Posted on 11/03/2004 1:51:01 PM PST by Wolfie
Medical Marijuana Approved
Helena -- Montanans suffering from certain medical conditions may be able to legally smoke marijuana to ease their symptoms come January 1. The Medical Marijuana Act passed by a 63 to 37 percent margin Tuesday with 375 of 881 precincts reporting. The new act will protect patients, their doctors and their caregivers from state and local arrest and prosecution for the medical use of marijuana.
Teresa Michalski of Helena couldn't be happier. Michalski once lived in fear that her late son, Travis, would spend the last few months of his short life in jail for using marijuana during the last stages of Hodgkin's disease.
"I knew the people in Montana were compassionate and I could count on them," said Michalski, a fifth-generation Montanan.
U.S. Deputy Drug Czar Scott Burns, however, warned Montanans that federal law trumps state law, and said during a recent visit to Montana that no state initiative permitting the medical use of marijuana can circumvent the federal law prohibiting the possession and use of the drug.
"There's no safe harbor," Burns said.
But Paul Befumo, treasurer of the Marijuana Policy Project of Montana, said he's "elated" that the measure passed.
"People don't have to worry about being criminalized any more," he said.
Proponents say smoking marijuana relieves nausea, increases appetite, reduces muscle spasms, relieves chronic pain and reduces pressure in the eyes. It can be used to treat the symptoms of AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma, among other diseases, they say.
Medical marijuana has been approved by voters in Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. In Hawaii, a law was passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor in 2000. In Vermont, a law was passed by the Legislature and allowed to become law without the governor's signature in May 2004, the Marijuana Policy Project reports.
The Montana measure's campaign was financially backed by the national Marijuana Policy Project out of Washington, D.C.
Good to see you.
Just checking on you.
Quite an election.
HAPPY!
It did. But you'll never guess what I took for the pain.
Unfortunately, strawmen never die.
War on Drugs is beyond a waste in my humble opinion. I'm pretty sure most people would agree that federal agents would be better used hunting down terrorists than worrying about people smoking pot.
What logical sense does this make? Gee lets have a war on drugs in which we invest hundreds of millions of dollars only to stop a small percentage of drugs from entering the country. We'll arrest alot of people who are only killing themselves by taking drugs while at the same time allow gangs and organized crime members to make millions off of selling narcotics at an outrageously inflated street price.
Ditto, I voted the same on it. Now to suffer under Schweitzer :(
Midol?
Anbesol?
I really don't like the fact that we now will have a Democrat governor, but then I thought that it might serve a purpose, since Brian Schweitzer has been trying to seek public office for a better part of a decade or more. I hope he doesn't screw up Montana, but if he does, he better take the blame like a man.
So, National Review is not conservative?
Not on that issue, no.
Check out my post 28. I was initially down in the dumps about a Democrat governor, but it may be a good thing to an extent. I knew it was only a matter of time, since Schweitzer was leading in the polls all Summer.
If we can take percocet darvacet morphine for pain why can we not hit the houka.
That person isn't Conservative enough for me.
He's such a piece of. I have no belief that he will do anything positive for Montana's economy. Well live and learn, no need to go implode like DU ><
Montana's #1 export: children.
Dashole's defeat still has me smiling.
What is it you want to "conserve"?
I have smoked pot and I am a conservative. We need to treat drug additiction like a medical problem and save the jail space for violent criminals who could actually hurt the rest of us.
Legalize it!
I hope he doesn't screw Montana up anymore. But I just don't believe he will work to bring CMB Gas, Coal, Oil, or Logging industries up to be the very beneficial economic forces that they could be.
You don't speak for all conservatives.
Nope. Conserving (maintaining) 70 years of marijuana being illegal.
We, as a society, have nothing to gain by legalizing marijuana. Medical marijuana is a scam, and is nothing more than a first step towards legalization.
"In 1979, Keith Stroup, NORML's founder, told an Emory University audience that they would be using the issue of medicinal marijuana as a red herring to give marijuana a good name."
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