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Souder battles medical-marijuana laws
By Sylvia A. Smith
JournalGazette.net
Washington editor
WASHINGTON - States shouldn't be allowed to relax laws against marijuana
use and possession, even for medical use, Rep. Mark Souder, R-4th, said
Thursday as he introduced a bill to pre-empt those state laws. Souder said
he wrote the legislation at the urging of organizations that have
campaigned against efforts in states that have passed referenda to ease
marijuana laws. Voters in seven states have passed referenda to legalize
marijuana for ill people, said NORML - the National Organization for Reform
of Marijuana Laws. Also, Hawaii lawmakers voted to legalize medical use.
"When you've got 60, 65 percent of the voters in a state saying we no
longer want to arrest patients who use medical marijuana, what business is
it of Congress to come in and undermine that? That is truly the will of the
people," said Keith Stoup, NORML executive director. "Does he believe
there's something undemocratic about a member of Congress or even Congress
as a whole tossing out the will of the voters in a state?" he asked about
Souder. Souder doesn't. He said billionaire George Soros and two
employees paid for much of the legalization campaigns in the states that
passed the referenda. Soros "bought that 60 to 65" percent, Souder said.
"What this shows is the American people are an empathetic group of people
who, if they're told the only way to alleviate pain is this way . . ., they
want to be sympathetic. "But when they learn there are alternatives, that
they've been lied to about the medicinal use and the fact is just a bunch
of pot clubs, the polls flip the other direction immediately." Souder said
if the people using marijuana were truly only alleviating pain, police -
state or federal - would look the other way. There's already an exemption
for medicinal use, he said, if a person proves to the Department of Health
and Human Services it's necessary. Souder said efforts to make medical use
legal "is just a phony excuse to be a pot head." Stroup said Souder is
misguided. "Under both state and federal law, a doctor can prescribe
amphetamines, cocaine, barbiturates - there are any number of drugs which
are dangerous and can be abused on the street but which have valuable uses
in the hands of a physician. No one ever suggested that the fact that we
allow cancer patients to regulate their own morphine, for example, when
they're on a cancer ward - no one ever suggested that sends the wrong
message to kids about morphine use. "So why are we so concerned about
sending the wrong message to kids when we're allowing sick and dying
patients to use medical marijuana?" Stroup said. He said legislation such
as Souder's "suggests to me that Mr. Souder and the others in the
Republican leadership are more interested in trying to show that they're
tough on drugs than they are in establishing a compassionate program for
the sick and dying." Souder said the time has passed in which only
marijuana quelled effects of drugs used to combat illnesses. Now, he said,
the component in marijuana that is used to counter nausea and pain can be
taken as a pill.
PUBLISHED: FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2000
By Sylvia A. Smith
JournalGazette.net
Washington editor
WASHINGTON - States shouldn't be allowed to relax laws against marijuana
use and possession, even for medical use, Rep. Mark Souder, R-4th, said
Thursday as he introduced a bill to pre-empt those state laws. Souder said
he wrote the legislation at the urging of organizations that have
campaigned against efforts in states that have passed referenda to ease
marijuana laws. Voters in seven states have passed referenda to legalize
marijuana for ill people, said NORML - the National Organization for Reform
of Marijuana Laws. Also, Hawaii lawmakers voted to legalize medical use.
"When you've got 60, 65 percent of the voters in a state saying we no
longer want to arrest patients who use medical marijuana, what business is
it of Congress to come in and undermine that? That is truly the will of the
people," said Keith Stoup, NORML executive director. "Does he believe
there's something undemocratic about a member of Congress or even Congress
as a whole tossing out the will of the voters in a state?" he asked about
Souder. Souder doesn't. He said billionaire George Soros and two
employees paid for much of the legalization campaigns in the states that
passed the referenda. Soros "bought that 60 to 65" percent, Souder said.
"What this shows is the American people are an empathetic group of people
who, if they're told the only way to alleviate pain is this way . . ., they
want to be sympathetic. "But when they learn there are alternatives, that
they've been lied to about the medicinal use and the fact is just a bunch
of pot clubs, the polls flip the other direction immediately." Souder said
if the people using marijuana were truly only alleviating pain, police -
state or federal - would look the other way. There's already an exemption
for medicinal use, he said, if a person proves to the Department of Health
and Human Services it's necessary. Souder said efforts to make medical use
legal "is just a phony excuse to be a pot head." Stroup said Souder is
misguided. "Under both state and federal law, a doctor can prescribe
amphetamines, cocaine, barbiturates - there are any number of drugs which
are dangerous and can be abused on the street but which have valuable uses
in the hands of a physician. No one ever suggested that the fact that we
allow cancer patients to regulate their own morphine, for example, when
they're on a cancer ward - no one ever suggested that sends the wrong
message to kids about morphine use. "So why are we so concerned about
sending the wrong message to kids when we're allowing sick and dying
patients to use medical marijuana?" Stroup said. He said legislation such
as Souder's "suggests to me that Mr. Souder and the others in the
Republican leadership are more interested in trying to show that they're
tough on drugs than they are in establishing a compassionate program for
the sick and dying." Souder said the time has passed in which only
marijuana quelled effects of drugs used to combat illnesses. Now, he said,
the component in marijuana that is used to counter nausea and pain can be
taken as a pill.
PUBLISHED: FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2000
