Pubdate: Thu, 28 Apr 2005
Source: Standard Times, The (Wakefield, RI)
Contact:  2005 The Standard Times
Website: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1715
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3772
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

MEDICAL MARIJUANA'S TIME HAS COME

A bill that would legalize the medical use of marijuana is before the
General Assembly, and it's drawing the support of leadership as well
as the Rhode Island Medical Society and the Rhode Island State Nurses
Association.

Under its provisions, patients, caregivers and doctors would be
protected from arrest if a doctor certifies that a patient would
benefit from marijuana use, and the benefit would outweigh health
risks. The department of health would be the oversight body, and would
issue registration cards providing that the patient or caregiver could
possess up to 12 marijuana plants or up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana at
any given time.

Among conditions and illnesses in which marijuana is known to
alleviate symptoms or reduce adverse reactions to other drugs or
treatments are cancer, HIV-AIDS, hepatitis C, glaucoma and "chronic or
debilitating disease" with symptoms such as chronic pain, muscle
spasms, nausea and seizures.

Several people gave moving testimony at the Senate Judiciary Committee
hearing last week, speaking about their illnesses like cancer and
multiple sclerosis, and the relief that marijuana use would provide.

If the bill becomes law, Rhode Island would be the 11th state to
legalize medical use of marijuana.

Those opposing the measure include Drug-Free Schools Coalition, Drug
Free Kids: America's Challenge and Republican state Senator Leo Blais
of Coventry, who maintains marijuana has no accepted medical value.

But if it has no value, why does it have the support of two respected
state medical associations? And what about the testimony of countless
numbers of people across the country who say that marijuana does help
them?

This is not, as Blais contends, an effort to eventually legalize
marijuana in the general population. Rather, it's an effort to allow
doctors to assist people who are suffering. Yes, the bill must be
written narrowly enough that recreational users can't hide behind its
provisions. Yes, it must address how someone would obtain marijuana if
medical use is approved.

We don't prevent morphine from being administered to patients who need
it - and that's not a "legal drug" either. Why should marijuana, a
less potent drug by far, be withheld? As to those who complain that it
must be smoked rather than swallowed or injected, the issue here isn't
smoking. The drug must be inhaled. That's how it's taken.

We think it's time for those with unreasonable fears about marijuana
use to realize that for some, it is the drug that can alleviate their
suffering. We hope the General Assembly - and the governor - will
approve the limited medical use of marijuana as prescribed by a doctor
in the appropriate circumstances. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake