God help medical marijuana patients if Dean becomes the DNC chair

[GeorgeBushytail]

Howard Dean has the worst position on medical marijuana of all major Democratic candidates.

I use medical marijuana for my epilepsy and thalamic pain syndrome and I don't want a DNC chair who will make my life more of a hell than it is.

He torpedoed a reasonable medical mj law that was about to pass when he was governor of Vermont.

Now he says the issue needs study, study, study. Thanks, Howard. Kick me when I'm down. Ignore all the previous studies done over the past decades.

Just one of many articles about Dean's reactionary stand on this issue:
http://www.mpp.org/releases/nr030403.html

"Howard Dean is unique among Democratic candidates," said Bruce Mirken, director of communications for the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). "He is the only candidate who has successfully killed a medical marijuana bill. Because of Dean's actions, cancer and AIDS patients in Vermont who use medical marijuana still face up to six months in jail. The 80 percent of Americans who support protecting medical marijuana patients want a candidate who will end the federal war on the sick."

I'm not usually a one-issue voter, but this is a life and death issue for me.

Please contact the DNC and tell them that Howard Dean will harm some of America's most vulnerable citizens.

[candy]

1. I'm a 72 year old woman who has never used marijuana but---

think it should be legal,just like alcohol.

[Lostnote03]

86. Hugs and Kisses for a sexy 72!!!!n/t

[floridamd]

2. you're right!

good post!

[Patriot Acts]

103. agree....

....although, I'm still a Deaniac. Hmmm this is the first I have really heard about this.... I still need to think some more about this one, let me sleep on it.... or catch a buzz, then I will tell you what I think of Dean. Damn, this is VERY troubling. I still like Dean. I think marijuana should be legal all the way. WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSE TO THINK NOW???

[w13rd0]

3. LET'S FIRE UP THE PRIMARIES GUNS AGAIN! YEHAW!

Sorry, I'm NOT a one-issue voter. And considering that I can't even be confident that on things I CAN vote on (unlike the chair of the DNC), my vote will be counted. Dean has demonstrated that he is willing to evaluate new evidence and make corrections as needed. That's more than we get from most. And just how will that particular one issue stance impinge upon his ability to serve as DNC chair? I mean hell, we're talking about the Democratic Party, where Harry Reid is the minority senate leader. Pfffttt...

[aquart]

6. Exactly.

[merh]

99. Isn't that being a flip flopper?

or nuanced?

[dogman]

4. I understand your concern but

I don't think the DNC chair has a lot to say on this subject. I would even go so far as to say it is most likely something the Rethugs will have to do, just like Nixon and China. The Dems won't touch it for fear of being painted as soft on the drug war.

[GeorgeBushytail]

8. Kerry, Edwards, Kucinich all supported medical marijuana

As governor of Vermont Dean shot down a reasonable medical mj law that was about to pass the legislature. Sick people were harmed and jailed because of his action.

He continues to duck discussions with medical marijuana advocates.

[cali]

23. Dean was lousy on medical marijuana

but I've NEVER heard of anyone in Vermont jailed or prosecuted for medical marijuana use, nor did he advocate such action. I have to add that pot in Vermont is widely available. I know several folks who use it for medical conditions and they've never had a problem obtaining or using it.

As DNC chair, Dean would have zilch to do with policy on this issue. It's not like he's zealously against it at this point.

BTW, We now have a medical marijuana law in the state.

[dogman]

25. I know, you're correct.

The DNC chair does not really involve himself with legislation or veto bills, so I think he would be harmless in that capacity. I personally think it should be legalized and regulated like alcohol. My father used it for treatment with his chemotherapy on recomendation of his doctor.

[cali]

27. Excuse me for hammering on this

but it really pisses me off.

"Sick people were harmed and jailed because of his action."

Prove it. If it's true that sick people were harmed and jailed, I want to know about it.

[pop goes the weasel]

5. Thanks for reminding me about this

I had forgotten that this is one of the reasons (I had so many!) I did not support him during the primaries.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

11. care to mention some other reasons?

im curious.

[pop goes the weasel]

30. I'd rather not

I mean, I'm not opposed to him being DNC chair--he'd be better than what we've got. But in general, Dean is too conservative for my taste. This is just a specific issue that I had forgotten about. What most bothered me about him was that so many people who consider themselves to be on the left were supporting him as the "sensible" choice. And frankly, I think we sensibled ourselves to death.

[Quetzal]

7. Oh joy

In fact, it was around this time last year that the anti-Dean movement was almost at its tenor. What a most glorious way to commermorate that bygone era. /sarcasm.

Time to bust out the shotguns people - it's happening all over again.

[GeorgeBushytail]

13. It's called political debate and I feel strongly about the issue

What do you advise me to do?

[Cuban_Liberal]

21. Dean will have no say about medical marijuana, as DNC chair.

It's a faux issue.

[Cuban_Liberal]

42. *crickets*

Just as I thought--- a transparent assasination post on Dr. Dean. Surprise, surpise...

:eyes:

[GeorgeBushytail]

81. I'm sorry I didn't answer immediately

I can only participate on the board for short periods of time because of my disability. I signed on tonight to reply.

I like most of what Dean stands for. I think he got screwed by the atrocious reporting on the so-called scream.

I assume that DNC chair will have some say in issues to back and candidates to support so I am worried that if he becomes chair our progress toward nationwide legal medical marijuana will be stalled.

I overstated the case, but that is part of political discussion, especially with each of our pet issues.

[mandyky]

22. Dean Hating - the gift that

keeps on giving LOL

I am actually finding it quite amusing :)

[SlavesandBulldozers]

9. nice try

but when i think about politicians hurting america's most vulnerable citizens, Howard Dean will never be on the list of people that come to mind.

good luck spreading your discontent though.

[Bread and Circus]

10. Medical Marijuana is a joke.

If people wanna smoke pot, fine. Legalize pot.

However, smoking pot as a medicinal agent? You gotta be kidding.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

16. i agree with your first point

but your second point actually shows an incredible lack of knowledge of the subject.

[GeorgeBushytail]

19. And I laugh every time it relieves my pain and delay a seizure

[Cheswick2.0]

39. it's not a pain killer

it just numbs your mind. There are plenty of legal drugs that do the same thing more effectively.

[ldf]

43. at what cost?

you can grow your own marijuana, but you pay out the kazoo for those legal drugs. but that is the way the drug companies want it.

and i DON'T believe that they are necessarily better for you.

if numbing the mind is what helps, so be it.

[lojasmo]

45. Nor is it an antieleptic

In fact it can cause both seizures and psychosis. Now I'm not above smoking a bit, and I believe it can cause people to experience decreased pain sensation, but "medical marijuana" is a straw man.

If anybody thinks Kerry would have done jack to decriminalize marijuana, they're high.

[Poor Richard Lex]

50. pot doesnt cause seizuires or psychosis

that's just bullshit
and the chinese were using it as medicine 3000 years ago.

[lojasmo]

53. Bullshit. I've SEEN it happen, clinically.

marijuana induced psychosis.

The results of some studies:

"A variety of psychotic reactions have been ascribed to cannabis use. Many are difficult to fit into the usual diagnostic classifications. Two cases of manic reaction were reported in children who were repeatedly exposed to cannabis by elders. Both required treatment with antipsychotic drugs but ultimately showed a full recovery (16). Hypomania, with persecutory delusions, auditory hallucinations, withdrawal, and thought disorder, was observed in four jamaican subjects who had increased their use of marijuana (71). Twenty psychotic patients admitted to a mental hospital with high urinary cannabinoid levels were compared with 20 such patients with no evidence of exposure to cannabis. The former group was more agitated and hypomanic but showed less affective flattening, auditory hallucinations, incoherence of speech, and hysteria than the 20 matched control patients. The cannabis patients improved considerably after a week, while the control patients were essentially unchanged (146). Thus, a self-limiting hypomanic-schizophrenic-like psychoses following marijuana has been documented.

A controversial clinical report of 13 adults with psychiatric disorder associated with the use of cannabis included some who had schizophrenic-like illnesses and one with depressive features. The majority of these subjects had only used cannabis, which was thought to be the major precipitant of their disorders (98). A similar report from South Sweden involved 11 patients observed over a 1-year period. None had previous psychosis or abused other drugs. A mixture of affective and schizophrenic-like symptoms, as well as confusion and pronounced aggressiveness was observed. The mental disturbances were self-limiting and rare (132).



The paranoid psychosis associated with long-term cannabis use was contrasted with paranoid schizophrenia in groups of 25 Indian patients with each syndrome. The cannabis psychosis was characterized by more bizarre behavior, more violence and panic, an absence of schizophrenic thought disorder, and more insight than was seen in the clearly schizophrenic group. The psychosis with drug use cleared rapidly with hospitalization and antipsychotic drug treatment and relapsed only when drug use was resumed (164). If there is a true cannabis psychosis, this description is probably most accurate. "

www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/medical/hollis1.htm

It does appear to have antieleptic properties, More study should be done. I appologize for my misstatement

[foo_bar]

60. the clinical term is "antiepileptic"

You snipped every other paragraph, for some reason:

However, it was impossible to distinguish retrospectively those individuals who exhibited behavioral changes in association with marijuana smoking from those who did not.

Chronic use of hashish among a group of military personnel was tolerated quite well. Panic reactions, toxic psychosis, and schizophrenic reactions were infrequent occurrences among this group of 720 smokers, except when hashish was used in conjunction with alcohol or other psychoactive drugs.

It would seem reasonable to assume that cannabis might unmask latent psychiatric disorders and that this action probably accounts for the great variety that have been described following its use. On the other hand, evidence for a specific type of psychosis associated with its use is still elusive.

http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/medical/hollis1.htm

Long story short, it's far safer than alcohol from a neurologic perspective, notwithstanding your anecdotal diagnosis. I once met a schizophrenic Dean supporter, but I didn't assume a causality.

[lojasmo]

64. actually it's anti-elliptic, but I skipped the hyphenation

I cut paragraphs for copyright reasons.

yes, it's SAFER than alcohol from a neurologic standpoint, but it IS INDEED known to trigger psychotic episodes.

Although my one clinical case is anecdotal, there is a large body of evidence to suggest that MJ can trigger transient psychoses.

Again, I'm not against Marijuana use, but from a MEDICAL perspective, it will take lots more TESTING before the medical community will be comfortable calling it a medication, or prescribing it as such. (at least the good ones will be skeptical-like it or not, medicine is an evidence based science) This is why I think it is reasonable for Dean to have called for-GASP-testing.

[foo_bar]

75. it is neither "anti-elliptic" nor "antieleptic"

as any first year med student or scholar of Greek can attest.

[sportndandy]

90. A very sarcastic RIGHT

A variety of psychotic reactions have been ascribed to cannabis use. Yeah and intelligence has been ascribed to Bush, but I don't believe it, and I don't think we need studies. Your source is very carefully worded and in no wise definitive. In fact it seems to suggest that all of its own conclusions are themselves subjective.

[ecstatic]

79. but it does cause impotence

Just ask my ex. LOL

[sportndandy]

91. Something else must cause your impotence

Because 26 years of chronic use and counting and I am still firing on all cylinders. Just ask my girlfriend. Also every one of my neices and nephews (9) were the product of stoner fathers. And all my friends kids for that matter. I know how to pull out in time.

[Bread and Circus]

48. Like I said, legalize pot and smoke all you want.

[Fleurs du Mal]

26. I hope you never get cancer

[Bread and Circus]

49. Thanks. But you are kind of implying I deserve it, no?

[jayctravis]

32. perhaps not smoking....

in every case.

There are many drugs with potential to be abused or used recreationally that have medicinal uses. Steroids are used to treat inflammation, codeine for cough, Vicodin from what I understand is derived from the same source as heroin, and after surgery I had more than one offer to buy the pills I had left over. I was flabbergasted when a singer I worked with talked about an ENT injecting her vocal cords with "liquid cocaine" during a severe case of laryngitis, although it's possible she was saying that euphemistically. Just because something can be abused shouldn't rule out medical use.

Marijuana is effective as a dilator for blood vessels and might potentially be used for asthma if taken in spray or vaporized form. It's also good for nausea and an appetite stimulant -- useful for people undergoing AIDS treatment or chemotherapy. It's been touted as useful for glaucoma and as a natural stress reliever.

[Cheswick2.0]

40. I have had at least 10 friends die of AIDS

not one of them ever got any relief from Grass and many of them smoked it for recreational reasons. But when they needed pain relief they used regular pain medication and as far as an appetite enhancer...a glass of beer has the same effect.
I might be convinced of the need for medical marijuanna if everyone who used it wasn't someone who been smoking pot for 35 years anyway.
Sorry to be so cynical but I grew up in the drug culture and I am cynical about the claims.
I once tried it for pain (I was smoking it in the early 70s anyway) it did jack sh*t for me.

[jayctravis]

61. I can appreciate your point of view...

and no medication works exactly the same for everyone.

I had a girlfriend who said in college that weed was the only thing that would get rid of a migraine for her.

[comsymp]

69. Interesting - I've lost about that many friends as well, and

based on my personal observations, MJ has been a significant help to them. As for your "glass of beer" comment, well, no comment.

While I agree that it has limited usefulness for pain, it seems pretty clear that MJ/THC is effective as both an appetite stimulant AND to combat nausea (IMO, its most valuable function), and it (specifically THC) is highly regarded in the local medical community. In fact, Marinol has been frequently prescribed around here for about a decade, especially by ID professionals affiliated with Duke and UNC med schools.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

73. Then you should talk to...

a friend of mine, Kathy.

She has had severe polycystic liver disease for most of her life. It is not pretty, causing her severe pain on a daily basis. She has been to pain clinics, been put on narcotics, and has endured medical proceedures done to "deflate" the major cysts that are truly gruesome.

She is 54 years old grandma and never smoked pot in her life.

Well, her son does and he gave her some to try for her pain. She baked it into brownies and tried them.

After the first try, she had no more liver pain.

The pot did make her sleepy so she learned to take it at night. She has had none of the bad side effects the various narcotics gave her, and hasn't had to have a cyst drain since. As much as the drug helped her, she still feels uncomfortable that she is taking an illegal drug.

I have also personally seen it do great things for AIDS patients with wasting. Each of my friends had been occasssional smokers of pot, but far from potheads.

One reason it may have done "jack shit" for you back in the 70s is that today's pot ain't your grannie's pot, from what I'm told.

I don't smoke -- never have, never plan on. But if I ever develop an illness that could be addressed by using pot, I would certainly be open to trying it.

[HFishbine]

12. Question

While Dean says that he'd like to see more study (to possible FDA approval, I believe), do you have any indication that he thinks there should be greater restrictions on medical marijuan in the mean time?

[mandyky]

14. Howard Dean is a Dr.

He bases his decisions on science. He is at least open to studies.
You think any of the DLCers will allow medical marijuana? Just another lame attack on Dean.

While I think medical marijuana, as well as legalization or decriminalization of it would be good, I think it is a bit much to ask Dean to be more liberal than the rest of the choices for the DNC chair...

[SemperEadem]

29. or he bases it on pharmaceutical rhetoric

after all, it's the pharmaceutical companies who stand to lose a lot of $$$ if mmj is legalized in this country--after all, you can grow it on your back porch instead of shelling out $500 for one month's dosage of marinol.

I would expect an 'establishment' doctor to poo-poo any course that would steer away from a drug company.

[cali]

34. If you're implying that Dean is in the pockets

of big Pharm, you're way off. He's spoken out against the big pharmaceutical business for years.

[Cheswick2.0]

41. hello and thank you..........just another lame attack is right

who do they think is going to have a different stance on this? :eyes:

[Poor Richard Lex]

51. And Dr. Dean smoked a lot of weed when he was a teenager

He is my choice for president but I disagree with him on this one.

[Cuban_Liberal]

15. Dean will have no power over medical marijuana, as DNC chair.

:wtf:

[janx]

17. He wants FDA study and approval so that Ashcroft et al. can't

step in and nullify state laws as they have been doing.

I told you this in the other thread.

[madfloridian]

18. I will do your research for you. Here is one statement.

http://talkleft.com/new_archives/003365.html

Tuesday :: August 05, 2003


Howard Dean Speaks to Medical Marijuana
Howard Dean on Larry King Live last night, in response to a caller (via Lexis):

KING: Santa Cruz, California, hello.
CALLER: Hi Governor Dean. My question to you is, given your medical background and your view on states rights, in your opinion, what should the federal government do about medical marijuana?

DEAN: I don't think they should throw people in jail in California, but I think do think -- here's what I think. I think the process by which medical marijuana is being legalized is the wrong process. I don't like it when politicians interfere in medicine. It's why I am very pro-choice. Because I don't think that is the government's business. So what I will do as president is, I will require the FDA within first 12 months to evaluate marijuana and see if it is, in fact, a decent medicine or not. If it is, for what purposes -- for certain purposes, and I suspect it will be for cancer patients and HIV/AIDS patients. And it should be allowed for that. But I suspect it will not be allowed for things like glaucoma. But we have to do the FDA studies. I think marijuana should be treated like every other drug in the process and there shouldn't be a special process which is based on politics to legalize it....."

[madfloridian]

20. More research for you. Seems quite fair to me.

http://www.issues2000.org/Howard_Dean.htm

Treat drug abuse as a medical problem, not a judicial one. (Nov 2003)

Smoked marijuana in the past, as did other Dems. (Nov 2003)

Evaluate marijuana & legalize for valid medical purposes. (Aug 2003)

Hammer the dealers; treat the casual users. (Jan 2003)

More federal funding for all aspects of Drug War. (Aug 2000)

Rated C- by VOTE-HEMP, indicating an anti-hemp voting record. (Dec 2003)

[bemildred]

44. Thanks, what a load of horseshit about Dean in this thread.

I think his position shows a nice evolution towards sanity.

[madfloridian]

47. You are right. It is a bunch of you know what.

:hi:

[NoPasaran]

70. I am shocked, shocked I tell you

That anyone could suggest that this or any other medical question be determined by scientific research instead of the political whims of the cool kids.
/sarcasm

[madfloridian]

24. Want more?

And I heard that at a recent interview he had become even more leftish in this stance. One thing I like about him, is that he is not closeminded and his thinking evolves.

http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/292/deanbending.shtml

Candidate Dean Bending on Medical Marijuana 6/20/03
According to the Saturday, June 14 installment of the "Dem Convention Diary" section of WisPolitics.com (http://www.wispolitics.com/freeser/features/f0306/f0306demconv/f03061303.html), "Howard Dean and veteran Madison marijuana advocate Ben Masel faced off in an impromptu hallway debate on medical marijuana Friday night." Masel told WisPolitics.com, "It's hard to be the peace guy and blow off the potheads."

In an e-mail sent to fellow drug reformers, Masel reported that Dean, recent former governor of Vermont, used the occasion to "clarify" his position on medical marijuana, which has reported to be anti. According to Masel, Dean claimed he opposed the Vermont medical marijuana bill because he does not believe "medical decisions should be made by legislatures."

Dean proclaimed that as president, he would "on the day I take office direct the FDA to take a fresh look at the existing studies, and issue a report in 60 days," and would then implement the report. Dean then added that "speaking not as a candidate, but as a physician," he would "expect the report to recommend marijuana be approved for chemotherapy and AIDS, but not for glaucoma, because we have new medications for glaucoma that are even better. And no medication is completely safe."

[ibegurpard]

28. I don't think that Howard Dean

would direct the Justice Department (if he were in a position to be able to do so) to attempt to interfere with a state that had passed a medical-marijuana law as Ashcroft's DOJ has done with many issues passed by states.
If he did, I would oppose it.

[killbotfactory]

31. Oh okay...

Let's elect Lieberman, then.

[blm]

33. I doubt that is his position now. I'd bet anything that he sees the issue

much more wisely at this point in his life. The primaries and his supporters made him a much more openminded politician.

