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Medical Marijuana: Minnesota Bill Passes Senate

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #583)
Drug War Issues

Minnesota State Capitol
The Minnesota Senate Wednesday approved SF 97, the state's medical marijuana bill. Victory came on a narrow 36-28 vote after debate pitting concern about those suffering from the pain of serious illness against fears that allowing patients to use marijuana would result in an increase in drug abuse in the state.

Law enforcement has consistently opposed the medical marijuana bill. But Sen. Steve Murphy (DFL-Red Wing) said during the debate that the issue is a medical issue, not one to be decided by "our brothers and sisters in blue."

The Senate has passed medical marijuana legislation before, but it has not been approved by the House. Advocates, such as the Marijuana Policy Project-backed Minnesotans for Compassionate Care, believe they have the votes to pass the House this year, but they still face a veto threat from Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R). Whether either chamber could muster the votes to override a veto is questionable.

The House is expected to take up the bill next week.

Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Comments

Anonymous (not verified)

**CORRECTIONS**

I’m shocked to see how many addicts we have here. I am a police officer, with the majority of my family in the pharmaceutical industry. Needless to say, I know more about this issue than any civilian, scientist, doctor, or judge.

Legalizing marijuana is COMPLETELY ABSURD. Here are the facts about legalizing marijuana and the impacts it has.
1) Marijuana these days is so potent that it can kill you.
2) Marijuana already causes enough violence for Law Enforcement, making it legal would increase the violence tenfold as more and more cartels would move into our schools, churches, daycare centers, and force everyone around them in take a ”drag” of this terrible, life destroying, drug.
3) If marijuana were to be legalized the DEA and the War on Drugs would receive significantly less funding. The vast majority (80%) of our hundred billion dollar federal budget is spent on fighting this killer drug, marijuana. Without marijuana, there would be no drug problem in America, thus we would have to cut back instead of growing our agencies. We need marijuana to be illegal so the federal and state governments will continue to support us.
4) Prohibition works.
5) Marijuana as a medicine is flat out ABSURD. Marijuana is tenfold more dangerous than opiates or methamphetamine (all of which you can safely obtain from your doctor at anytime), as my family and research tells me. Having opiates or methamphetamines in pill form gives you all the comfort you need to know that it is safe. If it wasn’t, then a pharmaceutical company would never make it because they value their customers and only want what's best for them. The pharmaceutical companies are caring and compassionate. If marijuana actually helped anyone they would stop pushing their pills on people and give them marijuana. But the truth is, marijuana is much more dangerous than anything they create.

As you can see, legalizing marijuana is the worst possible thing you can do for the welfare needs of the DEA and the War on Drugs. Also, medical marijuana is a pure joke. Marijuana is clearly more dangerous than what the pharmaceutical industry manufactures.

Remember, think of our children.

Thank you,

-Law Enforcement

Sat, 05/02/2009 - 1:12pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Spoken like a true ass-hole! You made 0 valid points and just made everyone that reads your post all the more for marijuana.
Why you have got to try and talk about something that you obviously know nothing at all about is beyond me. You need to stay with the job that you know best, writing tickets and eating donuts. And the police can't understand why they are the most hated and untrusted people on the earth! Keep on talking copper you just make our case all the stronger.

Sat, 05/02/2009 - 6:08pm Permalink
mlang52 (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

"Needless to say, I know more about this issue than any civilian, scientist, doctor, or judge."

I ran into plenty of LE types who know more about medicine than doctors do! The guy is deluded!

Then again, it could be a sarcastic parody!?

Mon, 05/04/2009 - 9:16am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

Dear Marijuana expert,
you just made ever police officer look extremely uninformed. You are telling us that you know more than any scientist, doctor, and judge about weed? And the reason that you know more about weed than anyone else in the world is because your family works in the medical field and your a cop? Your making a fool of your self.

Also, if you are going to say these are the facts, you need to actually say facts. All of the stuff you listed was opinions. It is totally and 100% impossible to die from just smoking weed. and even if it could kill you how is that a basis to keep it illegal? Alcohol- legal - drink to much you will die for sure. Methamphetamine- legal medically - take to many, you will die for sure. Both of those have been know and proven to kill if overdosed.
If you are such an expert tell me how we can have two substances that will for sure kill you be legal and one that has never been know to by it self kill you be illegal.

Oh then you will say because it makes people behave violently. Once again this is something does not make sense at all with the known affects of weed. It calms and mellows people out. As a cop have you even seen someone behave violently because of a legal substance called alcohol? Are you kidding me thats a known side affect. Maybe you should start to argue to make alcohol illegal that would make more sense with your worry of violence causing substances.

Oh well if it is so great why aren't they handing it out over the counter instead of methamphetamines and other pill form drugs. Thats exactly why this bill was past?? that whole argument is circular reasoning. If its so great they would be handing it out but there not so its not great. thats what your reasoning for them not legalizing it is? That argument starts with the belief that it should be illegal before analysis even begins.

If you going to come on here and pose as an expert and say "facts" maybe you should stick to facts. And not your arguments with conclusions before you've said any legitimate facts. Go back to the drawing board and decide why it is you believe what you do, and come back on here when you have something intelligent and productive to say.

-Bad Argument Police
(in conjunction with the Fake Facts Bureau)

Sat, 05/02/2009 - 2:15pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

I live in a state that has approved medical marijuana for over 10 years now. During this past decade, we have not experienced a higher incidence of crime as a result of this law passing, with crime only recently increasing when the economy took a sour turn. Until 2007, I was an ombudsmen for Medicare patients for a private healthcare company. A big part of my job was trying to help chronic pain patients through horrific and cruel medication guidelines of opoids, as their advocate. Many of these patients spent the majority of their time in great pain, because they were only allowed a small amount of medication each month. I often found my sense of compassion for their pain at odds with stringent guidelines for opoids in my state as well as chapter 2 of medicare law. Even then I supported medication rights for patients, finding denying patients any means to ease their pain and suffering not only insensitive, but barbaric.

In 2007, I was broadsided on my way to work and began my own battle with chronic pain and constant muscle spasms. I spent a year in physical therapy, tried tens units, massage therapy, acupuncture, glucosamine, diet and exercise....ANYTHING I was told would help to alleviate my pain. I tried every pain medication (except oxycontin, I refused) on the market over the past two years, but suffered extreme side effects and they did nothing to alleviate my pain (but they did cause constant nausea, memory problems, insomnia, magnified pain problems, and emotional problems). The doctors, while sympathetic, continued throwing more and more pills at me to combat the side effects of the side effects of the side effects. Within those two years I went from taking no medications to a shoebox full. I had even begun to lose my hearing in both ears. One by one, the doctors began to give up on me, telling me it was time to learn to live a life of disability and loss of functionality. My husband began to believe he would have to text me reminders to do everything for the rest of our lives, or take a second job to hire a caregiver for me...I was unable to cook a meal, do simple household chores, even care for myself. I was forced to consider applying for permanent SSI.

After nearly two years of constant suffering, the loss of my job, resulting financial issues and seriously considering the possibility of suicide for the first (and hopefully LAST) time in my life, I turned to medical marijuana. Within two months, I was able to drop all medications but the muscle relaxer and pain medications (nausea, depression, sleeping pills were the first to go), and I had reduced taking the pain medications from 4 a day (the maximum dosage allowed in my state) to one a day. Within four months, I was able to completely stop taking the pain medication and muscle relaxers completely. I had finally broken the negative cycle of pain. I no longer suffer from depression. After 6 months of being a medical marijuana patient, I am again functioning almost as well as I had before the accident. I am able to do household chores, my memory is completely back. After I stopped taking the pain medication, the ringing in my ears stopped and I was able to hear again. My recovery has astounded my doctors, who can hardly believe I am the same patient that 6 months ago they were declaring permanently disabled.

Because of medical marijuana, I am able to go back to work...to function...to have a normal life. While I will always suffer with the constant back spasms due to scar tissue, I no longer dread them. Despite what you hear from fear mongering propaganda commentators who have a financial invested interest in keeping marijuana illegal, how can a drug that gave me back my life be bad? How can a drug, that when taken twice a day for me, replace a shoebox of medications (two of which have since been pulled by the FDA as LETHAL), be bad? Because drug manufacturers can't profit from it? Because the DEA will have to catch real criminals?

Sat, 05/02/2009 - 9:59pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

It is just ridiculus to have laws keeping people that would benefit from marijuana from thier doctors. I think it must be big drug companies that keep this from passing and also keep alot of disinformation out there which did make the guy claiming to be an officer of the law sound like an uneducated idiot. For one thing the point in legalizing drugs is to take the criminal element out of the picture Mr. Fife. I just think that it is ridiculus that if you do indeed need something for medical reasons and your doctor knew that you needed it you would have to go through a criminal organization in order to get it. Also, I have many friends in law enforcement and not a one of them has even remotely the same point of view as you which does indeed lead me to deduct that you are probably lonely or just plain nuts either way get a life and quit picking on the elderly, sickly or otherwise in need of prescription marijana prescribed from their doctor and not from one of your friends. Just so you know trying to maintian your cash crop is no longer worth peoples lives and the people here in Minnesota and the rest of the country are just plain tired of you and your friends. So don't let the door hit you in the...

Sun, 05/03/2009 - 4:24am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

If we live in a free country why are doctors unable to prescribe marijana when something like 80% OF AMERICANS HAVE TRIED IT? How much longer are law makers going to support the criminal organizations? I personally would rather get drugs I or my family need from a medical doctor. Why would there even be a problem passing a law alowing doctors to treat patients. Do lawmakers have a vested interest in illegal drug sales?

Sun, 05/03/2009 - 7:41pm Permalink

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