. Biden helped fashion the property seizure laws for even small amounts of drugs. He helped create the Paraphrenalia laws that made it more of a crime to own accessoreis than the drugs themselves in many cases. He helped create the ONDCP and coined the term 'Drug Czar'. All of which he is very proud of. He is one of the most self-righteous, condesending men in politics. So, please, give it a rest about OBAMA being the new messiah.
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Comment #17 posted by goneposthole on October 16, 2008 at 16:35:13 PT
It won't ever be accepted as medicine by TPTB
Even though cannabis is legitimate medicine. Any amount of freedom for the average Joe out there in Murka is much too dangerous.If the drug war would end, there would be plenty of money for real crime enforcement. All of these make believe crimes surrounding marijuana is good for law enforcement. It's a meal ticket for them. You suffer because of it.Let the people of Michigan decide. They have brains and can reason. If it is ok with them to have legal medical cannabis, so be it. Let them lead the way and stop the madness.
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on October 16, 2008 at 16:21:00 PT
EJ I Agree
Now all we have to do is ride these next 3 months out until Obama is sworn in.
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Comment #15 posted by E_Johnson on October 16, 2008 at 16:06:59 PT
FoM I have three answers to your question
obama
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Comment #14 posted by Nicodemus on October 16, 2008 at 15:35:56 PT
re: The Raids
It is my personal opinion that most of us people live in a wicked world.Let Me Not Forget My Neighbor In The Deeper Grass Consider passing along this record and complete testimonie somewhere into your most Spirtual Considerrations, The World Is Not My Own, You Gotta Up To The House,
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on October 16, 2008 at 15:28:15 PT
Nicodemus and EJ
I think I understand.EJ, will they ever stop these raids? 
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Comment #12 posted by E_Johnson on October 16, 2008 at 15:20:56 PT
Dispensary raids in progress
Long Beach, Laguna Beach and Hayward so far.
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Comment #11 posted by Nicodemus on October 16, 2008 at 15:13:33 PT
re: My Relationship To Museman
Let it not be Confirmed as another member in The Belief That Every Child Is A Member In The Most Complete Experience, Be Well and Find Completeness in that Place in Eternity.
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on October 16, 2008 at 14:53:34 PT
Nicodemus
I can't help but ask. Are you related to Museman? 
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Comment #9 posted by Nicodemus on October 16, 2008 at 14:13:19 PT
re : Obama
Cannabis and Complete Human UnderstandingGather and Become Free 
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Comment #8 posted by potpal on October 16, 2008 at 13:39:22 PT
Mister Hartrum
“I think ultimately, it will do more harm than good..." Don't believe everything you think.
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Comment #7 posted by CanadianGanjaman on October 16, 2008 at 13:17:24 PT
Yeah...
Awesomely Hilarious.
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Comment #6 posted by Hope on October 16, 2008 at 13:13:11 PT
This article
is stunning.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on October 16, 2008 at 12:46:02 PT
potpal
Me either.
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Comment #4 posted by potpal on October 16, 2008 at 12:32:35 PT
a giggle
It wasn't lost on me that the final prez debate took place in Hempstead...NY. A place where hemp was so prevalent that those living there took its name. Imagine that. 
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Comment #3 posted by Hope on October 16, 2008 at 12:10:57 PT
The czar was saying those machines
were "rampant" out in California. I was wondering how many would qualify as "rampant" to him?
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Comment #2 posted by fight_4_freedom on October 16, 2008 at 11:00:31 PT
MPP blog post about the Drug Czar in Michigan
http://blog.mpp.org/?p=180They say the czar even brought a seized vending machine from California as part of his presentation. Definitely worth a read.Plus you can take a look at the yard signs that we have in a picture of supporters at one of the czar's press conferences.
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Comment #1 posted by HempWorld on October 16, 2008 at 10:10:39 PT
"think the use of medical marijuana should be dict
ated by science, not public opinion"And this comes out of the mouth of a Sheriff who is discrediting the scientific opinion and proof by a doctor?Simply astounding! If this isn't proof we live in a police state, what is?
On a mission from God!
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