SmokeDog420
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Sen. John Kerry hasn't tried to make medical marijuana an issue in his presidential campaign, but he has some differences with President Bush on the subject.
Kerry says he would end the raids that have been a feature of the Bush administration's crackdown on medical marijuana in California, where voters approved the use of the drug for medical purposes in 1996. The Massachusetts senator has also signed a letter urging the administration to stop blocking medical marijuana research at the University of Massachusetts.
Perhaps most importantly, Kerry said at a campaign forum last year that his "disposition is personally favorable'' to marijuana as medicine, but that he would await further scientific studies before taking a definitive stand. He also criticized mandatory minimum prison sentences for first offenders and called for more drug education and treatment.
That's not nearly as far as activists would like him to go. Kerry hasn't endorsed legalizing medical marijuana at the federal level or leaving the issue up to the states and hasn't backed legislation, currently stalled in Congress, that would allow patients and suppliers to use their state laws as a defense against federal charges.
But Kerry's position and tone suggest that he would take a different approach than Bush, who has escalated the federal war against state medical marijuana laws launched by his predecessor, Bill Clinton.
Where the Clinton administration focused on civil suits to shut down the nonprofit clubs that supplied marijuana to California patients, the Bush administration has used criminal prosecutions against growers and suppliers, has sent federal agents to seize a patient's six homegrown marijuana plants and is preparing for a high-stakes U.S. Supreme Court battle against two seriously ill Northern California women.
The president hasn't mentioned medical marijuana during the campaign. But in his last campaign, during a 1999 appearance in Seattle, he answered questions about the issue by saying, "I believe each state can choose that decision as they so choose.''
Note: Democrat says he would stop pot club raids pushed by Bush.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Author: Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, October 10, 2004 - Page A - 4
Copyright: 2004 San Francisco Chronicle
Contact: letters@sfchronicle.com
Website: Home
Kerry says he would end the raids that have been a feature of the Bush administration's crackdown on medical marijuana in California, where voters approved the use of the drug for medical purposes in 1996. The Massachusetts senator has also signed a letter urging the administration to stop blocking medical marijuana research at the University of Massachusetts.
Perhaps most importantly, Kerry said at a campaign forum last year that his "disposition is personally favorable'' to marijuana as medicine, but that he would await further scientific studies before taking a definitive stand. He also criticized mandatory minimum prison sentences for first offenders and called for more drug education and treatment.
That's not nearly as far as activists would like him to go. Kerry hasn't endorsed legalizing medical marijuana at the federal level or leaving the issue up to the states and hasn't backed legislation, currently stalled in Congress, that would allow patients and suppliers to use their state laws as a defense against federal charges.
But Kerry's position and tone suggest that he would take a different approach than Bush, who has escalated the federal war against state medical marijuana laws launched by his predecessor, Bill Clinton.
Where the Clinton administration focused on civil suits to shut down the nonprofit clubs that supplied marijuana to California patients, the Bush administration has used criminal prosecutions against growers and suppliers, has sent federal agents to seize a patient's six homegrown marijuana plants and is preparing for a high-stakes U.S. Supreme Court battle against two seriously ill Northern California women.
The president hasn't mentioned medical marijuana during the campaign. But in his last campaign, during a 1999 appearance in Seattle, he answered questions about the issue by saying, "I believe each state can choose that decision as they so choose.''
Note: Democrat says he would stop pot club raids pushed by Bush.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Author: Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, October 10, 2004 - Page A - 4
Copyright: 2004 San Francisco Chronicle
Contact: letters@sfchronicle.com
Website: Home
