Using marijuana in Kansas is a misdemeanor for first-timers and a felony for repeat offenders. But former Kansas Attorney General Robert Stephan, a cancer survivor, wants to allow the use of marijuana, which can ease pain or chemotherapy-caused nausea, with a doctor’s prescription when other drugs fail. “If there’s a way to take away from that suffering, we ought to use it,” Stephan argued this week. He plans to raise the issue as part of the Kansas Compassionate Care Coalition’s news conference Friday at the Statehouse.
His advocacy will get people talking, but 12 years after the Legislature last considered it, this still seems like a tough sell for conservative Kansas.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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81 Comments
It’s still Federally illegal to possess pot.
But I’m one that support legalizing pot. I don’t care if people smoke it for whatever reason.
If you want pot to be dead on the tracks, put it up for a public vote.
interesting idea.
big govt will never approve a drug you can grow in your backyard.
well, maybe if you hired a lobbyist to buy congress and the white house.
Bush Admin. would fight it! Forget about it, in Kansas.
They don’t need to legalize it. Drug manufactors have already made THC (the part of MJ that helps w/ nausea & increases appetite) in a pill form. You can not control the strength/purity of the home grown variety. Plus do you really believe what you buy on the street it is MJ? Maybe it will it be. Maybe it will be oregano or MJ cut w/ some other drug even more dangerous.
Sheryl,The Pharmaceutical Marinol tends to be less effective and much slower acting than smoked marijuana. Also, as a capsule, it is difficult to impossible to swallow and keep down while experiencing the extreme nausea from chemo. In some cases it is effective, but not all. There is still a place for medicinal marijuana.
Sheryl,Legalizing marijuana and selling it through pharmacies would assure the quality. As long as it remains illegal, the problem of adulterants/dilutants can’t be controlled.
Isn’t Stephan a Repuke and neo con? I don’t think he has any right to bitch about his cancer of whatever he suffers from it. And if he touches marijuana he should go to prison for a long time with all the other people that are there for smoking marijuana- many of which this idiot prosecuted himself more than likely. He should be glad that he is getting any health care at all for his cancer because his party doesn’t think that you or I should have it. If his cancer comes back, he should go and die in silence and suffer as he and the Repukes have made so many others do.
Interesting topic for a thread. Now we’ll find out who all the pot smokers are.
me me me
Is it impossibe to not smoke pot and still support medical marijuana, Snuffy?
I haven’t touched it in 15 years but would support medical marijuana (not general use, though).
Pot should be able to grow in your house or backyard if you want to. Kev, that was pretty harsh, but I understand where you’re coming from. The tables always turn when it’s their issue. Why is it so many Republicans have to actually experience something before they can advocate for it? Is empathy really that hard for republicans?
Most Republicans think with their brains not with their “feelings”. Since other alternatives are available to “pot” it is neither appropriate or wise to legalize a drug that has provided a gate way to other more deadly behavior.
Empathy is all very well, but people in stressful situations don’t always make wise decisions. It’s hard to clear headed when you are in pain or mourning. That’s why decisions need to be made ahead of time or by someone a step removed. I’m sure you think that harsh, but it’s the truth.
I think that it should be legalized because it does help those suffering from cancer or HIV Aids etc….People suffering from MS would also benifit from it medically. I think if people would educate themselves on how this drug was deemed ilegal and get the facts maybe we would see a different side to this agrument!
Those of us who have smoked pot know that it does give you the munchies and makes you relax. It does not cause you to go crazy or make you mean in fact just the opposite. I would vote for it hands down.
I completly agree that medical marijuana use should be legalized. Until you have experienced the pain of seeing someone you love sufering from cancer this can be hard to understand. My stepfather passed away from pancreatic cancer four years ago and lived for three months in pain. If medical marijuana had been legalized back then he wouldn’t have suffered so much.Another reason that I feel strongly about this is because of my own medical conditions. I’ve suffered from endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, hernias, pelvic congestion, and pelvic floor dysfunction, and tremors for eight years now. I take enough pain meds to knock a grown man out. Right now I take 5 different pain meds a day (30 pills a day). Even with insurance I spend over $150.00 each month just on prescriptions and doctor visits. Not to mention being catherized twice a week to insert medication into my bladder. I have terrible side effects from the medications including nasuea all the time, but I take my medication because I want to be a functioning adult and be able to go to school and work like a normal person. To not allow people who are suffering the use of medical marijuana is inhumane at best. Most of these people are Not drug addicts. They are people who want some relief from an ailing body. If someone can tell me what alternatives there are to people like me who live in constant pain I would be happy to hear them. Medical marijuana offers a cheaper alternative to a lot of pain medications. Instead of having to fork over money for doctors visits, and pricey prescriptions every month. Otherwise until you or a loved one have suffered things like this please have a little bit of compassion.
I haven’t smoked pot in quite a while but, quite frankly, I could use some now. I’ve had a persistent headache for about a month–the doc is still trying to find the cause. Over-the-counter analgesics are useless.
I have a powerful prescription, tramadol, a synthetic opioid, but I find the minimal dose doesn’t help much and the max makes me seriously nauseous.
Past experience suggests my relatively minor issue might benefit from a toke or two. I certainly can’t deny cancer patients its PROVEN benefits.
Past
“Most Republicans think with their brains not with their “feelings”. Since other alternatives are available to “pot” it is neither appropriate or wise to legalize a drug that has provided a gate way to other more deadly behavior.
Empathy is all very well, but people in stressful situations don’t always make wise decisions. It’s hard to clear headed when you are in pain or mourning. That’s why decisions need to be made ahead of time or by someone a step removed. I’m sure you think that harsh, but it’s the truth.
Posted by: seanmahair | August 16, 2007 at 07:38 AM ”
oh bs. Pot isn’t any more of a gateway drug than any other drug. Another con who wants to decide what is best for everyone else. No it’s not easy to make good decisions when in pain, so by all means, lets keep them in pain. There’s your neocon empathy!
Pot is less harmful than most of the legal medications out there. And it’s a million times better than booze.
I haven’t smoked since last night. As long as you can grow it in your backyard and the feds cannont tax it, it will never be legal. This issue is completely money driven. It has nothing to do with the medical benefits or the moral implications. Its about dollars and thats it!
I wonder if I can start growing my own tobacco
Yes You can
I agree with Sheryl’s assessment, medically prepared THC is already available.
People want to self-medicate using inhalation therapy (cough).
This reminds me of “granny” on the Beverly Hillbillies always wanted to take a swig on the jug for medicinal purposes.
Perhaps THC can be prepared to used as a nasal spray. Then relief will be just one snort away instead of smoking down a liter bag of weed.
Personally, i can so no good reason to NOT allow medicianl use of Marijuana. Of course, then the FDA gets involved, because it is a “drug”, then the shit hits the fan. Because, we want the FDA to protect us.
here you go PMom! :)
http://www.tobaccoseed.co.uk/
I think it is incorrect to label former AG Stephan as a neo-con.
Kansas if you can smoke a liter bag of weed please come to my house. That is not humanly possible! The exaggerations to move people to your side are insulting. Please give me a break.
Mike, it may have been an over exaggeration and I’m glad I’m not an authority on the consumption of an illegal substance.
However, the purification of a substance is usually on the order of ten to one hundred times more concentrated than the raw product itself.
If you have any data to the contrary let me know, I’ll take it under advisement.
Please advise me how to purify my weed. Ask those that get the otc weed in pill form how pure their pills are. If what you say is true they wouldn’t want to smoke it instead of ingesting it.
I dunno Mike, I’m not a biochemical engineer and wouldn’t know how to extract a specific chemical from a plant.
I just know that certain methods are more effective than others.
Example:
Nasal SpraySub LingualIntravenousSuppository
All of the above are more effective than smoking a substance and since there are no other contaminants involved less harmful.
I suppose that cancer patients for example would benefit from a slow release patch (like a nictotine patch) instead of toking on a joint which may injure their already compromised and weakened lungs.
Note I’m talking about the medical application of THC, not the so-called recreational use.
Mike, it’s my understanding with THC in pill form, the nausea resulting from chemo, as an example, causes the pill to be regurgitated before the THC can be effective. To the person upthread who suggested a nasal spray, good thought to my mind.
. Ask those that get the otc weed in pill form how pure their pills are.
I don;t think you can get weed OTC in pill form. I think it requires a prescription.
spray cannibas (sorta) prescribed in Canada for neuropathic pain, but not nausea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sativex
One would think that with today’s technology all of the above recommendations could be done. However, a good replacement has not been brought to market. Sorry, on this one you can’t reinvent what Mother Nature has done. There is alot of money to be made by the pharmacutical company that could reproduce what nature has. That being said, doesn’t look like it can be done.
I think that the idea of a nasal spray is a good idea. However, I don’t think people realize that people with severe medical problems need something more economical as well. If medicanal marijuana was legalized in Kanasas (as it is in 11 other states so far)the patients would be able to grow it themselves. This would allow them to save more money and not go further into debt. Medicanal marijuana would be good for patients not only for the medicanal purposes, but on their wallets as well.
Quality control? by whom? Only grow their own? Or for others too?THe problem is that it is a DRUG. and all Drugs have to be regulated by the FDA.
Bob, it’ll never happen in Kansas. Smoking pot could lead to dancing,…and you know what that means. Abortions!
So Kev, according to you Republicans are now responsible for Cancer too! Wow! I didn’t know cancer was partisan. Just think if Stephan would have been a liberal Democrat nut case like you, he would never have gotten cancer in the first place.
Kev, you need to contact Gov. Sebelius so she can issue a decree to all Kansas citizens “suffering” from cancer. There is healing for them, and a sheld of protection for anyone without cancer from ever getting it; and the cure is so easy; has been all along (according to you)If they become Democrats!
Schedule I DrugsSchedule I drugs have a high tendency for abuse and have no accepted medical use. This schedule includes drugs such as Marijuana, Heroin, Ecstasy, LSD, and GHB. Recent activists have tried to change the schedule for Marijuana citing the possible medical benefits of the drug. Pharmacies do not sell Schedule I drugs, and they are not available with a prescription by physician.
Schedule II DrugsSchedule II drugs have a high tendency for abuse, may have an accepted medical use, and can produce dependency or addiction with chronic use. This schedule includes examples such as Cocaine, Opium, Morphine, Fentanyl, Amphetamines, and Methamphetamines. Schedule II drugs may be available with a prescription by a physician, but not all pharmacies may carry them. These drugs require more stringent records and storage procedures than drugs in Schedules III and IV.
http://www.addictions.org/schedules.html
I find it hard to believe that any of you can be against the use of marijuana for medicinal benefits, but apparently don’t have a problem with Cocaine and Methamphetamines being used for medicinal purposes. Marijuana was classified incorrectly in 1970, and needs to be reclassified as a schedule II drug.
liljohn if your position is that all drugs need to be regulated by the FDA then maybe they should be doing something about alcohol. People use that all the time and it has no medicanal purposes. Anyone that thinks marijuana shouldn’t be legalized for medicinal purposes should walk a mile in a sick persons shoes. I’m sorry, but people think that have no compassion towards others. Holding back something that can help people because the government named it a drug is just plain wrong. If you had a diesease that caused you constant pain how would you feel if their was something that could make you feel better, but you weren’t allowed to have it? They are not saying let everyone use it just people that it could help for medical problems..it would be regulated. It has worked in other states and I don’t see what is wrong with that. Healthy people that take up the podium of “it’s a drug” should try walking a mile in a sick persons shoes…
Tigger888-
You misread and misinterpret my post. Read my 9:53 post. I am not talking about schedule drugs, I am taling about drugs. The FDA regulates ALL drugs, including penicillin, sulfa drugs, aspirin etc. They regulate it for purity, and for effect. My point being if it is classifified as a drug, then it would come under the regulaiton of the FDA. that includes purity and effacy tests, etc.
Littlejohn– I’m so sorry I misenterpreted your post. I kind of get fired up about this subject. Sorry about jumping the gun. :)
Tigger888-
No problem.
TDT-
At the very least
“Most Republicans think with their brains not with their “feelings”. Since other alternatives are available to “pot” it is neither appropriate or wise to legalize a drug that has provided a gate way to other more deadly behavior.
Posted by: seanmahair | August 16, 2007 at 07:38 AM ”
Are you worried about “pot” becoming a gateway to Cocaine, Methamphetamines? If you look at my 12:15 post, you will see those drugs are already legal for medicinal use. Closing the barn door a little late on that one.
“it is neither appropriate or wise to legalize a drug that has provided a gate way to other more deadly behavior”
That’s the most absurd statement I’ve heard, what ‘other more deadly behavior’ has a pot smoker ever exhibited?
Joe is right, put to a vote those that subscribe to reefer madness hysteria will never get it.
Legalize it for use by all. It doesn’t even begin to compare to the dangers of alcohol, which of course IS legal.
Of course, if you do legalize marijuana, it will become a tax issue shortly thereafter.
I think alcohol is taxed by the gallon and percent alcohol.
I wonder what marijuana will taxed at? Per Gram? Per Kilogram?
I wonder what marijuana will taxed at? Per Gram? Per Kilogram?
Posted by: Kansas
Just like tobacco. Only Wacky.
It may not be legal, but the bozo’s talking about buying Cowtown are certainly smokin’ it.
Don’t cloud the issue; try to learn how marijuana really became illegal.Marijuana as a drug making people crazy was just propaganda to remove an industry that any country can grow as crop so that another industry could gain domination on the markets and domination over other countries.It was all about the elites gaining and maintaining their power against each other and over the people that served them.Hemp was the real target not marijuana, Hemp can be made into the same products as petroleum is used.Marijuana / Hemp also can also be used as food, clothing, building materials as well as medicine, more so then crude oil.The real story of why Marijuana / Hemp became illegal is a story about modern exploitation verses ancient exploitation, economics.
Wiseman–That may or may not be, but medicinal marijuana was the issue. And I don;t see hemp replacing oil for a lot of things in countries where it is legal. THough I must admit, I am not very knowldgeable about the whole hemp issue.
LJ, While I’m not an expert, I learned over a decade ago thathemp can be used as a biomass fuel. However, since oil is ‘plentiful’ there is no urgency to develop alternative fuel sources, especially hemp.
The mass hysteria hype that was created and the big money companies have kept this easy to grow plant out of the mainstream since the 30’s. Most people buy into their propaganda. heck, there are even pot seeds in bird seed. They just sterilize or something.
Personally, I see a potential win/win situation with dual benefits. Marijuana to ingest, hemp to use for rope, clothing, biofuel…etc. Marijuana farmers would have good incomes from being able to sell their product.—–
Don’t cloud the issue; try to learn how marijuana really became illegal.
Not clouding the issue. My doctor tells me that any chemical benefit from smoking MJ can be provided in a prescription drug with the growing of a plant used widely for illegal use.
There is no medical benefit that cannot be provided at the drugstores today.
It’s all an excuse for those left over hippies from the 60’s to turn on and drop out.
WITHOUT growing MJ.
So basically people should pay outlandish drug prices to buy something they can get for free if they grew it themselves
I posted this, earlier, on the “Tobacco Tax” thread:—–”Medical Marijuana?
Look up the drug: Thalimid
It is the old “Thalidamide” or the drug that USED to be prescribed for morning sickness in pregnant women — at least in the U.K. (The FDA, thankfully, banned the stuff, back then, before it was ever released in the U.S.)
Thalidomide caused “flipper babies” — very bad birth defects, which hit England very hard.
Anyway, Today’s Thalimid is the same thing. It costs about $7000.00 a month, and you have to swear, through a recorded phone call, that you won’t let anyone TOUCH the stuff, as a pregnant women who touches a pill will absorb enough, through the skin, to damage her unborn child!
Anyway, just as Thalidomide was useful, but dangerous, in increasing the appetite and reducing morning sickness, in pregnant women, — it also helps cancer and chemo patients with their appetite and reduces vomiting, from what I have been told by clients who take the stuff.
This is a crazy would we live in! We won’t allow “medical marijuana” — which might also reduce PAIN as well as increase appetite — but we allow this POISIN Thalimid, instead? For the SAME thing?
Anyway, Bob Stephan is right on this one!
Posted by: Econ101 | August 15, 2007 at 10:55 PM—–
“I completly agree that medical marijuana use should be legalized. Until you have experienced the pain of seeing someone you love sufering from cancer this can be hard to understand. My stepfather passed away from pancreatic cancer four years ago and lived for three months in pain. If medical marijuana had been legalized back then he wouldn’t have suffered so much.”
The Republicans never had much for suffering people because most of the idiots think that suffering is “biblical” or Godly. They think God wants you to suffer in pain. Why do you think they interfered in the case in Florida (Teri Shavio)? Jeb Bush decided that her and her husband had not suffered enough over the years. Bush also decided that a crippled man with a painful back injury deserved 25 years for having too many painkillers:
http://www.november.org/thewall/cases/paey-r/paey-r.html
So yes, I like it when Republicans get fatal painful diseases like cancer. I hope to God Almighty that they suffer ever minute of their miserable lives. I hope they writh in pain and puke day and night. I hope it takes them a very long time to die. They should be given NO comfort- medical or spritual. They should simply be told that what awaits them after their “Godly” suffering here is eternity in Hell wher they will suffer even worse.
That’s very hateful Kev.
Not just adults get cancer Kev, there are small children that get cancer.
Kev not to sound flip about your dad but maybe he should have went ahead and smoked pot. whats the worst that would happen? he goes to jail the county pays for his medical care instead of his family i doubt the DA would touch it a sick cancer patient drug into court with tubes and doctors surrounded by media would spell the end of the DA’s career if i was a jury in such a trial i would vote to acquit on principle
“That’s very hateful Kev.
Not just adults get cancer Kev, there are small children that get cancer.”
Small children do not have the reasoning capacity to be Republicans. In fact most small children reason more like Democrats. You know they share things, make friends, play sports and like girls after they get older. They think the family dog is to pet and play with and not to torture, shoot and kill. They generally don’t take the black kid and tie him and drag him around trhe playground nor do they show up to school in white sheets and give poisonous apples to the teachers. No, it takes some effort to become a Republican because God made us all liberals- in His image. So my post was not aimed at children.
“Kev not to sound flip about your dad but maybe he should have went ahead and smoked pot. whats the worst that would happen? he goes to jail the county pays for his medical care instead of his family i doubt the DA would touch it a sick cancer patient drug into court with tubes and doctors surrounded by media would spell the end of the DA’s career if i was a jury in such a trial i would vote to acquit on principle”
You might think they wouldn’t send you to jail for it but there are people in jail for it right now! In fact here is a guy they were going to put in jail for it but he died before they could lock him up!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_McWilliams
Never underestimate the Nazi Republicans! They will stoop to any level to enfore their view of morality and to oppress those who oppose them.
Steve Kubby was in a simliar situation and is now running for president http://www.kubby2008.com/
Steve Kubby for President 2008
Drug policy reform is the issue for which I’m best known, and to which I’ve dedicated the better part of my life and most of my past efforts. In 1996, I helped Californians pass Proposition 215, the nation’s first “medical marijuana” law. Medical marijuana and “compassionate use” legislation have since gained support and passage of across much of America, but there’s a lot left to do.
Let me preface my position by pointing out one thing: This is no more about drugs than the Boston Tea Party was about tea. It’s about freedom:
Freedom to look after your own health without a bureaucrat snooping around in your medicine cabinet.
Freedom to choose the substances that you’re going to eat, drink, smoke or otherwise ingest without having to fear that midnight knock at the door and the shout of “police!”
And, yes, freedom to “get high” without risking arrest and imprisonment.
You may not use drugs. As a matter of fact, I don’t care whether or not you use drugs. It’s still not about drugs, it’s about freedom. Your freedom, whether you use drugs or not.
If you don’t think the drug war limits your freedom, it’s time to think again.
You may not use drugs, but you shouldn’t have to urinate into a cup to prove to the government that you don’t … and neither should your son or daughter.
You may not use drugs, but hundreds have Americans have learned — sometimes at the cost of their very lives — that that doesn’t matter when the police break down the wrong door because an informant lied or a typist got the address wrong on the warrant.
You may not use drugs, but your government still spends tens of billions of dollars of your money every year unsuccessfully trying to prevent everyone else from using them.
More than 800,000 Americans were arrested last year for possession of marijuana. Our prisons are filled with individuals convicted of non-violent “drug-related offenses.” America, land of the free, now imprisons more of its own people than any other nation on earth. In many American cities, “driving while black” might as well be a crime, because it’s nearly certain to get you pulled over so that your car can be searched for drugs. Many of our neighborhoods are free-fire zones where gangs of crooks battle for dominance in a black market that would not exist if anyone could stop by their local drug store and pick up their drug of choice for use in the privacy of their home.
Everywhere you turn, the war on drugs pervades our social fabric. Everywhere, that is, except the one place you’d expect to find it: The Constitution. Go ahead, look. Try to find any authority in the Constitution for this kind of perpetual nationwide dragnet. You can’t find it, because it’s not there.
