Medical Marijuana, Marinol and Ignorant Marijuanaphobes in the Legislatures

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - I was not surprised to hear about the Oregon Legislature hearings about Medical Marijuana and the shrill, ignorant posings of Legislators and others trying to restrict legitimate Medical Marijuana patients from a medicine which really works better and safer than almost all of the FDA approved medicines, many of which kill about 30,000 patients per year while Cannabis/Marijuana has NEVER killed anybody in 5000 years of medical use.

SB327 will bar growing Marijuana on public lands. This is probably going on now, and the Federal and State cops are going crazy with frustration that they can’t keep up with the Mexican Mafia who are the main growers in our forests.

SB645 allows employers to ban employees from having a permit or use (their medicine). There are many drugs far more dangerous than Marijuana, and they are legal. Even Marinol, a synthetic form of Delta-9-THC, which is the chemical found in smoked marijuana, is a legally prescribed drug. Other examples are ANY of the morphine-like drugs, the anti-depressants and anti-histamines. Alcoholics and prescription drug addicts are far more common and far more dangerous on the job. “Drug free workplace” should focus on the real problems!

SB646 is almost a repeat of 645. Many use Marijuana to reduce pain and aid sleep. Its effects, good & “bad” if any, would be gone by morning.

SB708 directs Law Enforcement to find out who grows and where. There are probably about 30,000 legal grow sites in Oregon. Legal growers are already registered with the state of Oregon, so this information is on file without a new law. How many cops would be required to monitor all these gardens? Not only would this be a costly waste of time, this is a physical impossibility!

HB2962 requires criminal background checks of Medical Marijuana card holders. There are about 50,000 legal permit holders. How many cops are required for a city of 50,000? Besides that, about 95% of permit holders were using BEFORE it became legal so many were likely caught up in some police activity, however minor. They are not the criminals that put our communities at risk, but it sure would be a great way to needlessly throw away taxpayers money.

HB2994 bars grow sites within 2500 feet of school or church. This would bar everybody from growing except the real criminals in National Forests. Why don’t they make the same limitation for alcohol and tobacco – two very dangerous and lethal drugs? (Together they killed 520,000 people in the US in 2009, while marijuana killed none.)

HB3046 was devised by a legal card holder who formed herself a “cooperative” and grows Marijuana in the back bedroom of her home, while systematically making rules about what "other" patients should be allowed to do.

HB3077 requires permit holders to be Oregon residents. This is already in the law. Oregon permits are also legal in two other states, Montana and Michigan.

HB3093 limits possession of usable Marijuana to one ounce. This is really foolish. Some very severe pain patients require an ounce a week. Patients could keep their medicine in the freezer – not useable, or convert it to tincture, Cannabis Oil or the waxy concentrate, if "quantity" is the objection, but the bill is senseless. By this law, even potential dispensaries would be illegal because of their inventory.

HB3129 allows “Health Authority” to release information to Law Enforcement. This is already available with a warrant. Maybe the legislator hasn’t heard of a warrant! If so, he should refer to the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Not only that, what about HIPAA laws?

HB3132 would prevent persons convicted of drug crimes from getting permits. As I said before, nearly all patients used Marijuana before it was legalized with many convicted for possession. So this means they should have medicine withheld from them for life? In the U.S. nearly 1,000,000 per year are arrested for Marijuana possession. Many of those arrested are ill, or become that way over time, but this bill says they would never be able to use the medicine that helps them the most. The courts very rarely bar Alcohol DUII convicts from using Alcohol, or not for long. Alcohol IS a DRUG- and it KILLS. And they're worried about marijuana?

HB3202 removes caregivers from being growers and limits growers to 4 medical patients. This is so awkward it couldn’t possibly work.

In closing, I must respond to Representative Mike Schauffer, from Happy Valley, who made about the most ignorant, malignant remarks about Medical Marijuana doctors I have ever heard.

I'll keep it simple: Mike, one doctor must make the diagnosis and provide a list of prescribed medications. The Medical Marijuana application doctor/signer rigorously screens patients using the diagnosis and other vital information before he will even consider signing the application. These professionals put their careers on the line every time they autograph a permit application. They know what they are doing, and they do it right.

By the way, High School and College students are in the highest percentage of users, even more than all the legal adult patients. DARE has been a failure!

Dr. Phillip Leveque has degrees in chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology and minors in physiology and biochemistry. He was a Professor of Pharmacology, employed by the University of London for 2 years, during which time he trained the first doctors in Tanzania. After training doctors, he became an Osteopathic Physician, as well as a Forensic Toxicologist.

More information on the history of Dr. Leveque can be found in his book, General Patton's Dogface Soldier of WWII about his own experiences "from a foxhole". Order the book by mail by following this link: DOGFACE SOLDIER OF WWII If you are a World War II history buff, you don't want to miss it.

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Anonymous March 5, 2011 1:52 pm (Pacific time)

pretty cool post malcolm. :-)

malcolm kyle March 5, 2011 9:58 am (Pacific time)

Alcohol prohibition in the US run from 1919 to 1933 - Now google 'The Great Wall Street Crash' and see when that happened!

During alcohol prohibition, all profits went to enrich thugs and criminals. Young men died every day on inner-city streets while battling over turf. A fortune was wasted on enforcement that could have gone on education etc. On top of the budget-busting prosecution and incarceration costs, billions in taxes were lost. Finally the economy collapsed. Sound familiar?

http://1929crash.com/

China has recently been in negotiation with a number of countries, asking them to replace the Dollar with the Chinese Yuan as their reserve currency. This, when it happens, will remove the Federal Government's ability to keep printing cash to cover the trillions it costs to fund prohibition. It’ll mean true freedom but the transition period may well bring consequences that are far more horrific than a slasher movie. -- It never had to be this way; we should have learned our lesson from studying the mayhem that alcohol prohibition wreaked on us.

We all have our victories and defeats as regards fear, but most of us strive not to let fear rule our hearts or our minds. Being free means being free to live and love as if death and fear had no power over us. Freedom also means that we have an ethical and moral responsibility to expose blind hate, lies and ignorance by shining eternal light, truth and love, sending such dark forces fleeing to the shadows from whence they came.

Thomas Sanders March 4, 2011 9:18 am (Pacific time)

Great article, great points. But I'd like to point out Michigan, along with Montana, are the only two to accept other state medical cards.

EDITOR: Thanks Thomas, we'll make that change.

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