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Have you heard of anyone dying from marajuana? Jesus, the congressmen that are fighting this are totally clueless.
Justices appear dubious
about medical marijuana laws
The Associated Press
Updated: 12:51 p.m. ET Nov. 29, 2004WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court appeared hesitant Monday to endorse medical marijuana for patients who have a doctor's recommendation.
Justices are considering whether sick people in 11 states with medical marijuana laws can get around a federal ban on pot.
Paul Clement, the Bush administration's top court lawyer, noted that California allows people with chronic physical and mental health problems to smoke pot and said that potentially many people are subjecting themselves to health dangers.
"Smoked marijuana really doesn't have any future in medicine," he said.
References to drug addiction problem
Justice Stephen Breyer said supporters of marijuana for the ill should take their fight to federal drug regulators — before coming to the Supreme Court, and several justices repeatedly referred to America's drug addiction problems.
Dozens of people, some with blankets, camped outside the high court in order to gain access to the debate. Groups such as the Drug Free America Foundation fear a government loss will undermine campaigns against addictive drugs.
The high court heard arguments in the case of Angel Raich, who tried dozens of prescription medicines to ease the pain of a brain tumor and other illnesses before she turned to pot.
Supporters of Raich and another ill woman who filed a lawsuit after her California home was raided by federal agents argue that people with the AIDS virus, cancer and other diseases should be able to grow and use marijuana.
Their attorney, Randy Barnett of Boston, told justices that his clients are law-abiding citizens who need marijuana to survive.
Marijuana may have some side effects, he said, but seriously sick people are willing to take the chance.
Ten states have medical marijuana laws
Besides California, nine other states allow people to use marijuana if their doctors agree: Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. Arizona also has a law permitting marijuana prescriptions, but no active program.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled against the government in a divided opinion that found federal prosecution of medical marijuana users is uncons utional if the marijuana is not sold, transported across state lines or used for non-medicinal purposes.
Lawyers for Raich and Diane Monson contend the government has no justification for pursuing ill small-scale users. Raich, an Oakland, Calif., mother of two teenagers, has scoliosis, a brain
tumor, chronic nausea and other illnesses. Monson, a 47-year-old accountant who lives near Oroville, Calif., has degenerative spine disease and grows her own marijuana plants in her backyard.
The Bush administration argues that Congress has found no accepted medical use of marijuana and needs to be able to eradicate drug trafficking and its social harms.
The Supreme Court ruled three years ago that the government could prosecute distributors of medical marijuana despite their claim that the activity was protected by "medical necessity."
Dozens of groups weigh in
Dozens of groups have weighed in on the latest case, which deals with users and is much more sweeping.
Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, conservative states that do not have medical marijuana laws, sided with the marijuana users on grounds that the federal government was trying to butt into state business of providing "for the health, safety, welfare and morals of their citizens."
Some Republican members of Congress, meanwhile, urged the court to consider that more than 20,000 people die each year because of drug abuse. A ruling against the government, they said, would help drug traffickers avoid arrest, increase the marijuana supply and send a message that illegal drugs are good.
California's 1996 medical marijuana law allows people to grow, smoke or obtain marijuana for medical needs with a doctor's recommendation.
Medical marijuana was an issue in the November elections. Montana voters easily approved a law that shields patients, their doctors and caregivers from arrest and prosecution for medical
marijuana. But Oregon rejected a measure that would have dramatically expanded its existing medical marijuana program.
The Supreme Court case is Ashcroft v. Raich, 03-1454.
© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
Have you heard of anyone dying from marajuana? Jesus, the congressmen that are fighting this are totally clueless.
IMO, legalize it, tax it heavily.
Its no worse than alchohal.
If a business wants works to not show up drunk or high, ins ute it in your rules.
hey, if weed eases the pain of the suffering, let them have it....
i don't think it should be generally legalized though, because i think kids would have even easier access to it than they do now, and that wouldn't be good for anyone.
I would much rather have my boy smoke pot than drink alcohol....that is a fact. Alcohol is the cause of more deaths among the young than every drug put together.
i see your point Jimbo. alcohol deaths are more often the result of binge drinking, and if i had to choose my kids binge smoking or drinking, i'd prefer they get a severe case of the munchies no doubt. BUT, that being said, i think kids will have a propensity to smoke weed much more than they binge drink, i know i would have, and smoking weed daily or semi daily will no doubt make kids content and lazy. throw education out the window. i guess i'm trying to say, the chance for kids to become a weedaholic is greater than that to become an alcoholic. it's a tough call.
Personally, I think pot is harmless. I don't believe it causes a person to graduate to harder drugs. And Schedule 2 drugs which include heroin, cocaine, morphine, pethidine, quinalbarbitone and amphetamine, are way more harmful than pot will ever be.
*runs off to look for hubby's perscription pad....*
It depends on the person Zak. I smoked Pot since I was 16, but I only did so when it did not interfere with my studies in college, like on weekends and at parties. I was never a big drinker and still can take it or leave it because I have lived with alcoholics growing up, and I see what alcohol can do to a family and person first hand. People are either responsible or they are not, and if kids let anything interfere with their career goals, then I do not really think they were that serious about it in the first place. There are a lot of things that can keep a kid from achieving their goals in life, it is just up to the parents to keep them on task as much as possible.
Last edited by Jimcs50; 11-29-2004 at 02:54 PM.
Agree 100%. I was another who could take it or leave it. But I also think a lot to do with it is that I had a good home life. I think a lot of kids who let drugs take over their lives are looking for an escape. I'm not saying this is always the case because I've seen kids get caught up in it who came from good families. However, I hung out with a lot of 'burnouts' in high school and the majority of them had parents who never knew where the they were up to or even who their friends were and pretty much let them do whatever they wanted to.
If it's legal, put it behind the counter and control access like tobacco. It's not 100% but I doubt they'd have more access than now.i don't think it should be generally legalized though, because i think kids would have even easier access to it than they do now, and that wouldn't be good for anyone.
i agree that individual responsibility and good parental upbringing are the most important factor to a proper education.
these are not the children i'm worried about. i'm worried about the kids that have the odds stacked against them from the beginning, and would have even easier access to a drug that would make there problems easier to accept, and lessen the chance of them listening to someone who actually does care and tries to help them to help themselves. basically....some kids aren't as lucky as others....legalizing weed adds fuel to the fire that is their education going up in smoke.
I agree. I've been a "recreational" pot user for years and have never gotten into the harder drugs. I've also been a beer drinker and never progressed to hard liquor so it depends on the person.
Some never accomplish their goals because they don't have any.
Others have very simple goals compared to those who want everything.
But everything means nothing if I can't have the woman I love.
If it's legal, put it behind the counter and control access like tobacco. It's not 100% but I doubt they'd have more access than now.
i understand your point, but i'd dare to say that there are millions of underage tobacco smokers in this country.....i don't know how many weed smokers....but i do know that number would increase sharply if it were to be legalized....the negative stigma would be gone, and i would imagine many a teen, or even younger adolecsent, could even grab the pack of acapulco gold's off of daddy's dresser.
I do know some one who's son smoked pot and let it get to him. He was borderline ADD and required meds to help him stay balanced. He smoked weed because it made him feel better, but it did hurt him in school and his home life. He could not be trusted with money and would take some from his mom to buy more weed. Anything to excess is not good for you. Smoking is worse than drinking if both are done casually. I don't have a problem with prescribing it in very certain cir stances. Not like, "I have a splinter, pass the bong!"
It is a proven pain remedy for cancer, MS, glaucoma and other painful debilitating diseases, it should be offered to patients just as morphine is, and people do not get morphine because they have a spinter. There is no reason that marajuana should not be decriminalized...compared to alcohol and cigarettes, and what harm those two do to the body, it is candy.
Last edited by Jimcs50; 11-29-2004 at 09:12 PM.
I agree. It should definitely be allowed for medicinal use. I don't get why they don't allow it.
Jim, are dentists allowed to prescribe Shedule 2 and/or 3 drugs?
LMAO @ anyone who thinks that kids have trouble getting pot.
LMAO even more @ people who think keeping drugs illegal is a way to stop people from using them.
Prohibition anyone?
They should allow pot for medical uses and the patient can always "just say no".
you know what... it...i got mine if i want it. and frankly, so can those suffering....theres always a connect around....it's not our fault if the white people don't know any minorities selling the ....i thought white people grew their own anyway.....
@ Zak.
Damn rich white folk with hydro gardens in their extra bedroom.
Yes S y, why you want some?
I sure could have used some codein when I had that ruptured eardrum instead of that weak ass ibuprofen the doc gave me.
I already have a local connectionYes S y, why you want some?
Oh ok, I thought maybe he was making you do some sick sexual favors the drugs...just watching out for you.I already have a local connection
dude, what makes you think that isn't her favorite part of the deal?
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