Pubdate: Tue, 22 May 2001 Source: Daily Herald (IL) Copyright: 2001 The Daily Herald Company Contact: http://www.dailyherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/107 Author: Austin Hough SUPREME COURT OKS CRUELTY TO VULNERABLE By rejecting a "medical necessity" defense for marijuana, the Supreme Court of the United States sentenced AIDS and cancer victims to certain slow and painful deaths. In an 8-0 ruling, the nation's high court approved a Justice Department injunction against a California cannabis cooperative that supplied medical marijuana to patients. The court rejected any medical necessity exemption to federal marijuana laws, ruling that "marijuana has no medical benefits worthy of an exception." Even if a state has legalized medical marijuana, the court ruled the federal government could continue to prosecute people who violate federal marijuana laws. With this ruling, the federal government officially has turned its war on drugs into a war on lifesaving medicine. It now should be obvious to Americans that the government feels that handcuffs and prison cells are the best medication for terminally ill patients. Medical uses for marijuana have been proven to help ease the pain for those suffering from AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis. Marijuana can even reduce feelings of nausea and give back an appetite to ill people who have lost theirs. But the government says it knows better. The government feels it would be better for America to let these sick people continue to suffer than to make an exception. That is not just cruelty - that is cruelty directed at our most vulnerable citizens. For compassionate Americans who reject the argument that marijuana is more dangerous than prison, we need to work harder to guarantee AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis patients access to lifesaving medicines. And that includes electing people to office who will repeal these laws that restrict our freedom to choose. Allowing the federal government to continue to imprison people suffering from AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis for the "crime" of trying to save their own lives is not just tragic, it is repugnant. Austin Hough State Chair Libertarian Party of Illinois East Dundee - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens