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Faces at rally reveal tragic truth of medical marijuana patients
Sacramento Bee ^ | 22 September 2002 | Diana Griego Erwin

Posted on 09/22/2002 5:41:58 AM PDT by JediGirl

Edited on 04/12/2004 5:44:31 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

Tess Williams of Elk Grove wept when she saw her sister holding a sign in the crowd of protesters standing outside Santa Cruz's City Hall last week.

"It just is so unlike her," Williams said. Her sister, a soccer mom, PTA secretary "and always the more quiet and elegant of us two," isn't the sign-waving type.


(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: drugs; marijuana; medical; wod
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Comment #121 Removed by Moderator

To: JediGirl
...if I'm sitting in my bedroom with a joint, how am I not properly exercising my rights?...

You can't exercise your rights 'properly' when you've decided to take a substance which makes you irrational and illogical, JG. It's just that simple. Dope smokers cannot be Constitutionalists, the contradictions become overwhelming.

...and okay, what about people under the influence of alcohol? Are you for making alcohol illegal?...

Depends what you mean by under the influence. I'm for making drunkenness illegal, definitely.

122 posted on 09/23/2002 3:49:33 AM PDT by Byron_the_Aussie
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To: evad; pocat
...the "real" reason for the opposition to MM (medical marijuana) just may be: (a)Opposition from the drug companies (b)Inability for the FDA to extort the proper vigorish...

...or (c), that everyone knows that MM is the thin end of the wedge, and is well aware of just how much it'll be abused. The pro-abort lobby started out with this medical justification BS, too.

123 posted on 09/23/2002 3:53:01 AM PDT by Byron_the_Aussie
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To: JediGirl
..we're talking sick, sick people," she said. "People who are pale and emaciated"...

Ever known a chronic dope smoker that wasn't 'pale and emaciated', JG?

124 posted on 09/23/2002 3:55:22 AM PDT by Byron_the_Aussie
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To: Byron_the_Aussie
By chronic do you mean everyday? Well, then yes. My husband smokes everyday. He's not pale and emaciated. I smoke probably 3-4 times a week. If I'm pale and emaciated, it's for other reasons, not pot. Several of acquaintances from school, smoked quite often, not pale and emaciated. Question: have you ever known a pot smoker period?
125 posted on 09/23/2002 4:06:30 AM PDT by JediGirl
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To: Byron_the_Aussie
How can't I exercise my rights properly because I'm mellow? I don't really get it at all. What rights would I be exercising improperly if I were smoking pot? Am I somehow hurting you? Oh, I must be offending you. Poor thing.

WODers cannot be constitutionalists, the contradictions become overwhelming.
126 posted on 09/23/2002 4:09:13 AM PDT by JediGirl
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To: ThinkDifferent
Alcohol poisoning can't occur by ingestion. As someone else here pointed out, you pass out long before that would happen.
127 posted on 09/23/2002 4:12:29 AM PDT by Illbay
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To: Byron_the_Aussie
That's a great example. Another I know of--told to my HS class by a police officer in Birmingham, Alabama ca. 1972--was of a guy who, walking along a road while enjoying his pot buzz, spied a tin can rolling along toward him. He went to kick it, and was hit and killed by the oncoming car.
128 posted on 09/23/2002 4:14:11 AM PDT by Illbay
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To: JediGirl
You're talking about "rights" and not about obligations. Use of marijuana is not legal. Sale of marijuana is not legal (and you've abetted a crime thereby).

And if it were up to me, yes, alcohol would be illegal.

129 posted on 09/23/2002 4:16:01 AM PDT by Illbay
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To: Illbay
Radford, VA, February 1996--Christopher Mirch, a senior at Radford University, had a blood-alcohol level of .25, more than three times the drunk driving level of .08 in Virginia, when firefighters found him unconscious in a bathroom after his off-campus house accidentally caught fire at 2am. He died of smoke inhalation.

Brunswick, ME, April 1996--Cameron Brett, 20, a sophomore at the University of Maine, had a blood-alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit for driving when he fell three stories to his death while trying to climb onto the roof of Bowdoin College's Chi Delta Phi fraternity.

Chapel Hill, NC, May 1996--Four students with blood-alcohol levels of .14 to .20 were among five students killed when fire engulfed the Phi Gamma Delta house at the University of North Carolina. Fire officials suspect the fire was started by a cigarette tossed into a basement wastebasket.

Cohasset, MA, June 1996--Gregory Smith, 18, drove away from a drinking party at a local home and died when he crashed into a pole.

North Andover, MA, July 1996--Kyle Wentworth, 19, died when he was struck by a commuter train along the Merrimack River while playing an alcohol- fueled game of chicken.

Charlottesville, VA, October 1996--Elizabeth McGowan, a senior at the University of Virginia, had a blood-alcohol level of .25 when she died when a fire ripped through her off-campus apartment. She died of smoke inhalation after a smoke bomb, which had been tossed into her apartment by two friends as a joke earlier in the evening, smoldered and finally caught fire after the party had ended and she had fallen asleep.

Frostburg, MD, November 1996--John Eric Stinner, 20, a freshman at Frostburg State University, was found dead after drinking six to eight cups of beer and 12 to 14 shots of vodka at an unofficial, off-campus fraternity which had charged admission to its party. Seven students and a recent graduate of Frostburg State were charged with manslaughter in February 1997.

Oneonta, NY, May 1997--Robert Jordan, 22, of Plymouth, MA, a student at Hartwick College, drowned after falling into a river after a night of drinking.

Los Angeles, July 1997--Two UCLA members of Lambda Chi Alpha drowned in Lake Mead after a drinking party.

Baton Rouge, LA, August 1997--Benjamin D. Wynne, a sophomore at Louisiana State University and a new pledge at Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, had a blood-alcohol level of .588 and died of alcohol poisoning after a "bid night" party organized by his fraternity at a local bar. Campus police were called to the fraternity at 1:30am and found about a dozen students passed out. Four students, including Mr. Wynne, were taken to hospitals by paramedics.

Amherst, MA, September 1997--Adam Prentice, 21, a junior, had a blood alcohol level of .12 when he tried to climb the glass roof of a greenhouse at the University of Massachusetts. He fell through the glass and bled to death.

North Andover, MA, September 1997--Meaghan Duggan, 17, died after drinking heavily at a private party. She fell down the cellar stairs and fractured her skull.

Boston, MA, September 1997--Scott Krueger, 18, a freshman at MIT living at Phi Gamma Delta, had a blood-alcohol level of .41 after a night of heavydrinking at the fraternity. He died of alcohol poisoning and choking on his own vomit.

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/tt/1997/oct22/deaths.html

130 posted on 09/23/2002 4:18:26 AM PDT by JediGirl
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To: Illbay
Alcohol poisoning can't occur by ingestion. As someone else here pointed out, you pass out long before that would happen.

Pray tell, how does alcohol poisoning occur then? By injection? Good grief.

-------------------------

Passed Out?

Do you know the signs of acute alcohol poisoning? Do you know what to do if someone is suffering from its effects?

Your friend who had way too much to drink, may not just be sleeping it off. If her or she is suffering from acute alcohol poisoning, as a result of drinking too much too quickly, they could die if you do not intervene.

How do you tell the difference between being passed out and alcohol poisoning?

If they are suffering from alcohol poisoning he person may be unconscious but cannot be awakened. If you try to wake your friend up and they do not respond check to see if they have cold, clammy, unusually pale or bluish skin. Check their breathing also.

If they are breathing slowly or irregularly --less than eight times a minute --or ten seconds or more between any two breaths, they are in trouble. Another sign is if they vomit while passed out and do not wake up during or after vomiting.

How Can You Help?

First call 9-1-1 immediately. Do not hesitate, don't think about any legal ramifications, your friend's life could depend on your quick response.

Do not leave the person alone and continue to try to revive them. Turn him or her on their side, so that if they do vomit they will be less likely to choke on it. Yeah, it's gross, but many deaths result from drunks coking on their own vomit.

Watch their breathing closely. If they stop breathing be prepared to perform CPR. If you don't know how to preform CPR, try to find someone who does.

From http://alcoholism.about.com/library/weekly/aa000723a.htm

131 posted on 09/23/2002 4:21:59 AM PDT by JediGirl
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To: Illbay
It is illegal because it is bad and bad because it is illegal. That logic is shite dear.

Thank god it's not up to you. Do you think that demand would suddenly change if alcohol were illegal? That alcohol would just disappear from the culture? That there'd be no alcohol dealers?
132 posted on 09/23/2002 4:23:36 AM PDT by JediGirl
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To: JediGirl
..question: have you ever known a pot smoker period?...

Of course I have. And I've seen that while having the odd joint does no harm at all, a certain kind of personality can become dependent on marijuana. That's not good for you in all kinds of ways; for instance, financially, or in relationships. That's why dope smokers so often pair up, because non-smokers don't want their partner sitting 'round the house in a non-communicative haze. If you're both doing it I guess it's not so bad.

133 posted on 09/23/2002 4:24:52 AM PDT by Byron_the_Aussie
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To: Byron_the_Aussie
Apparently we're not smoking the right kind of weed because neither one of us sits 'round the house in a no-communicative haze. We watch television, read eachother the news from online, fix dinner, read a book, read a magazine, watch a movie, (i) debate on freerepublic. The only time I've ever been in a non-communicative haze was when I smoked too much of some stuff that was quite strong and fell asleep.
134 posted on 09/23/2002 4:30:16 AM PDT by JediGirl
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To: JediGirl
..how can't I exercise my rights properly because I'm mellow?...

'Mellow' is a silly 60s word meaning 'under the influence of drugs.' And you can't exercise any rights properly, while under the influence of drugs.

Look, I don't want to get into some 300K argument about dope. There's been ten million of those here on FR and they always end up in viciousness. Suffice it to say that (going back to the original thread topic) self-administered 'medical marijuana' is a complete crock. It's so Californian, the way these terminal cases are being used (and I mean used) to slip dope past the legislators. If people are in terrible terminal agony then let them take the option of professionally administered morphine, under which they will be pain-free and rational. The thought of some poor cancer case sucking away his last days on a bubbling bong to alleviate pain is too pitiful to contemplate.

135 posted on 09/23/2002 4:33:42 AM PDT by Byron_the_Aussie
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To: JediGirl
..we watch television, read eachother the news from online, fix dinner, read a book, read a magazine, watch a movie, (i) debate on freerepublic...

well pardon me but I find it very hard to believe that you could do all that while being chronic dope smokers. I know what the lifestyle is like from close personal observation and I've seen the self-delusion aspect too. Check whether your dealer's selling you some no-THC placebo weed, JG.

136 posted on 09/23/2002 4:38:42 AM PDT by Byron_the_Aussie
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To: Byron_the_Aussie
No, it's obviously weed. I feel the effects, I probably don't smoke enough of it, for various personal reasons. I don't want to get completely stoned. Even if I did, I don't see why you'd care. BTW, how am I self-deluding? I'd be interested to know.
137 posted on 09/23/2002 4:46:05 AM PDT by JediGirl
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To: Byron_the_Aussie
' And you can't exercise any rights properly, while under the influence of drugs.

Why? What rights couldn't be exercised properly?

138 posted on 09/23/2002 4:47:34 AM PDT by JediGirl
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To: tomball
Your theory is very nice. But one factor changed the equation of federal/state relations: The Civil War (or the War of Northern Aggression). Ever since, the Federal government is held supreme over state law. Get over it and get used to it.
139 posted on 09/23/2002 4:55:15 AM PDT by texson66
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To: Byron_the_Aussie
The pro-abort lobby started out with this medical justification BS, too.

Yes..and how I detest that bunch.

But I'm not sure we're talking apples and apples here. I'm only speaking to the medical benefits of the weed, not it's recreational or "other" usages.

If we disallow something because of it's potential abuse and transmogrification by liberals, then we would shut down many areas of promising potential. Research in gene therapy and stem cell would be a couple of examples. Certainly, these areas have the potential for tremendous future benefits but also tremendous abuses.

I say proceed with the research and punish the abusers as appropriate.

140 posted on 09/23/2002 5:03:35 AM PDT by evad
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