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Medical Marijuana News Update
The Coalition
for Medical Marijuana includes:
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State Legislatures Take Up Medical Marijuana MeasuresMedical marijuana is on the move in states across the US in 2005. Bills have been introduced in several state legislatures including Rhode Island, Minnesota, and Alabama.
Rhode Island
The RI State Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the bill in April 2005. As the Brown University Daily Herald reported on April 6, 2005 ( "Senate Judiciary Committee Hears Medical Marijuana Testimony"), " Chronically ill Rhode Islanders, medical experts and advocates testified in favor of the Rhode Island Medical Marijuana Act before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday afternoon at the State House. Although State Sen. Leo Blais, R, expressed animated opposition to the bill early into the proceedings, there were no witnesses testifying against the measure. If passed, the bill will allow chronically ill individuals and their caregivers to acquire and cultivate marijuana with protection from prosecution and arrest. Qualifying medical conditions include cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and illnesses that cause severe symptoms alleviated by marijuana use, such as nausea or seizures. Ten states have passed similar measures, most through voter initiatives, but medical use of the drug remains illegal at the federal level." Another co-sponsor of the RI legislation is State Senator Michael Damiani, formerly an opponent. According to the Daily Herald, "As the hearing drew to a close, Damiani explained his support for the bill despite his previous opposition to it and career as a police officer. 'No one can accuse me of being soft on drugs . . . . ( But ) in the past couple years I've watched a lot of people die from cancer,' Damiani said. He added that there were a few 'bugs' in the legislation but expressed confidence that they would be worked out. 'As long as smoking grass makes people who probably aren't going to be around much longer feel better, it's a halfway decent idea to me,' Damiani said."
Minnesota
According to the Daily News, "Kierlin said he signed on to the bill, authored by Sen. Steve Kelley, DFL-Hopkins, only after the language was tightened to allow only people with terminal illness or extreme pain to use the drug with their doctors' consent. 'Cancer is not a partisan disease,' said Neal Levine, director of state policies at the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C., organization that works to decriminalize marijuana. Marijuana can relieve pain, nausea and muscle spasms and can stimulate appetite. It is often used to treat patients with cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma and epilepsy." The bill has already received a favorable vote from the Minnesota Senate Health and Family Security Committee. As the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported on April 6, 2005 ( "Senate Panel OKs Medical Pot Bill"), "The Senate panel voted to bar such arrests and passed a bill to sanction marijuana's use for those with debilitating illnesses -- the first committee vote on the measure in Minnesota after years of debate. Backers say the bill probably won't pass all the legislative hurdles this year. Even if does, Gov. Tim Pawlenty said he is unlikely to sign it into law. 'I'm not for it. I think we have enough other medicines and pain relievers available that we don't need to use that one,' Pawlenty said Tuesday. But those testifying before the Senate Health and Family Security Committee said other pain medications don't help them as much as marijuana does. And they said they came to marijuana as a last resort." According to the Pioneer Press, "'There are other pain medications that are currently available but they don't all work for all people Marijuana has been proven effective for a number of patients,' said Sen. Steve Kelley, DFL-Hopkins and chief sponsor of the bill. He said it is morally and ethically right to allow patients to use the drug that best helps them in their time of sickness and suffering. The measure would 'do something to express our sense of compassion for that suffering and do something practical to address it,' Kelley said." For more information on the Rhode Island effort, check out the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition.
Alabama
The Advertiser noted that "Under the proposed legislation, use of marijuana would be strictly limited to medicinal purposes, said Hall, the principal sponsor. 'It's with a doctor's recommendation,' Hall said. 'It would be illegal for an individual to get it and sell it.' Hall's measure would allow patients access to marijuana for relief of their symptoms. Similar measures have found support in other states, and a poll last year indicated a healthy majority of Alabamians backed the idea. According to the survey by the Mobile Register and the University of South Alabama, 76 percent of Alabama residents believe adults should be allowed to use marijuana if their physicians recommended it. Despite public opinion, Gov. Bob Riley said he would not support such a measure. 'There's no way I can support legalization of marijuana or any other illegal drug,' the governor said Thursday. 'There are a multitude of other prescription options I think are still viable.'" For more information on the Alabama effort, check out Alabamians for Caring Use.
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