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Quoted Text

Let disabled grow, smoke marijuana medicinally

    According to state Sen. James Seward’s Web site, “Responsiveness to constituents through personal contact and district office hours is one of Sen. Seward’s strengths and his highest priority.” That statement, given my experience during the past 10 months, is more than a little disingenuous.
    In November 2007, I wrote to Sen. Seward and explained that I had been assisting disabled individuals applying for Social Security disability benefits since 1995; and, in the course of my work, I personally encountered many individuals who have used marijuana to alleviate the pain and discomfort associated with a myriad of debilitating medical conditions.
    I told the senator that many of my fellow Vietnam veterans use marijuana to mitigate the affects of post-traumatic stress disorder and I’ve had firsthand reports from clients who have used marijuana to successfully offset the negative affects of chemotherapy. I asked if he would support Assembly bill A4867-A, which would allow a critically disabled individual or their caregiver to grow marijuana for medical use under stringent conditions. The Assembly bill would likely create the narrowest medical marijuana law in the country. To qualify, a patient would need to do the following: have a life-threatening or debilitating condition; have a certification from his or her physicians certifying that he or she should use marijuana and that other medicines would not work as well; and possess a registry ID card from the state Department of Health. To get the card, he or she would need to submit their doctor’s recommendation. The senator did not respond to my letter, so I wrote again in March — and again at the beginning of August. As of this writing, James Seward has yet to respond to my letters.
    In a recent newspaper interview, Sen. Seward claimed that he “personally supports the use of medicinal marijuana for patients with chronic or terminal conditions if the drug is approved by the Federal Drug Administration.” However, that is akin to saying he will support it “when hell freezes over,” because the senator is well aware that the U.S. government has refused to permit any research into the medical use of marijuana since 1992 — so there is nothing for the FDA to approve.
It is obvious that the senator has no intention of discussing his opposition to a medical marijuana law in New York state. So maybe he will explain why he believes that critically disabled and terminally ill individuals should be sought out by the police, prosecuted and subjected to legal sanctions — including jail time — for using marijuana to ease their suffering.
WALTER F. WOUK
Cobleskill
The writer is director of the Thomas Paine Project, an organization that supports the use of medicinal marijuana.

" Marajuana is not a drug - its a leaf " .. Arnold Swarzenegger

And good ole' arnie should know!

Quoted from Sombody

" Marajuana is not a drug - its a leaf " .. Arnold Swarzenegger

and lanoxin is what???...... made from a leaf.........

Is that supposed to be a good analogy - or " do you make joke " ?

Quoted from Sombody

" Marajuana is not a drug - its a leaf " .. Arnold Swarzenegger

A gun is not a weapon...it's just a piece of metal.

Quoted from Sombody

Is that supposed to be a good analogy - or " do you make joke " ?

both.....lanoxin comes from the plant digitalis which is ie:foxglove.........a plant.......as for marijuana--some folks cant become
'learned'............by personal choice.....this is where 'religion' comes in......be it yoga, christianity, judaism etc........
see---if we knew what a fact was or how to 'prove' them via discernment from a plumb line we wouldn't be in such a dilema.....