Pubdate: Thu, 19 May 2005
Source: Newport Daily News, The (RI)
Copyright: 2005. The Newport Daily News.
Contact:  http://www.newportdailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1808
Author: Joe Baker, Daily News staff
Cited: Irvin Rosenfeld http://www.mapinc.org/people/Irvin+Rosenfeld
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

MEDICAL-MARIJUANA DEBATE CONTINUES

PROVIDENCE - When he was 10 years old, Irving Rosenfeld was diagnosed
with multiple congenital cartilaginous exostosis, a long description
for a condition that means painful tumors grow on his bones. The
tumors cause severe muscle spasm and tears. Doctors told him he'd be
lucky to make it through his teenage years.

But on Wednesday, Rosenfeld, now 52 and a successful stockbroker, was
in Rhode Island to share his success story. Testifying before the
House Health, Education and Welfare Committee, Rosenfeld held up a
round aluminum tin containing the drug he claims has allowed him to
lead a normal life.

"I think it's the fountain of youth as far as I'm concerned,"
Rosenfeld said as he displayed a plastic baggie containing 10
marijuana cigarettes.

Despite the presence of a Rhode Island state trooper, Rosenfeld did
not fear arrest for pot possession. One of six Americans in the
federal government's medical marijuana program, Rosenfeld has been
getting 300 marijuana cigarettes every month since 1982 from Uncle
Sam. The marijuana is grown in a lab on the University of Mississippi
campus.

Then-President George H.W. Bush shut the program down in 1992, but
those already in the program continue to receive their monthly
dosages. Wednesday, Rosenfeld tried to convince legislators that Rhode
Island should become the 11th state to approve its own medical
marijuana legislation.

"This is a federal issue. It should not be a state issue," Rosenfeld
said. "But guess what? The federal government isn't doing anything."

Despite growing support from the medical community, the federal
government has fought various state efforts to make marijuana
available for those with debilitating diseases, including cancer,
multiple sclerosis and AIDS.

The bill being debated Wednesday, sponsored by Rep. Thomas C. Slater,
D-Providence, is identical to a Senate version sponsored by Sen. Rhoda
Perry, D-Providence, which is scheduled for a committee vote this afternoon.

Supporters tried to convince committee members that they wouldn't be
legalizing "reefer madness," just showing compassion for those with
serious and painful diseases.

Rep. Steven M. Costantino, D-Providence, chairman of the powerful
House Finance Committee, told committee members that two years ago his
brother, father of Salve Regina University baseball star Damien
Costantino, died of cancer. Before his death, his brother went from
220 pounds to 90 pounds, Costantino said, because the illness stripped
him of his appetite. Marijuana may have helped ease his suffering, and
by extension, the suffering his family had to endure watching him
waste away, Costantino said.

"This is about an end-of-life issue," Costantino said. "This allows
someone to die with dignity."

Kaelyn McGregor, director of administration and vice president of
research at Brown University, said she has been diagnosed with breast
cancer and doctors have told her she has no more than seven years to
live. Her chemotherapy leaves her weak, nauseous and unable to eat and
get a full night's sleep. But if she smokes as little as half a joint,
she can eat, her nausea is controlled and she can sleep through the
night, McGregor told the committee.

The legislation would allow a patient with defined symptoms or
diseases to get an identification card from the state Department of
Health allowing him or her to grow up to 12 marijuana plants or
possess 2.5 ounces of marijuana for medical use. The marijuana would
have to be prescribed by a licensed physician.

Some committee members, including Chairman Rep. Joseph M. McNamara,
D-Warwick, were concerned that the bill did not establish any system
for distribution of the marijuana, meaning patients would still have
to depend on street dealers to get their stash.

"Our challenge is to develop some language so we can be confident that
there is some control of regulation and distribution," McNamara said.

Rhode Island State Police Lt. LeRoy Rose testified against the
legislation. Rose said the bill as written would not allow police to
charge someone for driving under the influence of marijuana if he or
she had a legal prescription. David Tassoni, representing the Family
Court, said he was concerned about increasing access of marijuana to
children.

Rep. John J. Loughlin II, R-Tiverton, the only local legislator on the
committee, said his research indicated marijuana was not classified as
a medicine and "it is impossible to determine what is an effective
dosage."

Steve Brown, executive director of the state chapter of the American
Civil Liberties Union, said it was inappropriate to kill the
legislation because a few people might abuse the law to smoke
marijuana recreationally. Lawmakers don't do that for regularly abused
prescription drugs such as Valium, Brown said.

"To prohibit people who are dying (from using a helpful drug) on the
theoretical possibility that there are some people out there who will
use the drug and might get into an accident is really pitiful," Brown
said.

The committee did not take a vote on the bill Wednesday. Slater said
he was confident the bill would be voted out of committee. He said if
McNamara's committee refused to vote it out, he would seek to get it
transferred to Costantino's House Finance Committee on the basis that
the Department of Health might need money to implement the law. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake