Free Republic
Browse · Search
Smoky Backroom
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

US Ignoring Marijuana Research
Sun News ^ | 14 September 2002 | Bruce Mirken

Posted on 09/15/2002 8:38:29 AM PDT by JediGirl

Early in the morning of Sept. 5, dozens of armed men stormed a respected medical facility where nearly 300 people desperately ill from cancer, AIDS and other illnesses got their medicine. Brandishing semiautomatic weapons in the faces of terrified patients, including a woman paralyzed from childhood polio, they destroyed all of the medicine and took prisoner the facility's operators.

The work of Osama bin Laden? Hamas? Some other international terrorists?

No. This particular terrorist raid was carried out by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The facility they attacked was the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana ( WAMM ) in Santa Cruz, Calif. A co-op run entirely by and for seriously ill people - 80 percent of whom have terminal diagnoses - WAMM sold nothing. All of the medical marijuana grown was given to members without charge.

The facility was supported by the community and worked closely with local officials. According to County Supervisor Mardi Wormhoudt, WAMM operated in an "exemplary" fashion. After the raid - which had been planned and executed with no warning to the local government - Wormhoudt told reporters she was "appalled" by the DEA's action.

The patients WAMM served are desperately ill. For many with AIDS or cancer, marijuana is the only thing that allows them to tolerate the horrendous side effects of the harsh treatments that keep them alive. Others endure excruciating pain that conventional medicines have failed to relieve, but which marijuana helps.

Because of this raid, many of these people will die prematurely - agonizing, horrible deaths - because the only medicine that helped them has been taken away.

What could possibly motivate such cruelty?

Desperation.

All around the world, governments and scientific experts are coming to believe that marijuana shouldn't be illegal - that it is simply not dangerous enough to warrant arresting and jailing even social or recreational users, much less people using it to relieve symptoms of cancer or AIDS. The British government has already moved to make marijuana possession a nonarrestable offense.

On Sept. 4, Canada's Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs released the most exhaustive investigation of marijuana data and policy options ever conducted by any government. The 650-page report declared that criminalizing marijuana amounted to "throwing taxpayers' money down the drain in a crusade that is not warranted by the danger posed by the substance."

But marijuana - which accounts for the vast majority of illegal drug use and arrests - is the engine that drives the war on drugs and keeps massive drug-control budgets pumped up.

So even as DEA agents were shoving machine guns in the faces of sick people, White House drug czar John Walters and Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson stood in front of a Washington, D.C., press conference, spouting long-discredited myths as if they were proven facts.

Marijuana, said Thompson, is "a clear and present danger to the health and well-being of all its users" - a statement contradicted by reams of scientific research.

Indeed, in 1995, the prestigious medical journal The Lancet stated flatly, "The smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health." This year, the British government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs and the Canadian Senate committee came to similar conclusions after extensive study.

But our government's drug war ideologues don't care about science. And they don't care how many sick people they literally torture to death in their desperate effort to pump up a collapsing policy.


TOPICS: Heated Discussion
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 261-280281-300301-320 ... 381-398 next last
To: gcruse
I'm getting too old to do them justice!

That's not what they say...

281 posted on 09/15/2002 12:13:08 PM PDT by Libloather
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 272 | View Replies]

To: Libloather
Can you name one American individual put in prison for aggrevated assault.
282 posted on 09/15/2002 12:13:20 PM PDT by clamper1797
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 277 | View Replies]

To: Libloather
As I recall, Ed Butler didn't advocate the legalization of illicit drugs, but Nolan's copycat effort did.
283 posted on 09/15/2002 12:13:37 PM PDT by Roscoe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 270 | View Replies]

To: Roscoe
Dr. Roscoe, MD appears, reinforcing the legal position of Counselor Roscoe, Esq.

How weird & pitiful, from a man that rejects our bill of rights.
284 posted on 09/15/2002 12:15:28 PM PDT by tpaine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 271 | View Replies]

To: tpaine
Your words hold no credibility here, tpaine. Save your breath.
285 posted on 09/15/2002 12:18:00 PM PDT by Cultural Jihad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 284 | View Replies]

To: Joe Hadenuf
And yes, hundreds of thousands of Americans have been jailed for smoking pot.

Name one...

