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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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US IA: Medical Marijuana Bill Stays In Committee
ccguide Sunday 21 Jan 2001 Pubdate: Sun, 21 Jan 2001 Source: Rapid City Journal (SD) Copyright: 2001 The Rapid City Journal Contact: Address: Letters, Rapid City Journal, Box 450, Rapid City, SD 57709 Website: http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/ Author: William Simonsen, Associated Press Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL STAYS IN COMMITTEE A Senate committee is weighing legislation that would allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to patients when no other drugs are effective. Sen. Keith Goodenough, D-Casper, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday that Senate File 99 would allow marijuana use to treat multiple sclerosis, nausea accompanying chemotherapy and other debilitating conditions. A similar bill passed the House but died in the Senate in 1992. Goodenough said trying to change opinion about marijuana and its legality is like "asking someone who believes the earth is flat to change to believing in a round earth." Tom Pagel, director of the state Division of Investigation, said the bill would encourage more drug abuse. He said the bill is unenforceable and does not identify or control "who grows, who transports and who sells." Moreover, licensed providers in states where the medical use of marijuana is legal must purchase the drug on the black market. "Then it goes from illegal to legal," he said. Because the bill would allow the cultivation of marijuana for personal use, anyone caught growing or transporting marijuana could claim it was being used for medical purposes, he said. Kathryn Valido, of Cheyenne, told the committee that marijuana could have lessened her husband's suffering as he died from colon cancer. The side effects of other anti-nausea drugs were so severe he eventually rejected the medication. "John's doctor should have been able to try this. There is no reason medical marijuana should not be given," she said. Pagel countered that much of the popular belief in medical marijuana has been fed by propaganda from "a few billionaires" and special interest groups. Nor would a state medical marijuana law change federal laws; federal officials could still arrest the same people under federal law, he said. Committee member Sen. Rae Lynn Job, D-Rock Springs, spoke in favor of the bill. "I have known people who have had these conditions, and I would give them anything," she said. She urged fellow committee members to try to work out problems in the bill. "I would rather try to fix something than throw it out." Goodenough said, "It is extremely shortsighted to step between the doctor and the patient. If a person is dying and becomes addicted, is that a problem?" Committee chairman Sen. John Schiffer, R-Kaycee, postponed further debate on the bill until next week. He asked Goodenough to draft amendments on how to control and supply the drug. "If you bring them back, the committee will hear it," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager
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