2. Medical Marijuana at the Statehouse: Prospects for 2008
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/527/medical_marijuana_bills_statehouse_2008
A dozen years after California voters ushered in the age of
legal medical marijuana by supporting Proposition 215, the legal
use of the herb for medicinal purposes has spread to 11 other
states -- Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New
Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington -- but in
recent years, progress has been excruciatingly slow.
The last statewide initiative to go to voters failed in 2006 in
South Dakota -- the only state where voters have rejected an
initiative legalizing medical marijuana -- and last year, it
took Herculean efforts by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) to
revive and rescue the medical marijuana bill there, making the
Land of Enchantment the only state to be added to the list of
medical marijuana states in 2007. (Rhode Island legislators, who
had passed a sunsetted bill in 2006, made it permanent last
year.)
This year, serious efforts to pass medical marijuana laws at the
state house are underway in several more states, with most of
the efforts being run by local groups backed by either the
Marijuana Policy Project (
http://www.mpp.org) or the Drug Policy
Alliance (
http://www.drugpolicy.org). Here's a look at the
states where there has been or will be action at the state house
on medical marijuana:
ALABAMA: A medical marijuana bill was introduced last week by
Rep. Laura Hall (D), but has yet to be assigned a bill number.
This will mark the second year in a row that Alabama legislators
have had a medical marijuana bill before them. There will be
hearings this year, said Loretta Nall, executive director of
Alabamians for Compassionate Care
(
http://www.compassionate-care.org), the local group
coordinating the effort to pass the bill.
One of those who will testify is Jacki Phillips, whose son,
Michael Phillips, had testified in support of medical marijuana
in the past. Michael Phillips, who throughout his life suffered
from seizures related to brain tumors, died last December in a
New Orleans hotel room during the DPA conference.
"I'm going to tell those lawmakers that the system killed my
son," said Phillips. "I truly believe that if he could have
gotten the marijuana and it had been regulated like other
seizure medicines, he would be alive today. I'm not asking them
to legalize it for potheads," she said, "I'm a Southern Baptist
and I believe God gave you a brain to use, but using marijuana
for medical purposes would help a lot of people."
Marijuana didn't stop Michael Phillips' seizures, his mother
said, "but it gave him the chance to function on a normal level
for a period of time." When he smoked marijuana, she said, he
would still have seizures, but their frequency and intensity was
greatly reduced.
CONNECTICUT: After seeing a medical marijuana bill pass the
legislature there last year only to be vetoed by Gov. Jodi Rell
(R), activists there have found little traction on the issue
this year as the legislature debates other criminal justice and
drug policy issues.
"We were emboldened last year and then deeply disappointed that
people still essentially have to commit a crime to get access to
medicine," DPA policy director Gabriel Sayegh told the Hartford
Business Journal (
http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news4689.html)
earlier this month. But despite little progress this year,
"there is no doubt we are going to continue with this," he
vowed.
ILLINOIS: A medical marijuana bill, SB 2865
(
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?GA=95&DocTypeID=SB&DocNum=2865&GAID...),
has passed committee votes and is now headed to the Senate
floor, but its House companion bill, HB 5938, lost a committee
vote this week. Still, that doesn't mean the measure is dead.
"Unlike many states, losing a committee vote doesn't kill your
bill," said MPP's Mirken, who spent part of this week at the
state capitol in Springfield accompanying patients as they
lobbied legislators.
MPP and local reform groups IDEAL (
www.idealreform.org)
(Illinois Drug Education and Legislative Reform) and Illinois
Compassion Action Network (
http://www.illinoiscan.com) are
keeping the pressure on. This week, MPP released a poll
(
http://www.mpp.org/news/illinois-voters-support.html) showing
68%% support for medical marijuana in the state.
KANSAS: The first effort at passing a medical marijuana bill in
Kansas, supported by the Kansas Compassionate Care Coalition
(
http://www.ksccc.org) and former Republican Attorney General
Robert Stephan, ended a couple of weeks ago, bottled up in
committee by a hostile committee chair. While disappointing,
that is hardly surprising, given the torturous legislative
process facing any new bill.
Kansans should not be disheartened that they did not achieve
victory in their first try, said MPP's Mirken. "It has been a
multi-year struggle in all the states that have passed these
laws," he said. "It's no surprise that it will take more than
one year in Kansas."
MINNESOTA: Last year, a medical marijuana bill passed the state
Senate, but died of inaction in the House in the face of veto
threats from Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. But MPP and local
affiliate Minnesotans for Compassionate Care
(
http://www.minnesotacares.org) are again working with friendly
legislators. A Republican House member, Rep. Chris DeLaForest,
is cosponsoring a House bill this year.
Minnesota's is a two-year legislative session, so that means
only a House bill must pass this year, provided it is congruent
with the already passed Senate bill.
"We are sitting in the House waiting for it to be brought up,"
said Mirken. "We're hoping it will pass and the governor will
see the light."
NEW JERSEY: For the fourth consecutive year, a medical marijuana
bill, AB 804
(
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us:80/2008/Bills/A1000/804_I1.HTM)
has been introduced by Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer) and
a companion bill has been introduced in the state Senate. DPA's
New Jersey office is working the legislature, but there seems
little likelihood the Senate will act.
"The Senate has always been the hold-up," said Ken Wolski, RN,
executive officer of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New
Jersey (
http://www.cmmnj.org). "Although Gov. Corzine has said
he would sign a bill if it gets to his desk, the Assembly
doesn't really want to mess with it if the Senate won't move on
it, so here we are."
NEW YORK: A medical marijuana bill, SO4768
(
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=S04768), initially
introduced last year was reintroduced in January. It passed the
Assembly last year, but was referred at that time to the Senate
Health Committee where it has languished ever since. Given the
turmoil in Albany in the wake of this week's resignation of
Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer, said MPP's Mirken, it will take
awhile for the dust to settle. "We're trying to figure out how
the Spizter follies will change the situation, " he said. "While
we have some hopes for New York, at this point, medical
marijuana is not on the top of anybody's agenda."
One optimistic sign, said Mirken, was that the new governor,
David Paterson, is on much better terms with Republican Senate
majority leader Joseph Bruno. Another is that, like Minnesota,
New York has a two-year session, so a bill will not have to
again pass the Assembly.
The medical marijuana movement has mowed its way through most of
the low-hanging fruit of the initiative states and now faces the
long, hard slog through the legislative process if it wants to
get more states on board. While it is less expensive to attempt
to win in the legislature than at the ballot box, it is also
much more difficult and complicated.
"A lot of politicians are needlessly skittish about the politics
of this," said Mirken. "If it were just a vote on the merits, it
would pass today. Everywhere, we can produce polling numbers to
show these guys a medical marijuana vote is not going to hurt
them, but there is a deeply ingrained fear of being portrayed as
soft on drugs, and that's very difficult to overcome. It's a
real struggle," he said.
When pressed on where victories might come this year, Mirken was
careful. "I'd say there was a fighting chance in Illinois,
Minnesota, and New York, but in an election year, politicians
are more timid than usual," he offered.
The real best shot this year, he said, is likely Michigan, where
an initiative has been approved for the November ballot.
================
Well this looks clean but so did the first post.
later
bliss -- C O C O A Powered... (at california dot com)
--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco
Ningen banji Human beings do
Samazama no Every single kind
Baka a suru Of stupid thing
--- 117th edition of Haifu Yanagidaru published in 1832
"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of cocoa that the thoughts acquire speed,
the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
--from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.
