The latest case in point comes from Seattle, where a man was denied a liver transplant, after a University of Washington Medical Center committee denied him a place on the liver transplant list.

His crime? Using medical marijuana, even though it is authorized under Washington state law.

The victim, 56 year old Timothy Garon was authorized by his doctor to smoke pot to relieve abdominal pain, ease nausea and help him eat. Garon was suffering from hepatitis C, which he says he contracted as a teenager by sharing needles with what he called “speed freaks”.

He died one week after being denied a place on the transplant list.

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Earlier, I had written a story on Rep. Ron Paul’s new legislation that would make medical marijuana legal in states that wish to offer it to patients who are suffering extreme pain. As it stands, six states have legalized the use of marijuana for that reason, but the feds still believe people are using the law as a means to legally receive marijuana, without having an issue with pain.

As a result, federal agents have raided clinics and arrested physicians and patients.  Rep. Paul says his new legislation will stop the harassment of innocent people.

I thought you’d like to hear the Congressman talk about the legislation, in his own words.

ron-paul-statement.mp3

Image: www.goodwillhinton.com

Paul has introduced the “Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act”, H.R. 5842, which would bar the Federal Government from intervening in doctor/patient relationships that violate no state law. This, by the way, is the second legislation co-sponsored by Congressman Paul dealing with the cannabis plant. More on that later.

As a physician, Paul states his position that doctors and patients should make health care decisions, not politicians or federal agents. His legislation would call off the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) “dogs” that regularly hassle state-sanctioned clinics and their patients.

He cited the plight of K.K. Forss, a resident of Minnesota, who suffers pain from a ruptured disc in his neck. Forss is unable to work or attend church due to the debilitating pain. $18,000 a year was paid by Medicare each year on various medications that were useless.

Then, Forss took a chance and tried marijuana, illegal in his state, and found it helped him regain 38 pounds he had lost, calmed muscle spasms and helped him sleep. If he could continue using cannabis for his pain, Forss believes, according to Rep. Paul, that he’d be able to work occasionally and attend some church services.

The Congressman cites a study by Scientists at the University of Calfornia at Davis that says cannabis demonstrates significant relief of neuropathic pain. Twelve states have passed legislation allowing marijuana, under certain conditions, according to Paul, but those clinics, physicians and patients are still under fire from the Drug Enforcement Administration.

In summary,. the Congressman says,

“The bottom line is that K.K. Forss should be treated as a free American. Mr. Forss is one of many who would like to use marijuana medicinally because it helps him. Politicians and bureaucrats have no right to interfere”.

INDUSTRIAL HEMP

Congressman Paul is also co-sponsor of H.R. 1009, calling for the legalization of industrial hemp as an agricultural product. Hopefully, these two bills will begin to chip away at the DEA and it’s stranglehold on the issue of industrial hemp and medical marijuana.

Two North Dakota farmers have taken their case to a U.S. Court of Appeals Court in an effort to force the DEA into a “hands off” position when it comes to industrial hemp cultivation. In case you haven’t heard, industrial hemp is a lousy smoke, resulting in a bad headache and no high.

Of course, this action will not lead to legalizing recreational marijuana, but it will sort out the differences, allow the cultivation of an amazingly diverse agricultural product and promise medical relief for those who would benefit from marijuana.

But right now, the Feds have been striking out at state-sanctioned marijuana clinics, stating in most part that it’s just another way to dispense illegal drugs.

Hats off to Congressman Paul, and North Dakota State Representative David Monson and Wayne Hauge, both farmers, who are trying desperately to put the DEA’s feet to the fire.

Vote Hemp

Anyone See The Irony Here?

You’ve probably read the story about an estimated 10,000 people gathered on the University of Colorado’s Norlin Quadrangle Sunday, puffing joints till the air turned blue. University police stood by to maintain order, but no one was busted for smoking pot.

In the meantime, the DEA is staunchly defending its policy against American farmers legally growing industrial hemp, citing the law that says all hemp is marijuana.

How’s your war on drugs coming along, anyway, DEA? The sun is shining, and if you’d pull your heads out, you’d see it. Pot is here, lots of it available, if this number of people can show up and get loaded on just one day in one city and no one is arrested.

Where did these pot-heads get their stuff, it surely didn’t come out of a couple of bags, and there was apparently enough to go around to get some 10,000 heads high. How many more smoke-outs were held on April 20th, the annual, internationally recognized celebration of marijuana? How many tons of pot went puff?

Now I’m not in favor of marijuana, primarily because of its affect on the lungs. Pot heads will tell you there’s no danger, but the cigarette companies told us that decades ago, and a lot of us are dying of COPD everyday.

My point here is that while these young people are getting loaded on an illegal drug in public as cops stand by, two farmers in North Dakota are trying desperately to legally grow industrial hemp. Their fight is now in Federal Appeals Court, hoping to overturn a lower court’s decision upholding the DEA’s position.

You can read more about the campaign to legalize industrial hemp cultivation in the U.S. at Vote Hemp.

Farmers in Vermont are ramping up their efforts to the the government to allow farmers there to grow hemp, and other states have passed, or are considering legislation to change the law.

Currently before congress is H.R. 1009, (PDF) the “Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2007″

Why have legal hemp? It’s one of the most useful plants on earth. It’s been cultivated for thousands of years and used for everything from food and medicine to clothing and automobile parts. It’s grown legally in many countries, except in the US, so to take advantage of the many products made from hemp, we must import them.

So what can we do to get the government to change it’s position on hemp? Do you think it will ever change?

Source: Daily Camera

Photo: Kasia Broussalian

Breathe Mother Nature, Breathe

UPDATE: We’re so pleased that so many of you are chiming in on this topic, and have created a discussion forum for this topic.  Come by, and continue to chime in…

The pair, licensed by the state to grow industrial hemp, filed a federal lawsuit last year, asking that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s ban on industrial hemp farming in North Dakota be lifted. The court dismissed the suit in late November, saying industrial hemp and marijuana are the same, a contention the DEA will not consider changing.

According to a release from Vote Hemp, the appeal asks the court to rule in favor of the farmers, allowing the State of North Dakota to regulate the growth of industrial hemp under it’s existing laws.

Hemp farming in America has been banned by the DEA for 50 years, even though, according to the release,

“Scientific evidence shows that industrial hemp, which includes the oilseed and fiber varieties of Cannabis that would be grown pursuant to North Dakota law, is genetically distinct from the drug varieties of Cannabis, and has absolutely no use as a recreational drug”.

A copy of the appeal is available in a PDF file at the Vote Hemp website.

Several other states, most notably California, passed legislation to allow cultivation of industrial hemp, but have been unable to get past the DEA’s stubborn refusal to change it’s stance on the subject.

California legislators approved a bill, as we stated, but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the legislation, repeating almost word for word the DEA’s position on the subject without leaving open a door to confront the DEA as the North Dakota farmers have done.

Way to go, Arnold.

Photo courtesy of Aleks via Wikimedia Commons.

In his veto message to the Assembly, he again stated, as he did before, that "Under federal law, all cannabis plants, regardless of variety or THC content, are simply considered to be 'marijuana,' which is a federally regulated controlled substance." He said signing of the bill "would give legitimate growers a false sense of security and a belief that production of 'industrial hemp' is somehow a legal activity under federal law." To me, that's an insult to the intelligence and integrity of the agricultural community in California. He also suggested that enacting such a law could strain law enforcement resources and cause "significant problems" with drug enforcement in the state.

In all fairness, he's right: that's the law as written, back in 1938. I'll refer you to my story on hemp and marijuana of May 10th, "Green Myth Busting; Hemp is Marijuana."