Pubdate: Wed, 29 Aug 2007
Source: Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, NY)
Copyright: 2007 Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
Contact: http://www.pressconnects.com/services/editorial/editor.shtml
Website: http://www.pressconnects.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/878

PRO & CON: MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN NEW YORK

We asked our readers: Should the state legalize medical use of 
marijuana? Here are your opinions:

Geoff Corey, Chenango Bridge

Marijuana should most definitely be legalized for medical use. It has 
been proven in many studies that it can prolong life for elderly 
citizens suffering certain terminal illnesses. For politicians to say 
that they truly care about our senior citizens, and then not support 
this, is hypocrisy. However, what truly baffles my mind is that 
alcohol consumption can cause one to become disoriented, get sick, 
and become addicted and abusive. Smoking marijuana can cause one to 
become disoriented. Wait a minute ... you're saying alcohol is legal?

Heather Luther, Endicott

New York should legalize marijuana. I knew a lot of people in my past 
who used it for medical reasons. I have never heard of a single death 
from it, and there probably never will be.

Several people I know who have attention deficit disorder use it to 
calm their nerves. Without it they're a mess. I also knew someone who 
had muscular dystrophy and could hardly see or walk before the age of 
20. It was the only thing that helped ease his pain.

Juli Brink, Port Crane

I fully agree that marijuana should be legalized in the United 
States, not just New York. Here is a natural form of medicine that 
has few or no side effects (as most drugs do). This type of medicine 
can be grown in your own home so the patient doesn't have to pay 
those ridiculous prices to the drug companies. Patients would be able 
to use as much as their doctor recommends without having the 
insurance companies saying, "We don't know anything about you or your 
condition, but we think you don't need as much as your doctor says, 
so you can only have what we want you to have."

Or, "You can't get the kind your doctor thinks will work best for 
you, but you can get this cheaper version that is almost as good" 
(yeah, with more side effects).

Douglas Carlson, Binghamton

The folks who want marijuana legalized for medical use hope it will 
become more available for themselves and their friends, as well as 
the sick. Marijuana is addictive, and I have seen it ruin lives and 
destroy families.

There are anti-nausea drugs and pain killers available for those who 
need them. Sorry, I don't think pain and nausea give you a right to get stoned.

I suspect I'll have verbal stones cast at me for uttering this opinion.

Ed Nizalowski, Newark Valley

I am very much in favor of legalizing the medicinal use of marijuana. 
The benefits of this plant have been established for health purposes 
and have been documented for centuries. It is time this country 
accepts the scientific data. Once this takes place, I would hope our 
country moves in the direction of the production of industrial hemp. 
This would help give us another homegrown crop that would increase 
our agricultural base and agricultural biodiversity, and help relieve 
our dependence on fossil fuels. To my knowledge, we are the only 
industrialized country that makes the production of industrial hemp illegal.

Julie Steiner, Tioga Center

This is a simple answer: No! There is no way we want to circumvent 
consumer protection in the name of legalization. Presently, three 
billionaires are spending a lot of money to support legalization.

They are using these poor, sick and dying people to further their 
cause and the organizations that are funded by these billionaires, 
such as the Marijuana Policy Project and the Drug Policy Alliance 
that are totally against any anti-drug policy, such as student drug 
testing and drug-free school zones, to name a few.

The drug legalizers and their followers just want crude marijuana as 
a medicine; the fact is, science is working on making marijuana a 
modern medicine.

Susan Haines, New York City

Why would I care? Who am I to deny a person whose doctor feels it 
would make their life easier the medical care they need? Their pain 
and their relief do not affect me. I don't have the right to impose 
my non-medical knowledge.

Hemant Tandi, Endicott

Only the narrow-minded can support legalizing marijuana anywhere. 
Perhaps they see only a clinically remedial side of this narcotic 
substance. This is just the tip of an iceberg. The ghastly dark side 
is hidden. Unfortunately, the terminally ill will never greatly 
benefit from its use except for a short-term high, which can cause 
innumerable sufferings to family members.

I come from a country where marijuana is not seriously considered a 
controlled substance. It is accessible, from children to the old, for 
various fake reasons such as medical or religious. It causes the 
mental faculties of such users to deteriorate day by day. They are 
hooked before they are detected as psychopathic or mentally ill. They 
have done irreparable harm to themselves and to society. They occupy 
more jail time than any other offenders, at a huge cost to taxpayers.

There is no need to legally allow marijuana's use. Even though many 
legal precautions would be taken to control it, it would still get 
out of hand and into the hands of children.

Let's stop its legalization. For the sake of temporal pleasures of a 
few terminally ill patients, why invite another epidemic?

Nick Calderon, Red Hook

Thanks for your article on the poll showing that the majority of 
Conservative Party members support medical marijuana. Since moving 
here from California, I can no longer use the medicine that works 
best to control the excruciating pain I have to life with, or risk 
arrest and imprisonment.

Meanwhile, I wonder what the state Senate is waiting for.

The state's doctors, nurses and medical schools all support medical 
marijuana, and so do the vast majority of New Yorkers. For thousands 
of seriously ill patients, marijuana provides effective and immediate 
relief from pain, nausea and a host of other ills.

Perhaps those in the Conservative Party majority understand that 
permitting seriously ill patients access to effective medication is 
the only compassionate thing to do. We certainly don't need to 
continue to criminalize the efforts of patients who only seek to ease 
their suffering.

It's time for the Senate to act with bravery, and for the sake of so 
many seriously ill patients, with compassion. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake