Pubdate: Thu, 10 May 2012
Source: Times Union (Albany, NY)
Copyright: 2012 Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation
Contact: http://www.timesunion.com/forms/emaileditor.asp
Website: http://www.timesunion.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/452
Author: William Aiken

GOVERNOR'S REAL MOTIVE IS MONEY

To the editor

Gov. Andrew Cuomo claims there needs to be more study of marijuana 
before he signs on with a medical marijuana bill.

Ever since President Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs 40 years 
ago, the government has done an excellent job of blocking the 
research for medical marijuana.

Our astute governor must be aware of the 1988 findings of a U.S. Drug 
Enforcement Administration administrative judge, Francis Young, who 
spent two years reviewing and evaluating more than 200 studies on 
marijuana. Young recommended that marijuana be taken off the Schedule 
I list as having no medical value, and that the ban on studying the 
plant be ended. Unfortunately, Young's political bosses overruled him.

Now, Cuomo still wants more study while refusing to support a bill 
that would allow New Yorkers the right to treat their ailments with 
marijuana if approved by two doctors. The governor's position is 
unacceptable and all about the politics of the drug war.

There are plenty of powerful and politically connected groups that 
want marijuana to remain on Schedule I, such as the alcohol, prison 
and pharmaceutical lobbies. These groups are interested in keeping 
the status quo, which they all profit from handsomely. This has 
nothing to do with pot being a harmful or addictive drug and our 
governor knows it.

The drug war is about maintaining a pipeline that ships young, poor 
males from our inner cities into prisons. Just look up the racial 
disparity of the enforcement of drug laws as reported by the 
Sentencing Project at http://www.sentencingproject.org.

I would have more respect for our governor if he stated the real 
motives behind his reluctance to sign a bill that would give sick 
people access to medicine that is effective in treating their disease 
while eliminating the criminal stigma those people have to suffer 
every time they attempt to obtain a drug that has proven to be the 
most effective in managing their side effects and pain.

WILLIAM AIKEN

Law Enforcement

Against Prohibition

Schenectady
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