An editorial “Worth debating” opens “Seven months ago, state Rep. Mark Cohen, D-Philadelphia, sparked a minor controversy when he proposed legislation to allow medical marijuana use in Pennsylvania….Fourteen states currently allow doctors to prescribe marijuana for certain medical conditions. Thirteen other states have decriminalization laws on the books.”
It ends, “Cohen’s bill offers those on both sides of the issue a chance to discuss whether marijuana has medical uses. If not, not harm has been done by holding hearings on the topic. If so, it should not be that difficult for the state Legislature to assemble legislation that would enable the chronically ill to use prescription marijuana while protecting the state from using it illegally.”
WATCHDOG: The Steinman family has long been supportive of enlightened harm reduction policies for illegal drugs. Our publisher sensed (without evidence) that they were virtually a tacit partner behind the governmental scenes when he co-founded the syringe exchange at Bethel AME with Rev. Edward Bailey. Certainly a positive editorial in the Intell at the time concerning syringe exchanges was influential.
Three wags of the tail for the Intell’s current progressive stand. A compilation of governmental and peer review research on the issue can be found under Medical Marijuana at DrugWarFacts.org.
I have not smoked for years, however in 2005 I had severe back pain and found that marijuana provided relief from the pain. (I have not smoked marijuana since August of 2006) I was prescribed pain killers, however they made me too drowsy to work.
I also have been advocating that persons that smoke v. drinking alcohol are less dangerous on the road; not to say I am in any way encouraging that persons should smoke and drive. I am merely arguing that there is less risk of accidents under the influence of marijuana v. alcohol.
I am waiting for Pennsylvania to pass the current legislation concerning medical marijuana – I will be one of the first in line.
Today, January 4, 2010 in the Editorial, the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal stated the following:
“Although some suggest marijuana has no medical uses, anecdotal evidence suggests that smoking marijuana can relieve debilitating pain and the loss of appetite associated with cancer and AIDS treatments.
“And a decade-old study done by the Institute of Medicine, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, did not find any evidence to suggest marijuana is a ‘gateway” drug that would lead people to use hard drugs.
“Whether marijuana is no more medicinal than ‘a bunch of burning leaves,” as state Rep. Katie True famously said, or is an effective pain reliever is open to debate. Cohen’s bill offers those on both sides of the issue a chance to discuss whether marijuana has medical uses. If not, no harm has been done by holding hearings on the topic. If so, it should not be that difficult for the state Legislature to assemble legislation that would enable the chronically ill to use prescription marijuana while protecting the state from using it illegally.”
There are many reasons why cannabis is illegal, and not one of them is just. Mainly it was outlawed so Uncle Sam could replace outlawed slave labor with prison labor. Instead of drinking the white man’s alcohol, Mexicans were smoking cannabis, Asians were smoking opium, and cocaine was outlawed after blaming ‘blacks got superhuman strength and raped our white women.’
Why can’t these people use google to do *any* amount of research on the history of our drug laws? After I wrecked my brand new motorcycle drunk and helmetless in 2001 and lost my hearing due to ototoxic medications that were given to me in rehab, I researched the history of the ‘war on (some) drugs,’ and my findings made me want to scream.
Cannabis is the oldest known fiber to man. With the invention of the hemp decorticator in 1937 it would have revolutionized processing raw hemp for paper, building materials, etc, and newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst would have lost millions, considering he owned thousands of acres of forest which he was cutting down to feed his newspaper presses. So he printed outlandish, horrific tales of ‘marihuana’ users killing their entire families.
http://s269.photobucket.com/albums/jj48/phillydrifter/drugs/cannabis/?action=view¤t=the_stoned_age.jpg
Check out my collection of cannabis bottles from the early 20th centry, before it was outlawed, when it was prescribed by doctors for over 100 common ailments. And then you’re realize why it was outlawed: so Big Pharma could make billions selling their synthetic poisons without natural competition.
The bottles I mentioned are at http://s269.photobucket.com/albums/jj48/phillydrifter/drugs/cannabis/Bottles/
You should order this book from half.com: http://product.half.ebay.com/_W0QQprZ994447QQcpidZ1442757
Unfortunately they’re asking $140 for it now, but after I found out about the existence of this book (from tinyurl.com/potconviction ) I looked for it in 2004; it was unavailable. I happened to check again on a whim in 2005 and I found it was recently reprinted so I snatched up a copy for about $16. I can understand if you can’t fork over $140 for it but you can at least read about the research leading to the first 9 chapters of it when it was originally published in 1974. It will blow your mind.