[napi21]

35. I think MJ should be allowed for medical reasons, but a great statement

was in my AARP ,agazine that I received today. I think it's very fitting in this discussion.

"Prohibition was repealed when it became obvious that the constitutional amendment banning the sale of alcohol INTENDED to raise the nation;s moral tone had instead created a nation of lawbreakers."

The article was by Susan Jacoby, and I think she hit upon the real problem with MJ.

It took many years to repeal prohibition. Wonder how many years it will take to repeal the current drug laws?

[Catfight]

36. He's a Doctor, I think he has more knowledge about it than you. nt

[bobthedrummer]

37. I support the development of the entire hemp industry and the Marijuana

Policy Project/MPP.
:smoke:

[Quill Pen]

38. Does anyone else ever wonder...

...how people who profess to being in constant pain and describe their existences as a living hell manage to spend their days hammering out posts on the Internet? Or am I just the biggest, most obnoxious b---- in the universe?

If you've got a need for weed, for crying out loud, have someone hook you up, law or no law. The DNC chair has absolutely no authority to cut you off from your weed.

[madfloridian]

46. Again, 6 statements by Howard Dean, sensible, practical.

http://www.issues2000.org/Howard_Dean.htm

Treat drug abuse as a medical problem, not a judicial one. (Nov 2003)

Smoked marijuana in the past, as did other Dems. (Nov 2003)

Evaluate marijuana & legalize for valid medical purposes. (Aug 2003)

Hammer the dealers; treat the casual users. (Jan 2003)

More federal funding for all aspects of Drug War. (Aug 2000)

Rated C- by VOTE-HEMP, indicating an anti-hemp voting record. (Dec 2003)

[HootieMcBoob]

52. You're not looking at it right

If Dean is chairman of the DNC you'll see more Democrats elected to local office and therefore you'll have a much better chance of seeing medical marijuana laws passed. Otherwise it's more of the same.

[eridani]

54. Dean will mobilize people to be more active--

--and this will get more people on board with doing something about access to medical marijuana.

Does Dean suck on this issue? Yes. My man Dennis voted for the flag burning ban, and Wellstone for the PATRIOT Act. Nobody's perfect. Anything that gets people more active will increase the number of footsoldiers available for the fight against medical marijuana.

[janx]

56. Why would anyone be against it?

That's what I cannot figure out.

[Sugarbleus]

55. I don't think Dean as Chair would matter much in the MM issue

My hubby and I are disabled. He has been so since 1979, I more recently.

Hubby is a long standing, contributing member of the WAMM movement in our community. It is a medical marijuana co operative run by Valerie and Mike Corral. These people are kind and loving individuals who have fought Ashcroft and other AG's over the years for the right of people to medicate themselves with MM.

These are the same people who were raided some time back, hired attorneys to fight the raid, and fight constantly for the rights of the sick and dying. Perhaps some of you know these people by their reputation and media coverage.

Medical Marijuana isn't for everyone. All people don't necessarily benefit from it's use. However, MM DOES help with a wide variety of medical conditions. There's even a study being done at UCLA regarding the benefits of MM (in some form) for help in childhood ADHD. Stanford U. was doing a study with a similar byproduct of Cannabis for the treatment of extremely troubled teens et al. They called their prototype: "Happy pills" <---LOL I know.

In our experience, the cannabis helps with seizures extremely well. My husband is a left-side hemiplegic with spasms on his left side (arm and leg). When he medicates, the seizures/spasms go away completely............and stay away. There are tinctures formulated for those who do not or can not smoke. These tinctures help with headaches, nerves, relaxation, relieve itching (hubby has serious psoriasis), mental health/anxiety disorders, some women get menstrual relief, and many other maladies. One can also ingest it for long term relief.

No, MM does not completely take away pain. No medicine can do that without killing you. Morphine and demerol come close but even then they build up in one's system and cannot take away all pain. Marijuana simply eases the body, decreases the effects of pain receptors in the brain so as to allow a person to forget or rise above the pain/discomfort for a while. It has no hang over affects like pharmaceutical medicines do.

MM is for relaxation of muscles, nerves. Depending on the hybrid of the herb, some of it will put you to sleep, other types will increase the appetite, other's will just keep the person on an even footing while dealing with their condition. Some patients use cannabis daily while others use it ocassionally as needed.

To suggest that marijuana is useless is ignorant. It has had many uses over the centuries. It is a beneficial herb like comfry, valerian root, teas, and many other herbs and supplements that people do grow or purchase in their natural/health food stores. When I take B vitamins, especially niacin, I fall asleep. St John's Wort has helped people with mild depressions. There is no reason to criminalize MM except that the Pharmaceuticals don't want people easing their own discomfort without buying into the "system". For those that think Marijuana is useless who are not part of the pharma system, I contend that they are simply misinformed and frightened. It's time to get over: "Reefer Madness".

As I write this I remember that our own city hospital condones the use of this substance. Several of the nurses and not a few doctors there are completely happy with it's use by the patients. If MM helps the patients and lessens the high cost of medicines and treatments, the medical profession is glad. In our hospital, a patient's cannabis use is in the computer among with other patient data!

I could go on to tell you story after story where MM has helped significantly. To do so would take many many pages. Suffice it to say that not decriminalizing cannabis in the general population is one thing, but to refuse to allow sick people the access to a substance that relieves their misery is just criminally inhumane in and of itself.

I'm trying now to start a letter writing campaign about the positive effects of MM. It appears that we still have some hard headed, misinformed bobble heads spouting the old "reefer madness" thing in the media and government.

[GreenPartyVoter]

63. Agreed. I think he won't get mired down on that issue, and hopefully

the party at large will be allowed to decide where it stand on that.

------------------------------------
Would Jesus love a liberal? You bet!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/

[greenohio]

57. How dare you say something bad about Dean!

I'm surprised that this thread isn't locked for being flame bait.

[lojasmo]

65. That was productive, "green" thanks for popping in.

:eyes:

[greenohio]

71. Any way I can help.

[lojasmo]

100. Not helpful, not productive, sorry you didn't catch the sarcasm. N/T

[greenohio]

101. Apparently you didn't either.

[Dr Fate]

58. Uh-huh. And I'm SURE Donna Brazille will pass out free rolling papers.

n/t

[NoPasaran]

68. LOL!

Best. Retort. Ever.

[zulchzulu]

59. Let's hope being a DNC Chair doesn't mean being a dick tator

Even if Dean is not for medi-weed, I think he would at least hear or allow others to be for it. After all, how many states have voted for it?

My last impression was that Dean still wanted the FDA to finish some assessment report about it before his final answer. Granted, the FDA ain't gonna pass it or give medi-weed a thumbs up unless Merck decides to buy in on the herb love thang.

Which is doubtful...hey Dean fired up a few splifs in his past on the ski slopes back in the day, so...

[Cheswick2.0]

66. you really should read Madfloridas posts in this thread

she has listed exactly what he said and nothing in it says he is against medical marijuanna..... just the opposite.

[janx]

77. Had I been there, I would have done the same thing.

Wouldn't you have?

[hollowdweller]

62. LBJ voted against the civil rights act too when he was in congress

I feel relatively positive that if a national medical marijuana bill would pass he would not oppose it.

[ecstatic]

67. Sorry, but that is not a major issue to me or most Dems

Surely there is other medicine you can use besides marijuana if it comes to that. Personally, I think drugs should be legalized, but I'm not going endure a lifetime of Republican rule (which will happen if we don't get much needed change in the form of Dean) just so a few people can smoke marijuana. You never know, Dean might change his stance.

[WI_DEM]

72. well I can see why you don't support him

but I do, even though I don't support on 100% of the issues. I will take his position on Iraq and waking up the Dem party to actually oppose Bush over many of the others. Yes, I'm disappointed by his position on medical marijuania, but I can't single issue it, but in your situation I may.

[ernstbass]

74. I will never support a candidate

who is against medical marajuana (I feee that it sould be legalized ASAP) and we need to think long and hard before we have a leader of our party with such an archaic stance.

[Padraig18]

76. What he FUCK does the DNC Chairman have to do with medical MJ?

Jaysus, Mary and Joseph!

