Pubdate: Sun, 26 Apr 2009
Source: Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ)
Copyright: 2009 Courier-Post
Contact: http://www.courierpostonline.com/about/edletter.html
Website: http://www.courierpostonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/826
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

ASSEMBLY SHOULD OK MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The government shouldn't bar patients from using a substance that 
greatly reduces their pain.

State Attorney General Anne Milgram said last week that legislation 
in Trenton that would allow those suffering from AIDS, cancer, 
glaucoma and other painful ailments to keep and grow small amounts of 
marijuana is workable.

We're glad Milgram's mind is open on this issue and that's she's not 
following the same rigid and foolish hard line as the federal government.

The state Senate has already approved the Compassionate Use Medical 
Marijuana Act and Gov. Jon Corzine has said he will sign it.

All that's needed is a vote in the state Assembly. The Assembly 
should do the same as the Senate and approve it.

There are tens of thousands of Americans -- not drug abusers, but 
people suffering real pain from life-threatening diseases -- who 
swear by marijuana as the best, sometimes the only, medicine that 
takes away their pain and nausea or restores their vision.

We don't think the government has the right to tell these people what 
substances they can or cannot use to take away their pain. Americans 
who are suffering from terminal diseases should have the freedom to 
use whatever works best for their symptoms and specific pains. If 
marijuana is what works, so be it.

The legislation in Trenton would mandate that people with 
debilitating conditions such as multiple sclerosis, cancer, AIDS, 
glaucoma and other conditions register with the state Department of 
Health and Senior Services and obtain a special photo identification card.

Legally registered users would be allowed to possess up to six 
marijuana plants and an ounce of usable marijuana. They would be 
barred from driving while under the influence and smoking in most 
public areas. These restrictions could easily be enforced the same as 
they are today.

Heavy lobbying from several multibillion-dollar industries, including 
beer and liquor producers and pharmaceutical firms, has long kept 
marijuana classified as a Schedule I drug by the federal government. 
That puts it off limits for government research into its medical 
qualities and makes it illegal to possess in all forms and quantities.

But state governments have shown they can see things more clearly and 
that there can be ways to balance patients' needs with society's 
needs. Thirteen states have some version of a medical marijuana 
exception to the federal law.

We're confident such an exception can happen in New Jersey, and it 
should. The Assembly ought to approve this bill. Let those New 
Jerseyans already using marijuana to get through each day without 
unbearable pain stop having to hide what they do for fear of 
pointless prosecution. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake