Pubdate: Wed, 29 Jan 2014
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Copyright: 2014 PG Publishing Co., Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/pm4R4dI4
Website: http://www.post-gazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/341
Author: Karen Langley
Page: B1

MEDICAL MARIJUANA SUPPORTERS ADDRESS SENATORS

Corbett Promises to Veto Legislation

HARRISBURG - Proponents of allowing medical marijuana use in
Pennsylvania filled a Senate hearing room Tuesday, describing their
hopes that components of the plant could help children with seizures
and veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Senators on the Law & Justice Committee heard from mothers who said
their children have suffered not just from severe seizures but also
from the medications prescribed as treatment. One mother urged
legislators to put aside "preconceived notions" of cannabis.

Joe Mirt, a Pennsylvania Army National Guard combat veteran who lives
in Carrick, described his attempts to cope with what he suspects to be
PTSD through alcohol and then through medications that were
accompanied by serious side effects.

"I never thought about killing myself more than when I was on those
pills that they were giving me to help what I was going through," he
said.

Eventually, after a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, he tried finding
relief through marijuana, which he said relieved his headaches,
cleared his vision and allowed him to get out of bed for the first
time in days.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia have permitted medical
marijuana, while Colorado and Washington recently approved
recreational use.

Committee chairman Chuck McIlhinney, R-Bucks, said the hearing was
intended to gather information as the committee considers legislation
that would allow cannabis use for certain serious medical conditions.
He said he has no immediate plans to call a vote.

The legislation faces serious obstacles. Gov. Tom Corbett has said he
would veto such a bill because marijuana remains illegal under federal
law.

The Pennsylvania Medical Society opposes recreational marijuana use
but believes further research is needed on medical marijuana, said
Michael Fraser, executive vice president and CEO, while the
Pennsylvania State Nurses Association supports the bill.

The testimony had an effect on at least one member, Sen. Anthony
Williams, D-Philadelphia, who said he had entered as a skeptic but had
decided to cosponsor the legislation. Members of the audience greeted
his words with applause.
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