AIDS/HIV
Proposition 215
Before 1996, the thought of legal medical marijuana may have seemed like a waste of time for patients. The previous decades had come down hard on marijuana, creating a social stigma. However with new prevalent medical conditions arising such as AIDS/HIV, during the 1980s and 1990s,chronically ill patients were seeking out alternative treatments for their discomfort. Dennis Peron witnessed first hand, how marijuana could be used medically to alleviate symptoms of AIDS. His partner, Jonathan West, had used marijuana to cope with his pain from the disease. Peron gathered momentum for medical marijuana by assisting in the creation of Proposition P, a San Francisco medical marijuana initiative. This initiative was simply to display the overwhelming support for possible future legislation. Proposition P had no legal authority, but with over 75% of voters supporting it, momentum was clearly gained. Other cities followed suit, but more substantive measures that would actually legalize medical marijuana were vetoed by then Governor, Pete Wilson. With the help of philanthropists, Peron and others were able to secure enough signatures to land medical marijuana on the ballot. This was no easy task as many high profile politicians organized their own efforts to persuade California residents to vote against Proposition 215. The bill was passed with over 55% approval. Now for the first time in over 60 years, there were laws within the United States permitting the use of marijuana. Under Proposition 215 qualifying patients with prescriptions would be protected from state laws that otherwise outlawed the use of marijuana. Under state law, doctors too would not be subjected to any penalties for prescribing medical marijuana and caregivers were offered protection for providing marijuana to patients. However, Proposition 215 makes it very clear that these medical guidelines werenot created to provide a sense that marijuana was legal for social use. Patients however, were pleased with this victory after decades of struggle. Health-is-Wealth.org
NoCuffs.com | Drug_Dases | Proposition_215
ChrisConrad.com | Expert Witness | Proposition 215
Medical Marijuana Industry News | April/May, 2011
News From April/May
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder suggested that the Justice Department will work with governors to reach a satisfactory resolution to the establishment of dispensaries that sell marijuana to patients in state-sponsored medical-marijuana programs. Dispensaries owners have long expressed concern that they will be raided or shut down by officials from the federal government even when they are in full compliance with state law.
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?Advocates for medical marijuana filed a suit in a U.S. Circuit Court today to force the Obama administration to answer a petition that seeks to have the federal government recognize cannabis as a drug with acceptable medical uses. The suit asks the court to order the administration to answer the original request within 60 days. The suit is cosponsored by NORML.
If the coalition of pro-pot organizations is successful, marijuana would be taken out of the federal Schedule I category — the group of outlaw drugs with no legitimate uses, to which cocaine doesn’t even belong — and, presumably, made available as a medicine from coast-to-cost.
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- 8 of 10 states that legalized medical marijuana saw a DECREASE in teen usage of marijuana.
- The US Government supplies marijuana to four seriously ill patients as part of the Compassionate Investigational New Drug program. The program was closed to new patients in 1991.
- Between 1997 and 2005 marijuana was NOT reported as a cause of death in the United States.
Source: Procon.org
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Gov. Jack Markell has signed legislation making Delaware the 16th state to allow the use of medical marijuana. The legalization of marijuana will allow it to be used for the treatment of cancer, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, post traumatic stress disorder and other devastating diseases. Three state-regulated non-profit dispensaries will be established in each county.
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Conservative Idaho might not seem like the most fertile ground for a medical marijuana movement, but supporters have launched an initiative drive that could change the terms of the debate. The reason: 74 percent of Idahoans say they support allowing “terminally and seriously ill patients to use and purchase marijuana for medical purposes.” That was in this year’s Boise State University public policy survey, a result so overwhelmingly favorable that researchers initially thought it had to be wrong.
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How can a drug that federal drug law says is criminal be considered medicine under state law? The article highlights the growing concern among operators of legal dispensaries. At any minute they can be raided and closed by federal agents.
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Medical marijuana could become legal in Illinois. Some lawmakers are looking to make cannabis available for people seeking relief from symptoms of maladies that include multiple scoliosis, cancer and HIV/AIDS.