Pubdate: Sun, 27 Jun 2010
Source: Pacific Daily News (US GU)
Copyright: 2010 Pacific Daily News
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Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1122

LEGALIZE: ALLOW MARIJUANA TO BE USED FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT OF PATIENTS

Sen. Rory Respicio has introduced legislation that would allow 
physicians to certify the use of medicinal marijuana to patients with 
debilitating conditions. The marijuana would be dispensed from 
compassionate care centers, which would be registered with and 
regulated by the Department of Public Health and Social Services.

The aim of Bill 423 -- which is modeled on the laws of several states 
- -- is to provide some relief to patients who will benefit from the 
effects of marijuana, such as those with Alzheimer's Disease, 
HIV/AIDs, cancer, Chrohn's Disease, epilepsy, glaucoma and multiple 
schlerosis, among other diseases and disorders.

Medical marijuana is legal in 14 states, with New Jersey being the 
latest to approve it, and a total of 27 states, and the District of 
Columbia, have passed some kind of law that allows marijuana to be 
used in medical treatment. And in October of last year, U.S. Attorney 
General Eric Holder told federal prosecutors to back away from 
pursuing cases against medical marijuana patients.

For some patients, it will help mitigate pain without the side 
effects that come with narcotic pain killers. For others, it will 
alleviate nausea, allowing them to eat and keep their food down.

If this legislation will help patients, then it should become law, 
provided that there is strict local government oversight and 
regulation of medical marijuana at every level. The government needs 
to ensure that any marijuana that is dispensed goes only to patients 
who have been certified as having a need for the drug by a licensed 
doctor. And if patients are allowed to grow their own plants, the 
government needs to ensure that only the patient uses that marijuana.

This will require, in part, providing the Department of Public Health 
and Social Services with additional resources and personnel to ensure 
it is able to meet the requirements of the law. Elected officials 
can't expect the agency -- which struggles to ensure that restaurants 
and other businesses meet regulations -- to do this additional work 
with its existing staff and budget.

If medical marijuana is properly regulated and controlled, and used 
only by patients who will truly benefit from it, then lawmakers 
should pass bill 423 and the governor should sign it into law.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart