Pubdate: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 Source: Maui News, The (HI) Contact: 2003 The Maui News Website: http://www.mauinews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2259 Author: Ben Skywalker Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA REQUIRES REGISTERING WITH POLICE As a chronically ill patient well tended by one of the well-known HMOs, I am offered options for pain control. It is understood I will probably never recover, however symptoms may be contained by prescription medications in combination with recommended holistic style medicine. As part of my treatment, it has been found that usage of a small amount of marijuana, (not THC, one of the 20 or so active ingredients in the plant) helps reduce my reliance on highly narcotic and addictive substances such as methadone, codeine, valium, and the like. I am grateful. According to a European medical study -- not social marijuana advocates -- the narcotics I consume are up to 40,000 times as "addictive" as marijuana. I use very little marijuana, yet it does a big job in controlling my symptoms, compared to the narcotics. I am also released from the emotional concerns of drug addiction. Why do I have to register with the police, like a criminal, and reveal to the state of Hawaii exactly where I keep my marijuana? Why do I have to pay the state $25 each year to "register," as if I am some drug addict or sex offender? I live in fear of federal agents ransacking my home, arresting and charging me with the so-called crime of following doctor's orders and enjoying, yes, enjoying the benefits of this medicine. Will the government ever come to the conclusion that it is OK for a medicine to make you feel good, rather than ill? Ben Skywalker Kihei - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk