420
Founder
What more do Pennsylvania lawmakers need before they take the common-sense, compassionate step to legalize medical marijuana?
Twenty-three states already allow doctors to prescribe medicines derived from the cannabis plant.
The Justice Department signaled in 2013 it would not challenge those states.
And Attorney General Eric Holder said last year he and the president wouldn't fight members of Congress if they wanted to remove marijuana from the federal list of most dangerous drugs.
Last month, Congress approved a spending bill that includes a provision forbidding the Department of Justice from using any of those funds to prosecute the "use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana" in states where it's legal.
No, federal lawmakers did not remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I drugs, where it was placed in 1970 alongside heroin, LSD, mescaline and other powerful drugs that have no medical benefits and a high potential for abuse.
The fact is, marijuana never should have been classified as a Schedule I drug.
In 1972 a commission chaired by former Republican Pennsylvania Gov. Raymond Shafer released its findings on the drug, writing, "Neither the marijuana user nor the drug itself can be said to constitute a danger to public safety."
"Therefore, the Commission recommends ... possession of marijuana for personal use no longer be an offense (and) casual distribution of small amounts of marijuana for no remuneration, or insignificant remuneration no longer be an offense," the authors wrote.
Marijuana temporarily had been designated a Schedule I drug pending the findings of that study commissioned by President Richard Nixon. Despite that reasonable assessment, it remained on the list.
But some 42 years later, Congress has all but corrected that mistake. It's only a matter of time before lawmakers take the final step and declassify marijuana as a Schedule I drug.
This isn't about approving the recreational use of pot, although a few states have done that without interference from the feds. This is about allowing states to allow new marijuana-based medicines that show promise for patients who have exhausted all other treatments with no relief.
Medical marijuana legalization efforts in Pennsylvania have been gaining ground, but the best attempt so far — a Senate bill approved with overwhelming support — died in the House last session.
Republican state Sen. Mike Folmer, a cancer survivor who represents parts of York, Dauphin, and Lebanon counties, cosponsored that bill and is readying a new version to introduce this session.
We're more optimistic about the new legislation's chances, considering critics are quickly running out of legitimate reasons to oppose it.
News Moderator: 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: EDITORIAL: Critics running out of reasons to oppose medical marijuana - York Dispatch
Author: York Dispatch
Contact: Contact - York Dispatch
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: York Breaking News, Sports, Weather, Traffic - York Dispatch
Twenty-three states already allow doctors to prescribe medicines derived from the cannabis plant.
The Justice Department signaled in 2013 it would not challenge those states.
And Attorney General Eric Holder said last year he and the president wouldn't fight members of Congress if they wanted to remove marijuana from the federal list of most dangerous drugs.
Last month, Congress approved a spending bill that includes a provision forbidding the Department of Justice from using any of those funds to prosecute the "use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana" in states where it's legal.
No, federal lawmakers did not remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I drugs, where it was placed in 1970 alongside heroin, LSD, mescaline and other powerful drugs that have no medical benefits and a high potential for abuse.
The fact is, marijuana never should have been classified as a Schedule I drug.
In 1972 a commission chaired by former Republican Pennsylvania Gov. Raymond Shafer released its findings on the drug, writing, "Neither the marijuana user nor the drug itself can be said to constitute a danger to public safety."
"Therefore, the Commission recommends ... possession of marijuana for personal use no longer be an offense (and) casual distribution of small amounts of marijuana for no remuneration, or insignificant remuneration no longer be an offense," the authors wrote.
Marijuana temporarily had been designated a Schedule I drug pending the findings of that study commissioned by President Richard Nixon. Despite that reasonable assessment, it remained on the list.
But some 42 years later, Congress has all but corrected that mistake. It's only a matter of time before lawmakers take the final step and declassify marijuana as a Schedule I drug.
This isn't about approving the recreational use of pot, although a few states have done that without interference from the feds. This is about allowing states to allow new marijuana-based medicines that show promise for patients who have exhausted all other treatments with no relief.
Medical marijuana legalization efforts in Pennsylvania have been gaining ground, but the best attempt so far — a Senate bill approved with overwhelming support — died in the House last session.
Republican state Sen. Mike Folmer, a cancer survivor who represents parts of York, Dauphin, and Lebanon counties, cosponsored that bill and is readying a new version to introduce this session.
We're more optimistic about the new legislation's chances, considering critics are quickly running out of legitimate reasons to oppose it.
News Moderator: 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: EDITORIAL: Critics running out of reasons to oppose medical marijuana - York Dispatch
Author: York Dispatch
Contact: Contact - York Dispatch
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: York Breaking News, Sports, Weather, Traffic - York Dispatch
