Posted on 06/26/2006 8:22:44 AM PDT by bassmaner
If ever a piece of legislation should pass readily through the U.S. House of Representatives, it is a measure sponsored by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., and Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., that would prevent the Department of Justice from using tax dollars to prosecute medical-marijuana patients in states that have legalized medical marijuana. Because it is a good bill, expect it to fail.
Polls show that some three out of four Americans support allowing doctors to prescribe medical marijuana for patients who need it. Members must know that constituents within their districts use marijuana to control pain and nausea -- their families would like to live without the fear of prosecution. As Time Magazine reported last year, research shows that the drug has salutary "analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects."
Republicans should be drawn to the states' rights angle of the bill, while Democrats should go for the personal stories of constituents who have found relief, thanks to medical marijuana.
Yet when the House last voted on the measure in 2005, it tanked in a 264-162 vote. As the House is scheduled to consider the measure this week, few expect the measure to pass. "I wish I could tell you it's going to pass," Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Bruce Mirken conceded by phone last week. "I can't realistically expect that."
Over the last decade, two big hurdles existed: Republicans and Democrats. Last year, a mere 15 Repubs voted for the measure -- down from 19 GOP members who supported it in 2004. On the other side of the aisle, Democrats are moving toward the light. In 1998, the Clinton Justice Department filed suit against California medical-marijuana clubs. Last year, however, an impressive 145 Dems voted for Hinchey-Rohrabacher.
Martin Chilcutt of Kalamazoo, Mich., has written to his local GOP congressman, Rep. Fred Upton. A veteran who believes he got cancer because of his military service, Chilcutt told me that his Veterans Administration hospital doctors supported his use of medical marijuana when he had cancer.
Upton's office told me that Upton believes Marinol, the legal synthetic drug that includes the active ingredient in marijuana, should do the trick.
I asked Chilcutt if he had tried the drug. "I don't like Marinol at all," Chilcutt replied. It takes too long to work, it is hard to calibrate the dose you need, and "it made me feel weird." He prefers marijuana because it works instantly -- "You can control the amount you're using, and you get instant feedback."
Upton also fears sending the wrong message to kids about marijuana. But federal law has long allowed the sick access to needed pain control with drugs more powerful than marijuana. Only bad politics can account for the fact that marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substances Act, and thus deemed more harmful than cocaine and morphine -- drugs that can kill users who overdose.
Alex Holstein, a former GOP operative and conservative activist, is lobbying Republicans on behalf of the Marijuana Policy Project. He believes that regardless of their position on medical marijuana, Repubs in the California delegation should support Hinchey-Rohrabacher because state voters approved Proposition 215 -- and Republicans should stand up for states' rights and the will of California voters.
As it is, President Bush should direct the Justice Department to lay off medical-marijuana users -- because it is the right thing to do for sick people.
It's not as if the administration doesn't know how to sit on its hands and not enforce existing law. Last week, The Washington Post reported that under Bush, the number of employers prosecuted for hiring illegal aliens plummeted from 182 in 1999 to four in 2003.
If the Bushies can look the other way when well-heeled employers break the law, they can look the other way when sick people try to relieve unnecessary pain.
I love it when druggies get all smart sounding while arguing that dope is a good thing...
Tenth Amendment? You do realize you're talking about Republicans don't you? The party that did more than any other to destroy the Tenth Amendment. Fat chance of that happening....
He fully supports state's rights to do as they please about medical marijuana,,,,and fully supports the DEA's right to do as they please as well. What's a politician about, if not pleasing others?
As opposed to how this clever bit of repartee makes you seem all smart-sounding.
LOL...True!
Just like we have the manpower to overfly every house in the nation three or so times a year to be sure that none has a reefer patch, but don't have enough manpower to control the borders.
If THAT isn't goofy enough.....
Nope, it was a complete cheap shot devoid of any discernable wit, intellectual justification, or significant social commentary.
But, all the same, I still find pot-heads amusing.
No, because it failed miserably in 2003, 2004 and 2005, expect it to fail miserably in 2006.
You're suggesting the cancer patient smoke marijuana? Where, in his hospital room? With a supressed immune system due to the chemo, you're not concerned about a fungal or bacterial infection from the marijuana?
Eh, doctor?
How much of a share is the government getting today? Zero, zip, nada.
"Alcohol sales would plummet, along with the tax revenue it generates."
So you're saying people will switch from alcohol to marijuana? Now why would they do that? People are going to take up smoking? They'll throw away the Glenlivet and grab some Acapulco Gold?
So you can take your lame excuse for this massive increase in business for a substance that will have the entire bayboom host arriving on the old-age scene with huge cognitive impaiment and scamming the GovernMental Medicaid Welfare System to pay for their danged Nursing Home and other chronic pot induced disabilities!!!
You don't love freedom, or the State's Rights... you just love your dope-smokin, maggot-infested, FM type friends and the illegal drug trafficing they're doin in my community! I can't even find a parking place at my Post Office that shares a parking lot with the phony "Pot Dr.!" What a farce!!!
The first thing a pot smoker did when I walked onto a job was to tell me how great a day he was having and how much work he had done when in reality he hadn't done s**t and what little he had done was crappy work.
It's when the checkbook came out of my pocket!
Of course, because politicians from both sides of the aisle are gutless cowards on this issue because of Drug Warrior demagogery, especially if they're not in a 'safe' district. Since there's no aggrieved victim class to pander to, the 'Rats won't touch it. And because there's corporate and law enforcement interest in keeping it illegal, the Pubbies won't touch it, either.
Imagine the campaign spots in a close congressional race if 1 of the 2 major party candidates supports this measure ... "my opponent supports making dangerous drugs more available to your children ... I will fight to keep them out of their hands blah blah blah ...". I'd bet you'd just love to write the script for that, rp! :^)
I hope you fired the slug for incompetence.
It's even funnier when they go all patriotic and start talking about the constitution and freedom and liberty and Tenth amendment -- but only for marijuana, not all drugs.
Who says they haven't?
"Hamadeh and associates. Chest, Vol. 94/2, pp.432-433, 1988. "Invasive aspergillosis has become a significant cause of death in immunosuppressed patients". Physicians should be aware of this potentially lethal complication of marijuana use in compromised hosts such as patients with AIDS or malignancies.)"
"Transplantation, Vol. 61, June 27, 1996. (Marijuana smoke transmits aspergillosis, a fungus having up to a 90% fatality rate if contracted by transplant patients. Researchers have strongly warned against the use of marijuana in immuno-compromised patients such as those with AIDS, chronic granulomatous disease, bone marrow transplants and those receiving chemotherapy for small cell lung cancer.)"
"Voth EA, Schwartz RH. Medicinal applications of delta 9 THC and marijuana: a perspective. Annals of Internal Medicine 1997: 126:791-8. (Marijuana is not a panacea. It is an impure weed that introduces immuno compromised patients to bacteria, fungi, and other toxic complications. We recommend sticking with predictable medical therapies and not deviating from FDA approved medicine in exchange for herbal remedies"
Both drug use and performance.
I had no tolerance for drinking or dope, "0"!
Oh! I suppose you live on San Juan ridge in Nevada County, right? Holy smokes!!! I don't care how long you and your family has lived here before this "flatlander" arrived 30 years ago, what I said is still fully and absolutely correct in spite of your smug sophistry!!!
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