Pubdate: Thu, 15 Feb 2001
Source: Deseret News (UT)
Copyright: 2001 Deseret News Publishing Corp
Contact:  30 East 100 South., P.O. Box 1257, Salt Lake City, UT 84110
Website: http://www.desnews.com/
Author: Kersten Swinyard, Deseret News Staff Writer

LEGALIZING OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA IS URGED

It was no coincidence the Therapeutic Humane Cannabis Political Issues 
Committee chose Valentine's Day to launch its petition drive for legalizing 
medicinal marijuana use.

"We chose Valentine's Day because this issue demands compassion," committee 
member Ben Valdez Jr. said. "It's a higher calling to love those we don't 
know."

The organization, abbreviated simply as THC (which is also the acronym for 
the most active ingredient in marijuana), views legalized marijuana use as 
a humanity issue because some cancer and terminally ill patients have found 
the main component of marijuana eases their nausea and sparks hunger. If 
the group got its way, doctors would be allowed to write prescriptions for 
marijuana for patients in serious pain without fear of prosecution.

It's no different from a physician prescribing a bottle of Lortab or 
morphine, said THC Chairman Ken Larsen.

"Just about every chemical on the planet has medical application," Larsen 
said. "I don't think it's government's or society's job to second-guess a 
doctor who we presume is a professional."

In order to get its proposal on the November 2002 general election, THC 
must garner 76,000 signatures from registered Utah voters -- a hefty task 
considering it has only about 240 so far and a little more than a year 
before the June 1, 2002, deadline.

THC was heartened by the passage of ballot proposition 215 in 1996 by 
California voters, but the Utah Attorney General's office said THC 
shouldn't expect any TLC from Utah voters.

"The predominant philosophy towards marijuana is that there's not enough 
data to support medical applications. No one in state government is ready 
to accept marijuana as medicine," said Scott Reed, consumer rights division 
chief and former narcotics enforcement specialist for the attorney general. 
"There's not any great excitement or anticipation for this (petition drive)."

In 1999, the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice recorded 1,188 
arrests for marijuana possession. Although the ballot initiative would only 
provide for prescription marijuana and not completely legalize the drug, it 
would make it more difficult to prosecute charges of possession, Larsen 
conceded.
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