If you read the Constitution, you’ll see that our politicians realized they had to amend it in order to prohibit alcohol. They did — and they repealed that prohibition after a 15-year national nightmare that included a nationwide rise of organized crime, street violence and … drinking! Before alcohol Prohibition, less than one in five Americans consumed alcohol. By the end of it, one in three Americans were boozing it up.
Our politicians forgot the lessons of alcohol Prohibition almost immediately as they moved to crack down on other drugs. They also forgot that they needed a constitutional amendment to make that crackdown legal.
We could argue all day long about the virtues and vices of drug use, and you might be surprised at some of the facts that your government doesn’t want you to know … but it really isn’t about virtue or vice. It’s about the destructive effects — far more destructive than drug use itself — that the drug war has on our society. It’s about the wise limits that our forefathers put on the power of government and which are now being ignored. And it’s about your freedom to live as you see fit, so long as you refrain from aggression against others.
As I travel around the country seeking your support for my candidacy, I’ll be carrying in my shirt pocket the text of my first executive order (click here to read it), to be issued upon my inauguration, should I be elected. Unlike previous presidents, I’ll be using executive orders to restrain, rather than empower, government.
My first executive order will be a “stand down” order for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the subdivisions of all other government agencies which are party to the “war on drugs.” That executive order will freeze those agencies’ and subdivisions’ operating accounts, place their employees on leave or on other duties, and direct their department heads to produce and submit permanent “stand down” plans for Congress to refer to in its next budget session.
After issuing that order, I’ll wait.
I’ll wait for someone to sue, seeking a writ of mandamus from the courts to force me to prosecute the “war on drugs.” If that suit comes, I’ll direct the Solicitor General of the United States to vigorously defend my administration against any order requiring it to enforce unconstitutional laws.
I’ll wait for Congress to appropriate new money for support of the “war on drugs.” And I’ll veto any budget which contains such an appropriation.
I’ll wait for Congress to pass, and send to the states, a constitutional amendment making the “war on drugs” legal. I don’t think they’ll do it — if for no other reason than that to do so would be to publicly admit that decades of past drug prosecutions were illegal and unconstitutional, and that those convicted and punished under those laws are owed restitution for the unjust treatment to which they were subjected.
The war on drugs has been an exercise in failure and in national dishonor. It’s time to end it.
The Republicans in the Justice Dept- many of whom graduated from such top notch institutions such as Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University, Pat Robertson’s Regent University and of course Bob “no Negroes allowed” Jones “Christian” university- have found clever ways to enforce their view of marijuana and what they do not only threaten to terminally ill with jail (like who cares?) but they use the threat of civil siezure to take away the home of the caregiver for the terminally ill patient who smokes the marijuana. So not only do you lose your family member but you lose your home as a “drug house” as well.
“When his elderly mother pledged her house as security for the bail, they threatened that the government would seize her house if her son simply failed a drug test, not just if he were to flee. She would not be intimidated, but now her son is dead as the result of the conditions of the bail. These are the “family values” of America’s war on the sick and dying.”
LINK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_McWilliams
Oh my god. It is insanity that the judge refused to allow the evidence at trial that he was dying. What crap. That’s how republicans treat dying people?
Uh, Kev, for someone so pro-pot…you sure are hypocritical on the smoking issue.
“Oh my god. It is insanity that the judge refused to allow the evidence at trial that he was dying. What crap. That’s how republicans treat dying people?”
The thing I don’t get is this- WHY are people just now waking up to this? The Republicans have only 2 goals in life- to make the rich richer and the rest of us suffer. I guess all the American suckers were taken in by “compassionate conservatism” bullshit. But there is no such thing as a “compassionate” con. The Republicans get up every morning thinking only “how can I get richer today?” and “how can I make the Earth a worse place than it was yesterday?” They cannot really get rich by putting dying people in a jail cell but they can make somebody suffer a bit more which makes them happy because they are doing “the work of the Lord”. They think that Bible verse that says “suffer unto me” is to be taken literally- unless of course they get sick. Then they demand every kind of medical care that they can get.
I thought the only way they could seize your property was if you were growing pot in order to sell it. Possession of less than an ounce is a misdemeanor, right?I’m having a hard time believing that people are languishing in prison for just smoking pot, but dealing is another matter…Back in the 70’s, I had an elderly neighbor who smoked pot to relieve her glaucoma, she did it very openly and was even interviewed by the Eagle about it…nothing ever happened to her, the police never came to throw her in jail and no one threatened to take her house. I can’t imagine anyone suffering who suffers from cancer getting thrown in jail just for possessing pot meant for their personal use only.
Was William Randolph Hearst a republican?
Kev..Don’t you think you’re over the top a bit? How can you make such generalizations? Not every Republican is rich and evil as you would have everyone believe. Just substitute the word “black” or “jew” for “Republican” and hear how you sound. You are apalled by those who judge others, but right now you’re judging and condemning a whole group of people based on the actions of some. I’m not saying that greedy, evil people don’t exist, but you’ll find them on both the right AND the left. Most of us gravitate toward the middle, not to the extremes of both sides. Calm the hell down.
Harry J. AnslingerAnslinger was an extremely ambitious man, and he recognized the Bureau of Narcotics as an amazing career opportunity — a new government agency with the opportunity to define both the problem and the solution. He immediately realized that opiates and cocaine wouldn’t be enough to help build his agency, so he latched on to marijuana and started to work on making it illegal at the federal level.Anslinger immediately drew upon the themes of racism and violence to draw national attention to the problem he wanted to create. Some of his quotes regarding marijuana…”There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others.”
“…the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.”
“Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death.”
“Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men.”
“Marihuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing”
“You smoke a joint and you’re likely to kill your brother.”
“Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.”And he loved to pull out his own version of the “assassin” definition:”In the year 1090, there was founded in Persia the religious and military order of the Assassins, whose history is one of cruelty, barbarity, and murder, and for good reason: the members were confirmed users of hashish, or marihuana, and it is from the Arabs’ ‘hashashin’ that we have the English word ‘assassin.’”
Yellow JournalismHarry Anslinger got some additional help from William Randolf Hearst, owner of a huge chain of newspapers. Hearst had lots of reasons to help. First, he hated Mexicans. Second, he had invested heavily in the timber industry to support his newspaper chain and didn’t want to see the development of hemp paper in competition. Third, he had lost 800,000 acres of timberland to Pancho Villa, so he hated Mexicans. Fourth, telling lurid lies about Mexicans (and the devil marijuana weed causing violence) sold newspapers, making him rich.Hearst and Anslinger were then supported by Dupont chemical company and various pharmaceutical companies in the effort to outlaw cannabis. Dupont had patented nylon, and wanted hemp removed as competition. The pharmaceutical companies could neither identify nor standardize cannabis dosages, and besides, with cannabis, folks could grow their own medicine and not have to purchase it from large companies.This all set the stage for…The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937.
“I thought the only way they could seize your property was if you were growing pot in order to sell it. Possession of less than an ounce is a misdemeanor, right?I’m having a hard time believing that people are languishing in prison for just smoking pot, but dealing is another matter…”
Are you fugging kidding? Possession of pot is a misdemeanor only in STATE court and only in some states. It is NOT a misdemeanor in FEDERAL court. It is a Schedule 1 drug- same as Heroin- in Federal Court and it has a minimum sentence of 5 years! Federal prisons are full of people who thought having pot- or even bongs- was a “misdomeanor”! Tommy Chong probably thought that too:http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/345/tommychong.shtml
This guy here sold seeds in another country- Canada- which won’t extradite him because he might face the DEATH penalty in the USA if they do!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Emery
Mary my quad uncle also smoked pot to relieve pain. And yes they did bust him…and turned around and released him on OR. The sherrif asked my grandmother when she was going to come post bond on him…she looked at Joe’s wheelchair, handed him a stack of colostomy bags and said “I’m not”. It wasn’t long before they called her to come get him. lol.
Good gracious, Kev. Tough day at the office? You can join a gym for that. They offer kickboxing, whatever you want. Hell, you might even be able to find some filthy smoker to punch out.
Your psychological reading of Republicans’ minds is simplistic. I vote Democrat as my posts suggest, but most of my friends are Republicans, now and down through the years. They think I’m a crazy bastard, and I think they’re crazy bastards. We get along fine.
That said, I support Stephan’s initiative. Whatever we can do to help cancer patients in pain, we should step up and take care of it.
PMom, I loved it!!! Your aunt was one fiesty lady!I think it’s so ridiculous that someone who is sick can’t smoke pot without the threat of being arrested..that’s just nuts!When I had cancer…I had numerous offers of pot if I needed it. Thank goodness the drugs I was prescribed made it all bearable, but I wouldn’t have thought twice about using pot if that’s what I needed. I was really touched that so many people in my life would risk their own hides to help me out…now those are true friends!