:wtf:

[indie_jones]

78. Pot smoker arrested every 42 seconds

The med. Marijuana issue is huge and Dean is on the wrong side of it. I didn't vote for him in the primaries because of this issue.

[Padraig18]

80. One more time...

What the FUCK does the DNC Chair have to do with the issue of medical MJ?

:wtf:

[JohnKleeb]

82. nothing but I do wish he would take a more progressive position on this

After all, he did the shit himself.

[Padraig18]

84. His position's not ante-deluvian, John.

He wants an accelerated, one-year-long, clinical trial by the FDA (or NIH) to determine it's effectiveness. From a scientific standpoint, that doesn't seem unreasonable, to me.

:shrug:

[JohnKleeb]

87. well you know my view

I wanna legalize pot. I disagree with it is all.

[Padraig18]

88. I personally favor legalization, too.

I just don't think Dean's position is all that bad.

:)

[JohnKleeb]

94. youre right, its not, I just disagree

[Comicstripper]

83. And who cares?

The head of the DNC doesn't affect legislation.
Platforms, yes, but they're irrelevant.

[ShaneGR]

85. There isn't one candidate for DNC chair that DU would support...

DU isn't really uniformly for anything anymore.

[quaker bill]

89. The chair of a party that is out of power does not make law.

Let's worry about getting some Democrats in office first. You surely aren't going to get any medical mj with the republicans in charge.

Single issue politics will keep us out of power for the rest of your and my lifetime.

[indie_jones]

92. The chair of the party sets the tone for the party ...

... and Dean's singing off-key regarding public opinion (which favors medical marijuana by a large margin). His request for "studies" is silly. Been there. Done that. Even when legit studies say what the people all know, the feds ignore them. It's another stall tactic ... one that has been played to death.

You say that med marijuana won't happen with a Republican? Oh OK ... and what have the Dems done? Clinton arrested more pot smokers than any Repub before him. It took three years for Bush to out-do Clinton.

The dems suck on this issue. Indie parties do not. The dems would gain more supporters than they'd lose if they stood on the just side of this issue ... instead of trying to look like compassion-less conservatives.

[Padraig18]

93. What 'legit studies' have been done?

Can you name a single clinical study?

[indie_jones]

95. wanna study?

Donald Abrams' FDA-approved study on cannabis and HIV patients ... which found that marijuana didn't make the disease progress, was effective in treating wasting syndrome ... and although it wasn't proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, the patients who smoked marijuana experienced a decrease in HIV RNA numbers.

Other studies, most of which are international for obvious reasons:

http://www.cannabis-med.org/studies/study.php

***

(** On Edit: I didn't include this one, which is official but still on the anecdotal side: http://www.nap.edu/html/marimed/ . And let's not forget the studies Nixon commissioned ... which found that recreational marijuana use was not dangerous enough to warrant prohibition).

[depakid]

96. So, aside from your one issue vendetta

explain to me what the head of the DNC has to do with medical marijuana either in terms of passing laws or implementing policy?

[indie_jones]

97. I already said ...

The chair sets the tone for the party.

[bitchkitty]

98. Howard Dean would have supported the

rights of voters in various states that have medical marijuana laws. I do know what I'm talking about, I'm a medical marijuana patient too.

Off topic - why is it Dean season again?

[janx]

102. You have PM!

[debsianben]

104. Not a Single Issue

Its actually pretty typical of the whole "Dean Deception." Unlike genuinely left-wing candidates like Kucinich, Sharpton, etc., Dean had a vague rhetorical veneer of peace-lovingliberalism, but there wasn't much substance to it. His positions on most substantive issues were about like Kerry's, just without the opportunity to accumulate the kind of Bush-lite voting record Kerry had to defend. Even on the Iraq issue, he was never particularly progressive. Dean supported the 1991 Gulf War, and despite his reservations about the wisdom of the 2003 follow-up, as soon as the invasion was over he took a "once we're there, we're stuck" line and has taken an essentially pro-war position on the brutal war of counter-insurgency the Empire has been waging in Iraq for the last year and a half.