Spokane7
61°
March 17, 2011 in Opinion
Editorial: Marijuana bill should reflect shift in culture
Because Congress refuses to update the absurd Controlled Substances Act, states are trying to figure out the best ways to implement the sane and popular wish that marijuana be made available for medicinal purposes. It’s not the first time states have become the laboratory for ideas that are eventually accepted nationwide.
By a wide margin, Washington state voters in 1998 passed a medical marijuana initiative, but the Legislature has never devised a system to implement it. This muddle has produced expensive police investigations and controversial arrests that have lost sight of the voters’ intent. Finally recognizing this, legislators are establishing a clear system for the purchasing and dispensing of medical marijuana. However, it has acquired some of the same out-of-date baggage that informs the 1970 federal ban.
The Controlled Substances Act puts marijuana in the Schedule I category, along with heroin, LSD and crack cocaine, meaning it has a high potential for abuse and no medicinal value. This simply isn’t accurate.
The medical community accepts that it can be effective in quelling nausea and stimulating hunger in chemotherapy and AIDS patients and lowering eye pressure in glaucoma patients, among other uses.
The dangers of pot also do not match the irrational fears that started in the early 20th century and peaked during the counterculture era of the 1960s and 1970s, when the federal law was written.
The present bill does a thorough job of establishing a system for the legal production and distribution of marijuana, but heavy-handed amendments were added in the Senate before that body passed it. The amended bill would not allow medical marijuana to become a commercial enterprise, unlike other drugs. Nor could it be advertised as other drugs are. In addition, individual communities could choose to outlaw dispensaries.
The bill should put patients first by not erecting barriers that make it more difficult to legally obtain marijuana. The House should strip the bill of these excessive limitations.
Some law enforcement agencies are worried that the bill will make it more difficult to discern legal and illegal users through the sheer volume of transactions. That might be true, but why are the illegal activities surrounding pot of greater concern than other drugs, such as Oxycontin?
This bill represents a cultural shift in attitudes toward marijuana. Regulation and enforcement ought to reflect that reality.
To respond to this editorial online, go to www.spokesman.com and click on Opinion under the Topics menu.
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ChefGus/ John Olsen on March 17 at 4:56 a.m.
I for one would much prefer that if the homeless were going to be consistently using any “drug” that it would not be alcohol… one cannot die from an “overdose” of MJ … and rarely have I ever seen a doper angry and aggressive.. the folks that are drunk or drinking have a much greater propensity for mayhem…. I wonder what percentage of Domestic Violence and Rape offenses are fueled by booze. John
knichols on March 17 at 7:22 a.m.
Maybe if a medical marijuana prescription was treated like any other prescription, and filled by a licensed pharmacist who has 12 to 16 years of post secondary education there would not be such a problem. You have to question where the little dispensaries some no more than 600 square feet are getting the marijuana to distribute? Could it be from the tenant living in your rental who has decided to cut holes in your doors and walls tampered with your electrical system and started a nice indoor growing operation? I am a local property manager and I have had 4 indoor gardening operations in the past 5 months. Two of these were busted by the police. These creative gardens cost the owners of these properties thousands of dollars in repairs. What this law has allowed is a get out of jail free card being used by drug dealers to distribute illegal drugs to children, and addicts. GET YOUR PRESCRIPTION FILLED AT THE DRUG STORE!!!
DickAdams on March 17 at 9:10 a.m.
Before my sister died of cancer, the only relief after her chemo was marijuana. I shall never forget that.
Nicotinegun on March 17 at 10:50 a.m.
Again, another Progressive moron who thinks the Constitution is a living document. So according to said moron, the law should reflect the shift in culture thereby negating the reason for law to begin with. Oh the culture is changing? Change the law. Oh the culture changed, change the law, they want heroin in the class room, make it legal. Oh the culture changed again, we have to change the laws. You people are so stupid I really have to ask if there is a level of mental retardation in liberal minded people. Your brains just don’t seem to function completely.
You want all the money, but you don’t want to work for it and you want to cripple the people that do make money and do actually make a product. You hate the death penalty of someone who murdered a person but yet you will go out of your way to make sure a woman can kill an unborn child. You attack the Tea Party for violence that you can never proove and then you turn around and use violence when your unions don’t get what they want. You are a subculture nation of hypocrites. The Democratic party is like the island of misfit toys. If you can’t fit in normal society and your brain doesn’t function normally you join the Democratic party.
Nicotinegun on March 17 at 10:53 a.m.
I wonder what percentage of property damages, death threats, assaults, and voter fraud is commited by liberals like the moron that wrote this article? I’m thinking a lot.
berrybestfarm on March 17 at 11:15 a.m.
I’ve watched AIDS patients (including children and others who contracted it through no action/fault of their own) literally waste away to skin and bones due to nausea and vomitting caused by their prescription medications. Medical marijuana was a miracle for them that allowed them to keep food down long enough for the nutrients to be absorbed. Unless you have walked a mile in the shoes of those suffering the side effects of legally prescribed medications your objections to medical marijuana have no credibility. Decriminalize the production of medical marijuana by legalizing and regulating it and you take away the profits that drive criminal acts. We have learned over and over and over that prohibition doesn’t work and costs way too much. Why are we being so dense about marijuana?
Dennis Patterson—Deer Park
MrNatural on March 17 at 11:48 a.m.
I see this issue confronting established industry driven interests. Law enforcement, Legal and the penal system not to mention certain private businesses have made a living off of keeping marijuana illegal. It will be hard for them to divest from this as it is a cash cow…Looking at the issue objectively there is much to support medical marijuana as a viable and effective treatment…looking at the concerns over the effects of impairment to children and workplace hazards are just as credible. Recreationally it seems hypocritical to demonize marijuana while alcohol is allowed. It is time for an honest discussion and reevaluation to implement a practical and sensible approach to this substance.
Scoutster on March 17 at 12:26 p.m.
Nicotine Gum….do you have some.
Kinda angry, huh? Maybe you need a toke.
And, yes, the Constitution does reflect the times…always was meant to which is why it can be amended and why we no longer have slavery.
Dazzeetrader11 on March 17 at 12:29 p.m.
Natch says “Recreationally it seems hypocritical to demonize marijuana while alcohol is allowed”
Perfect. Let’s have another drug! We need to be a sleepier culture right? Well this article and the current move is about medical uses only. ONLY.
In the medical setting, this drug can help. It’s not a “cultural shift” that might run a new drug loose. I don’t favor that. I think, given the abuses, the drug for patients should be kept in pharmacy and should require all the regulations normally assigned to a drug.
It’s not meant to be a candy store for casual use. Medical uses are fine but the controlled substances are controlled for a reason.
Renata29 on March 17 at 12:51 p.m.
Thanks for the rational editorial, particularly the point that the House ought to remove the Reefer Madness-inspired amendments added in various Senate committees.
And K Nichols: prescription drugs have to be dispensed by a licensed pharmacist because all of them have the potential to kill you. Marijuana does not. There is literally no lethal dose — that’s safer than aspirin!
And speaking of aspirin, how come a pharmacist doesn’t dispense that? Oh, right, because there’s such a thing as over-the-counter medicines. In a country that values freedom and justice, marijuana should be just as available as any other OTC medicine.
Scratch that. Marijuana should be just as available as any other herb. Many herbs such as lavender, chamomile, St. John’s Wort, etc, have medical value — and they are freely available at grocery stores, specialty shops, and farmer’s markets.
And why all the outrage about people you deem unqualified selling a safe, non-toxic plant? Teenage workers in this state routinely and legally sell one of the most toxic and widely available drugs around…cigarettes. It just happens behind the counter at a grocery store.
You display many inaccurate assumptions in your post, but for the sake of argument, I’ll assume your personal story about your rental units is accurate. Your tenants were wrong to cut holes in your doors and alter wiring — but you have to admit that if growing this safe, non-toxic plant weren’t against the law, people would much prefer to plant a garden outdoors just like we grow every other food and plant. And really, most people would rather not go through the trouble at all, and would just like to purchase it like anything else.
I’m sure you can see the discrepancy in the way marijuana is treated compared to more dangerous drugs. I’d respectfully ask you to ask yourself why you want to herd people toward the dangerous substances of cigarettes, alcohol, Oxycontin or worse.
Dazzeetrader11 on March 17 at 1:29 p.m.
It’s an inhalation anesthetic. Just because you pass out before you die doesn’t make this drug safe. Lots of brain damage reported with its use. PET scans confirm this. plus it’s got way more cancer production than cigarettes.
This is a drug. Pure and simple. Do we really need more people not thinking clearly? Producing less than they might sober?
MrNatural on March 17 at 2:17 p.m.
Hey Dizzeetrader11
I’m just making a passive observation when I say “seem” regarding a parallel between marijuana and alcohol…I keep a “to each their own” attitude about most things including marijuana.
Please express your opinion on the subject without criticizing mine thank you…
skizzle42 on March 17 at 3:41 p.m.
Medical Marijuana patients shouldn’t have to register like a sex offender, and give up their 4th amendment rights. Please contact your legislator.
I’m urging people to write there state law makers and ask them to vote NO on SB 5073. They have added amendments to the bill that change major parts of the current medical law.
SB 5073 passed the Washington State Senate on a 29-20 vote. Several amendments were adopted. Most concerning was an amendment by the pot-doctor-fearing Senator Carrell to forbid health care professionals from having practices that appear to be primarily for the authorization of medical cannabis. That means that clinic’s who specialize in helping qualifying patients get a doctor’s recommendation would be against the law and doctors would be scared to write recommendations out of fear that the state would come down on them. Here is a copy of my letter and some links to the stories about sb 5073 and the state senate laughing as the added amendments.
I’m writing you today to ask you to vote no on the sb 5073. I support medical cannabis and feel patients need protections and access to medication. But a bill that started off protecting patients has over shot it’s mark. Several amendments have been added that change the original intent of the current medical cannabis law in our state.
The most troubling is the idea of a patient registry. We should not have to register with the state and give up our 4th amendment rights. Give protections to all patients with out having them register. Plus the section for civil penalties on law enforcement who access and distribute the information from the registry was removed.
The amendments of Senator Carrell to forbid health care professionals from having practices that appear to be primarily for the authorization of medical cannabis is burden some to patients. Most doctors will shun you or send you to a shrink for even bringing the subject up. I can speak from experience that the doctor’s recommending medical cannabis require sufficient documentation. Such as OR reports , CT scans , X rays, chart notes , and nerve studies. I’m sure they know they are putting there professional carer on the line. And wouldn’t want to play with the scrutiny the state medical board.
The bill has added a sales tax, when other medications aren’t taxed in our state. On top of the B&O taxes dispensers and producers would pay. An amendment to ban advertising in print media violates the first amendment. Having dispensers be non profit doesn’t make sense. Is Target , Walgreen’s, and Right Aid non profit? Why should medical cannabis be?
This bill started off trying to fix where patients with limited resources can acquire their medication. And added some protections for the work place, but even that was removed.
I urge you to please VOTE NO. We need to get it right, and sb 5073 doesn’t do that.
http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/03/legislature_set_to_gut_washingtons_medical_marijua.php
hawken on March 17 at 5:58 p.m.
As I said on a different string, same issue,,,,
Medical marijuana is a scam.
If there is such a huge demand for legitimate, medical use, why don’t the pharmaceutical companies produce it commercially and dispense it, like they would any other prescription drug?
Dazzeetrader11 on March 17 at 6:21 p.m.
Hawkster..I think that’s exactly where this is going to end up.
hawken on March 17 at 7:34 p.m.
If so, I have have no problem. Until then, it’s a scam.
Ed Byrnes on March 17 at 8:12 p.m.
Thank you for this straightforward and rational editorial.
Our laws are dynamic, which is why we have a legislative branch of government at the federal, state and municipal levels, and supreme courts at the federal and state levels. Legal dynamism is a founding principle of our government. The consent of the governed is what is moving cannabis policy in the direction it is going, toward legalization.
As I have written before the scam in cannabis policy is the seizure and forfeiture of private property in cannabis arrests. The plea bargain deal netting LE $30,000 for no jail time, as reported in the local news section today, would be appropriately called extortion if anyone other than LE engaged in such behavior.
Ed
shizznit on March 18 at 9:23 a.m.
wow some of you people are so close minded idiots.like it causes cancer, and its a bad drug?are u serious why dont you know the facts before u open your stupid little mouthes!it is one of the most safe and harmless “drugs” on the planet.people love to say how its bad and dangerus what about achahol,or oxycotin?both legal and lethal drugs.what a bunch of close minded idiots in spokane wa!!!!
shizznit on March 18 at 9:24 a.m.
hawken u are dumb.
Ed Byrnes on March 18 at 9:32 a.m.
Shizznit, although I don’t agree with Hawken I rigorously defend his right to express his opinions, as I do the right of all people. Please refrain from using epithets in your postings.
Ed