SUPPORT USE OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

If we must pursue a War on Drugs, can't we at least do the
compassionate thing and remove the sick and dying from the battle
field? A ballot initiative recently launched by the Michigan Coalition
for Compassionate Care does exactly that.

The cannabis plant has been used for millennia as a natural, healing
herb. References to cannabis date back to 5,000 years ago in China.
The Old Testament contains multiple references to cannabis (kaneh
bosm) and directs that it be burned in the temple. In New Testament
times cannabis was widely used to ease the pains of child birth. And
to anoint the dead.

Here in the United States, cannabis ranked as the first, second or
third most commonly prescribed medication yearly from 1850 to 1900.
Among the early products of Kalamazoo's Upjohn Company were cannabis
preparations.

Only in 1937, over the objections of the American Medical Association,
did cannabis become illegal. Since Americans were quite familiar --
and comfortable -- with cannabis this required coining a new name,
thus evoking the boogie man of a "new" drug menace sweeping the land.
The word marijuana did not exist in the English language prior to 1937.

After 5,000 years of proven safety and efficacy as a medicinal herb,
the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act declared a common plant outlaw. The
historical record is quite clear this had more to do with protecting
the vested interests of big chemical and big government than it did
with protecting American citizens.

Today 12 states allow the limited use of medical marijuana for
seriously ill patients under the supervision of a doctor. Several
others are poised to follow, including Connecticut, Minnesota and Illinois.

In the '70's Michigan enacted its own compassionate use law, which has
since lapsed. John Engler, the future Republican governor who was then
a state representative, was a chief sponsor. But this is not a
partisan issue. At the state convention in February, the Michigan
Democratic Party passed a resolution supporting legalizing and
regulating the medicinal use of marijuana.

This puts them in line with many mainline churches including the
Presbyterian, United Methodist, Episcopal, United Church of Christ,
Union for Reform Judaism, Progressive National Baptist Convention, and
the Unitarian Universalist Association and in line with 70 to 80
percent of American citizens.

That marijuana has beneficial medicinal properties is beyond dispute.
Marijuana has long been known to reduce nausea resulting from cancer
treatment and to stimulate the appetite of AIDS patients.

Already this year several new studies have been released confirming
marijuana's efficacy in treating neuropathic pain, inhibiting the
growth of pre-cancerous cells and slowing the progression of Alzheimers.

Marijuana is less addictive, less harsh on the system and less
dangerous than any other medicine on the market, bar none. Marijuana
has never caused a death due to overdose or allergic reaction in all
of recorded medical history. Even common aspirin kills 1,000 Americans
annually.

While marijuana is most commonly ingested by smoking, many medical
marijuana patients use vaporizers which eliminate the toxic byproducts
of combustion, incorporate their marijuana into tinctures that can be
daubed on the skin or cook it into foods. For many people, medical
marijuana is the safest, most effective way to treat their symptoms,
superior to any other prescription medication available.

Of course there are those who say that allowing critically ill
patients to use medical marijuana somehow sends the wrong message to
children. So what's the right message -- that cancer patients should
just shut up and suffer in silence? Compassion for our fellow citizens
is never the wrong message.

The Michigan Medical Marijuana Act will allow a small number of
seriously ill patients to use and possess limited amounts of medical
marijuana under the close supervision of a physician. It preserves
strict penalties under the law for those who might be tempted to abuse
marijuana, use it for non-medicinal purposes, supply it to minors or
financially benefit from extra legal sales and production. It will
still be unlawful to smoke medical marijuana in public or to drive
under the influence.

The act establishes a well structured regulatory system. To learn more
about the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act petition drive, visit their
Web site: www.stoparrestingpatients.org. Or, better yet, sign the
petition. Tell Lansing to stop wasting tax dollars locking sick people
inside metal cages. That's the compassionate thing to do.