Pubdate: Fri, 15 Apr 2016 Source: Times-Tribune, The (Scranton PA) Copyright: 2016 Townnews.com Contact: http://www.thetimes-tribune.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4440 MEDICAL POT EASES PAIN Pennsylvania lawmakers and Gov. Tom Wolf have helped to ease some medical patients' suffering by legalizing the use of prescribed medical marijuana. Now, their task is to see if the same rare bipartisan cooperation that led to the new law can ease the commonwealth's pain from polarized, unproductive governance. The bill, which also promotes further research into the medicinal value of marijuana, is a healthy departure from the political paralysis that has produced such debacles as the longest budget impasse in Pennsylvania history. Ultimately, the bill became law because enough lawmakers focused on Pennsylvanians' needs rather than on politics alone. The same approach by lawmakers, rather than digging in their heels on ideological grounds, might produce similar results on other important but stalled initiatives. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom