Support Legalized Marijuana

Lansing, MI — Renee Wolfe, a 48-year-old mother of four sons, was at the head of the line today as the state began accepting applications for a program to allow people with “debilitating” medical conditions to use marijuana.“This is the coup de grace for me,” said the Ann Arbor woman who has battled multiple sclerosis for 30 years. She’s also been illegally using marijuana to ease her suffering for just as long.

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Michigan — More than 45 people this morning signed up for Michigan’s new medical marijuana program at the state Department of Community Health in downtown Lansing.It was part of a mass registration tied to a new state law. The first person to submit her application for the medical marijuana card was Renee Wolfe, 48, of Ann Arbor. She went to a registration table in the department’s lobby and turned in the paperwork. Today is the first day that the state is accepting registrations.

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MI — The Michigan Department of Community Health begins reviewing applications today for Medical Marijuana Registry ID cards. The day means different things to different people. Melissa Ewalt, 35, of Port Huron likes the option that’s now available to her.Ewalt has multiple sclerosis, one of the diseases that can be treated with marijuana under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act passed in December 2008. She said she primarily would use marijuana before bed to help sleep, while taking minimal prescription drugs during the day so she could stay alert and interact with her 6-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter.

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Detroit, MI — The first wave of what could be tens of thousands of people signing up for Michigan’s medical-marijuana program is expected in Lansing on Monday. For Greg Francisco of Paw Paw, who is organizing the mass submission in the state capital, it will be a sweet moment after a decade of working to legalize medical marijuana.“In a year, we’re going to look back and say, ‘What was the fuss all about?’” said Francisco, executive director of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association. “People have been using medical marijuana in this state all along. All this does is give them some legal protection.”

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Michigan — High noon on the first Saturday in April means only one thing: Hash Bash.A smoky haze filled Monroe Street Saturday, as a mixture of old-time activists, University students, adult spectators and marijuana enthusiasts came together to support recreational marijuana use, oppose United States drug laws and enjoy an afternoon in the sun. And this year, the mood was a little more celebratory than usual.

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FLA — Florida residents with debilitating illnesses may have the option of treating their pain and symptoms with marijuana if Florida becomes the next state to allow its use for medicinal purposes.A petition is circulating now for signatures to potentially place a constitutional amendment on the November 2010 ballot posing the issue of allowing the seriously ill to use marijuana for medical treatment.

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Hartford, C.T. — Polls indicate that state residents are willing to take a closer look at harsh penalties for marijuana possession. It’s time lawmakers followed suit. The General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee last week approved legislation that would end criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana and create mail-in fines of $250. The change would not sanction or condone the use of drugs, but it would be a step toward eliminating a statute that can put a black mark on people’s lives for generations.

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Lansing, MI — Five months after voters approved a ballot measure to allow people with “debilitating” illnesses and diseases to use marijuana, the state Monday begins taking applications for the Michigan Medical Marijuana Program. But it will take weeks before patients can legally use marijuana.Once state health officials receive an application for approval they have 15 days to review it. If approved, the state will then mail out a picture ID card within five days.

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Elgin, IL — Michigan recently became the 14th state to legalize medical marijuana. Illinois may not be far behind. Senate Bill 1381 would allow seriously ill patients with certain debilitating conditions to use medical marijuana without consequence of arrest, and would provide for the patient’s primary caregiver to legally possess no more than seven dried cannabis plants and two ounces of dried usable cannabis.

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USA — Finally, a little honesty.Now that America has frittered away billions of taxpayer dollars arming Latin American death squads, airdropping toxic herbicide on equatorial farmland and incarcerating more of its own citizens on nonviolent drug charges than any other industrialized nation, two political leaders last week tried to begin taming the most wildly out-of-control beast in the government zoo: federal narcotics policy.

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USA — A year ago, a drug policy activist I was interviewing turned the tables on me. “What do you think it would take to get Americans to start talking seriously about legalizing pot?” he asked.I said maybe if some high profile celebrity got caught smoking marijuana, someone you never would have suspected — preferably a Republican. Catch Nancy Reagan with a joint, I said, and the national conversation about drug prohibition would change.

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USA — A bipartisan group of agitating members of Congress introduced legislation Thursday to allow farmers to grow industrial hemp.Currently eight states — Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, Vermont, and West Virginia — allow industrial hemp production or research, but federal law, which requires nearly-impossible-to-obtain-permits to grow hemp, trumps those state laws. The new bill would allow states to craft their own policy.

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USA — The Obama administration’s nominee for director of National Drug Control Policy said he will take a balanced approach to drug policy with a renewed focus on the prevention and treatment of addiction, if he is confirmed as the nation’s new drug czar.In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said he would focus on reducing violence along the Mexican border and on stemming the supply of illegal drugs, but said “the greatest contribution we can make toward [international] stability would be to reduce our demand for illicit drugs.”

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Minnesota — This year, I’m working to pass legislation that will provide compassionate health care to those suffering from cancer and other end-of-life diseases. By providing for the legal use of medicinal marijuana, these folks could experience some relief from the debilitating pain they suffer on a daily basis.We’ve heard hours of testimony from patients and their family members who have said that medical marijuana was the only thing that could cure the nausea or increase their appetite enough to eat a meal.

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Marijuana Compounds Have “Palliative” And “Curative” Effects On Cancer April 2, 2009 - Salerno, Italy

Salerno, Italy: Naturally occurring compounds in cannabis possess anti-tumor properties and present a novel approach for cancer treatment, according to a scientific review published in the February issue of the journal Best Practice & Research: Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

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New York — Officials have agreed to repeal severe drug laws that wasted law enforcement resources and created an incarceration crisis. Now Congress should follow their lead. For more than 30 years, New York’s draconian drug laws have been among the toughest in the nation, requiring sentences of 15 years to life even for nonviolent first-time offenders. Worse, New York’s early example was followed by states across the country, furthering a flawed strategy that was as harmful to society, in many ways, as drug use itself.

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USA — The United States is the world’s leading jailer. On any given day, more than 2.3 million people are locked in our prisons and jails—more than in any other country.Just how bad is it? The U.S. has less than 5 percent of the world’s population, but about a quarter of its prisoners. We have more prisoners than China—a country with a repressive government and more than four times the population of the U.S. We lock up 756 people for every 100,000 U.S. residents—that’s about five times as many as England and Wales (152 per 100,000), more than six times as many as Canada (116) and 10 times as many as Sweden (74).

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Minnesota — A bill that would legalize the medical use of marijuana in Minnesota continues to work its way through the state Legislature, with a Senate hearing on it set for today. The Senate Finance Committee scheduled a hearing on the bill this morning. The bill, gaining support among legislators but adamantly opposed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, already has been approved by three other Senate committees.

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