WEED WATCH

Medi-Pot Wars - Busting Quadriplegics

Medical marijuana supporters converged on the Capitol Feb. 17 for the
Texans for Medical Marijuana lobby day. Medi-pot patients were joined by
members of the medical and religious communities to urge lawmakers to pass
HB 658 - authored by Rep. Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin, and joined by Reps.
Terry Keel, R-Austin, and Suzanna Gratia Hupp, R-Lampasas - which would
create an affirmative defense to prosecution for marijuana possession and
forbid any law enforcement from investigating licensed doctors for
discussing marijuana as a treatment option with their patients. Patients
and others support medi-mari "not because they want to have a party, not
because they want to do something deviant, but because they want to stay
alive," TMM Executive Director Noelle Davis said during a noon press
conference on the Capitol steps. "This is not about partying, it is about
health care."

In all, 26 states have laws that in some manner recognize medi-pot,
including 10 that legalize it outright. Florida and Idaho have laws
allowing a medi-mari defense, similar to the one now before Texas
lawmakers. (Keel authored a similar bill in 2001 that died in committee.)
"There is ample evidence that marijuana is beneficial to people suffering
from the chronic and debilitating pain associated with cancer, AIDS, and
multiple sclerosis," Naishtat told supporters. "Under my bill, a patient
would have to prove in court that he or she was suffering from a bona fide
medical condition, and that a physician had discussed or recommended
marijuana as an option to alleviate the symptoms of a medical condition."

Among those joining TMM on Thursday was 36-year-old Chris Cain, a
quadriplegic who has used marijuana to control pain and spasms for the last
10 years. Cain told the crowd that marijuana is the first drug he's used in
his 20 years in a wheelchair that actually controls his symptoms without
drugging him out like pharmaceutical medicines he'd previously been
prescribed. Cain said he's been punished for his outspoken support of
medi-pot - a circumstance that would be corrected with the passage of
Naishtat's bill. In July, the Hardin Co. Sheriff's Office, with the aid of
two helicopters, raided Cain's home near Beaumont, seized three joints, and
threw Cain in jail. Cain spent several hours in jail without medical
attention before being released to his mother's care. (The fuzz also seized
computer equipment Cain uses to run his search-engine business.) Cain said
local law enforcers had been harassing him for four years as a result of
his support for medi-pot and his public admissions that he is a medi-mari
user. Cain is currently seeking to prove his innocence in court (if it goes
that far, since there are some questions about the legality of the raid, he
said), and hopes state lawmakers will help him. "Pass [HB 658] and let me
defend myself in court," he said.

The most recent Texas Poll indicates that 75% of Texans support medical
marijuana legislation; a recent AARP poll revealed that 72% of that group's
membership would also support such a measure. Additionally, the Texas
Nurses Association has thrown its support behind HB 658, Davis pointed out,
and last year the Texas Medical Association gave its nod to efforts to
protect the right of doctors to openly discuss treatment options with their
patients. Davis said that TMM has so far earned the formal support - via
petition - of more than 7,500 patients, doctors, and advocates across the
state.

Grandpa Walter's Reefer Madness

In other medi-pot-related news, Illinois lawmakers last week heard
testimony and then declined to pass out of committee a bill that would
legalize possession of up to 12 plants and 2.5 usable ounces of marijuana
for use by registered medi-pot patients. Chicago Democratic Reps. Larry
McKeon (a former Los Angeles cop) and John Fritchey introduced the bill,
which was bottled up on Feb. 17 after federal drug czar John Walters
swooped into Springfield to testify against it.

Over the past few years, Walters has increasingly used his position as head
of the White House Office of the National Drug Control Policy to lobby
against drug policy reform proposals made in individual states, in part by
using inflated rhetoric and highly questionable "facts." Last week he was
at it again, telling Illinois lawmakers that 60% of people seeking drug
treatment do so because of marijuana abuse and dependency problems, and
recycling his ain't-your-grandpappy's-pot arguments. "This is not your
father's marijuana," he said. "This is not your marijuana when you were in
college, if you are a baby boomer. You are suffering from 'reefer madness'
if you think it is."

Adding insult to injury, Illinois Capitol Police detained one witness,
who'd testified in favor of the measure, for bringing his federally
dispensed medi-pot joints to the capitol as a visual aid. Irvin Rosenfeld
is one of seven patients still legally allowed to use medi-pot under a
federal research program closed in 1992. He has used pot provided by the
feds for more than 20 years, but was detained by police who said they
needed to verify his claims before releasing him and his tin of joints. The
law enforcement action did not sit well with bill sponsor McKeon. "I find
that disgusting and offensive," he said, adding that he would not be
deterred by the temporary setback. "I can't remember ever seeing any White
House, Republican or Democrat, put such a massive effort and spend so many
taxpayer dollars trying to quash a state bill. ... This is an outrageous
misuse of tax dollars," he said. "I'm going to proceed with this
legislation, period."