Medical marijuana

NEW VERSION NOT MUCH BETTER THAN LAST YEAR'S FAILED EFFORT

Last November, Washington voters rejected a marijuana initiative
containing legal loopholes that would have opened the door wide open
to abuse. The sponsors of that initiative are back with yet another
medical marijuana measure - Initiative 692. Unfortunately, this year's
version is not much better:

"Patients" may obtain the marijuana without a prescription; there are
no specific guidelines in regards to the quantity one may possess; no
exclusive specification for which diseases one may legally smoke
marijuana; because it does not alter federal law, patients will still
be committing a crime; patients still must buy the drug off the
street; thus, there is no way to control potency, content or quality
of the drug.

While proponents cite anecdotal situations in which people felt better
after smoking pot, there is no conclusive evidence that marijuana is
an effective form of medication. This is why the Washington State
Medical Association refused to endorse the measure.

Initiative 692 completely sidesteps the testing process performed by
the Food and Drug Administration to protect Americans from drugs that
could be harmful or fatal. If I-692 passes, there will be no controls,
no regulations, no standards of any kind to protect people against
contaminated or dangerous doses of marijuana.

Those of us opposed to this initiative are not trying to be moral
authoritarians. This is about public safety and ensuring protections
against bad medicine. While we desperately wish to help those who are
suffering from the effects of serious illnesses , we can't overlook
the multitude of problems lacing this initiative. The proposed "cure"
would be worse than the disease.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady