SUPREME COURT OKS CRUELTY TO VULNERABLE

By rejecting a "medical necessity" defense for marijuana, the Supreme Court
of the United States sentenced AIDS and cancer victims to certain slow and
painful deaths.

In an 8-0 ruling, the nation's high court approved a Justice Department
injunction against a California cannabis cooperative that supplied medical
marijuana to patients.

The court rejected any medical necessity exemption to federal marijuana
laws, ruling that "marijuana has no medical benefits worthy of an
exception." Even if a state has legalized medical marijuana, the court
ruled the federal government could continue to prosecute people who violate
federal marijuana laws.

With this ruling, the federal government officially has turned its war on
drugs into a war on lifesaving medicine. It now should be obvious to
Americans that the government feels that handcuffs and prison cells are the
best medication for terminally ill patients.

Medical uses for marijuana have been proven to help ease the pain for those
suffering from AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis. Marijuana can even
reduce feelings of nausea and give back an appetite to ill people who have
lost theirs.

But the government says it knows better. The government feels it would be
better for America to let these sick people continue to suffer than to make
an exception. That is not just cruelty - that is cruelty directed at our
most vulnerable citizens.

For compassionate Americans who reject the argument that marijuana is more
dangerous than prison, we need to work harder to guarantee AIDS, cancer and
multiple sclerosis patients access to lifesaving medicines. And that
includes electing people to office who will repeal these laws that restrict
our freedom to choose.

Allowing the federal government to continue to imprison people suffering
from AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis for the "crime" of trying to save
their own lives is not just tragic, it is repugnant.

Austin Hough

State Chair

Libertarian Party of Illinois

East Dundee