286 posted on 09/15/2002 12:18:06 PM PDT by Libloather
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 279 | View Replies]

To: Cultural Jihad
Your words hold no credibility here

They hold a whole lot more credibility than yours ever did

287 posted on 09/15/2002 12:19:12 PM PDT by clamper1797
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 285 | View Replies]

To: Joe Hadenuf
Just one...
288 posted on 09/15/2002 12:19:18 PM PDT by Libloather
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 279 | View Replies]

To: Libloather
Can you name ANY American individual placed in prison for smoking pot?

I just ran a search on the Florida Dept. of Corrections website which produces 29,981 inmates currently incarcerated for drug crimes. Since simple possession of marijuana is a jailable offense in Florida, I'm sure you could find yourself some names by going through this list.

http://www.dc.state.fl.us/inmateinfo/inmateinfomenu.asp

Go there, select the "Search All Corrections Offender Databases" list, select "Drug Crime" from the drop down list, and select the "Inmate Population Search" link after you Submit the search....

289 posted on 09/15/2002 12:19:19 PM PDT by AntiGuv
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 277 | View Replies]

To: Libloather
If you name one Lib will claim you hang with dopers. That question has the same ethic value as "Have you stopped beating your wife"
290 posted on 09/15/2002 12:21:02 PM PDT by clamper1797
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 286 | View Replies]

To: Libloather
Read 279 carefully.....
291 posted on 09/15/2002 12:21:15 PM PDT by Joe Hadenuf
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 288 | View Replies]

To: Cultural Jihad
You, and your cultist groups crediblity went 'fishin', just the other day.
292 posted on 09/15/2002 12:21:36 PM PDT by tpaine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 285 | View Replies]

To: Libloather
In 1997, the last year I can find the figures for, 18% of all Federal inmates serving time for drug offenses were in for simple marijuana possession.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/fdo99.pdf

See Table 9.
293 posted on 09/15/2002 12:21:40 PM PDT by Dakmar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 277 | View Replies]

To: Libloather
According to norml.org's website of state laws, Joe's own state on possession shows:

Possession of 28.5 grams or less of marijuana is not an arrestable offense. As long as the offender can provide sufficient identification and promises to appear in court, the officer will not arrest the offender. Upon conviction of the misdemeanor charge the offender is subject to a fine of $100.

294 posted on 09/15/2002 12:21:44 PM PDT by Cultural Jihad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 286 | View Replies]

To: AntiGuv
Go there...

No. You need to show where "...hundreds of thousands of Americans have been jailed for smoking pot."

You provide no evidence...

295 posted on 09/15/2002 12:25:19 PM PDT by Libloather
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 289 | View Replies]

To: Libloather
Dakmar has provided evidence, and you only asked for one name. Here's one: Jeffrey M. Adams.
296 posted on 09/15/2002 12:26:57 PM PDT by AntiGuv
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 295 | View Replies]

To: AntiGuv
The State of Florida has a toll-free complaint line for out-of-state busy-bodies who can't help but stick their noses into other people's business: 1-800-WHO-CARES.

Seriously, if the good people of Florida want to change their own laws, the Constitution well provides for that framework of self-governance.

297 posted on 09/15/2002 12:26:58 PM PDT by Cultural Jihad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 289 | View Replies]

To: Cultural Jihad
The good people of Florida have an initiative approved toward just that purpose to appear on the 2004 ballot. We shall see what the good people of Florida choose to do with their own laws. By the way, I own a home in Florida, you fool.
298 posted on 09/15/2002 12:29:31 PM PDT by AntiGuv
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 297 | View Replies]

To: clamper1797
That question has the same ethic value as "Have you stopped beating your wife"

No it doesn't. Try dealing with facts. Name ANY American placed behind bars for smoking pot.

What's your answer?

299 posted on 09/15/2002 12:31:33 PM PDT by Libloather
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 290 | View Replies]

To: AntiGuv
That's commendable. Owning a home (and deriving any statist benefits and tax writeoffs thereby) does not tell anyone if you are a lawful resident who is registered to vote there or not. You might be an absentee slumlord for all anyone knows (or cares).
300 posted on 09/15/2002 12:32:46 PM PDT by Cultural Jihad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 298 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 261-280281-300301-320 ... 381-398 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Smoky Backroom
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson