|
Medical
Marijuana:
South
Dakota
Initiative
Makes
the
November
Ballot
6/2/06
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/438/sodak.shtml
South Dakota electoral officials
Wednesday certified that a petition drive to place a medical marijuana
initiative on the November ballot submitted enough signatures to qualify.
Sponsored by South Dakotans
for Medical Marijuana, the initiative, if successful, would make South
Dakota the 12th state to pass a medical marijuana law, and the first in
the Midwest.
The group handed in more
than 24,000 signatures on May 2. But because it had to use its existing
funds to pay for signature gathering, the group is now broke and asking
for contributions.
According to organizers,
the
initiative would:
-
Protect seriously ill patients
-- and their caregivers -- who possess and cultivate limited amounts of
marijuana with their doctors' approval from arrest and prosecution by state
authorities;
-
Create registry identification
cards, so that law enforcement officials will be able to easily tell who
is a qualified patient and who is not, and establish penalties for false
statements and fraudulent ID cards;
-
Protect doctors from being punished
for advising their patients that -- in their sincere professional judgment
-- the benefits of the medical use of marijuana for the patient would exceed
the risks;
-
Allow patients and their caregivers
who are arrested to raise a medical defense in court; and
-
Prohibit the public use of marijuana
and driving under the influence of marijuana, among other restrictions.
The South Dakota legislature
has refused to act on medical marijuana bills in recent years. Similarly,
in the
case of Matthew Ducheneaux, a paraplegic Lakota who used marijuana
to ease muscle spasms, the South Dakota courts passed on the opportunity
to allow the use of a medical necessity defense. Now, the voters
will have a chance to have their say.
-- END --
|
Issue #438
-- 6/2/06
Editorial:
We
Should
Have
Such
Problems
|
Book
Offer:
Burning
Rainbow
Farm:
How
a
Stoner
Utopia
Went
up
in
Smoke
|
Feature:
Salvia
Under
Siege
--
Movement
to
Ban
Herbal
Hallucinogen
Gains
Momentum
in
Statehouses
|
Feature:
SSDP,
ACLU
Seek
Permanent
Injunction
in
HEA
Lawsuit,
Education
Department
Moves
to
Dismiss
|
Feature:
Drug
Reformers
Take
the
Third
Party
Path
in
Bids
for
Statewide
Office
|
Feedback:
Do
You
Read
Drug
War
Chronicle?
|
Law
Enforcement:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
|
Law
Enforcement:
Federal
Drug
Prosecutions
Declined
for
Past
Five
Years
|
Medical
Marijuana:
South
Dakota
Initiative
Makes
the
November
Ballot
|
Harm
Reduction:
ACLU
Wins
Victory
in
Connecticut
Needle
Exchange
Case
|
Latin
America:
Mexican
Leftist
Candidate
Calls
for
More
Army
in
Drug
War
|
Latin
America:
US
Drug
War
Ally
Reelected
in
Colombia,
But
Leftist
Legalization
Advocate
Places
Second
|
Latin
America:
As
Venezuela
and
Bolivia
Draw
Nearer,
Chavez
Ponies
Up
$1
Million
for
Coca
Factories,
Research
|
Europe:
Dutch
Mayor
to
Move
Coffee
Shops
to
Belgian
Border
|
Web
Scan:
New
Change
the
Climate
Online
TV
Ad,
Journey
for
Justice
Daily
Journal,
Psychedelics
and
Medicine,
Convict
Nation
|
Weekly:
This
Week
in
History
|
Weekly:
The
Reformer's
Calendar
|
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This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
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