“Isn’t Stephan a Repuke and neo con? I don’t think he has any right to bitch about his cancer of whatever he suffers from it. And if he touches marijuana he should go to prison for a long time with all the other people that are there for smoking marijuana- many of which this idiot prosecuted himself more than likely. He should be glad that he is getting any health care at all for his cancer because his party doesn’t think that you or I should have it. If his cancer comes back, he should go and die in silence and suffer as he and the Repukes have made so many others do.”
Uhm, no, he isn’t. But that’s what comes with defining people as labels such as “republican” and “democrat”. Republican does not equal “neo-con” (which, by the way, is used waaay too loosely on this blog. Neo-cons are the foreign policy interventionists who have seriously damaged our foreign policy, and include such nitwits as Richard Perl, Paul Wolfowitz, Donald Rumsfield, and Dick Cheney. They are not christian conservatives. As for Stephen, he has his problems but I personally think he was a very good Attorney General in many ways, and he was especially good about giving state governement, and particularly governors, clear eyed legal analyses free from partisan non-sense. Very different from the likes of Phill Kline.
Finally, I found your comments rather odd. He is using his experiences and his background as a public figure to promote a cause. The fact that he may have needed an epiphany doesn’t make him incorrect or hypocritical. He is NOT sitting back and suffering in silence, and more to the point, he is not being silent about others suffering in silent.
Kev, to be blunt, your post represents the worst of the unforgiving nature of knee-jerk partisan politics.
Period.
…”suffereing in silence.” is what I meant to say.
Kev
You know me.
Do you really think that I want anyone to suffer?
Yes, I am a Republican and I support the free market and the profit motive.
However, my clients can’t pay my fees/premiums/commissions/investment minimums if they go broke, can they?
Where in the hell is the incentive for ANY Republican to wish bad times on anyone else?
I want everyone to be RICH! That way, I make even MORE money!
PMom,
Not to be mean, but how does a quadriplegic smoke a joint?
You know, everytime there is a message board that gets going on marijuana, most of the posters are for legalization, and yet it remains illegal. If you think it should be legal, then tell your legislators. Or support a lobby group that fights for legalization. There are plenty of those. DRCnet is one. The war against drugs has caused more pain and suffering in our society than most diseases combined.
I completly agree with Elizabeth. If you want to see a medical marijuana bill passed contanct your legislator. You can also go to http://www.ks.mpp.org orhttp://ks.mpp.org/site/c.klKUL6MUIwG/b.1771457/k.BEDA/Home.htmWe need to get this law passed and without us raising our voices it wont happen. Their is an article in the Wichita Eagle (local and state front page) “I don’t see any real urgency or interest.” says Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman John Vratil, R-Leawood. Please please write to your legislator and let them know that this is something that we all care about and want.
“As for Stephen, he has his problems but I personally think he was a very good Attorney General in many ways, and he was especially good about giving state governement, and particularly governors, clear eyed legal analyses free from partisan non-sense. Very different from the likes of Phill Kline.”
Actually, now that you made the comparison with Kline, I will concede that point! At the very least Stephan was more professional. This bunch today remind me more of “hide in the trunk” Vern Miller!
“Good gracious, Kev. Tough day at the office? You can join a gym for that. They offer kickboxing, whatever you want. Hell, you might even be able to find some filthy smoker to punch out.”
I never said smokers are filthy people. I just said they are fools with a filthy habit. And it is filthy. Ever ride in the car of a smoker?
Kev not to sound flip about your dad but maybe he should have went ahead and smoked pot. whats the worst that would happen? he goes to jail the county pays for his medical care instead of his family i doubt the DA would touch it a sick cancer patient drug into court with tubes and doctors surrounded by media would spell the end of the DA’s career if i was a jury in such a trial i would vote to acquit on principle
I wanted to reply to this one. if you read the posts that’s actually my stepfather that your refering to. My stepdad didn’t smoke marijuana because he was a very Christian man who didn’t believe in breaking the law in any form. There are a lot of people out there that are very sick that have this mind set. It is the reason that I chose not to smoke to alieviate some of my pain. This is another reason that it’s important to get a medical marijuana law passed so that sick people won’t have to fear breaking the law.
Give it up dopers, you are not going to get legal pot.
Keep hiding that sack of seeds.