Idaho braces for battle over legalizing medical marijuana
Idaho, a state known more for growing potatoes than marijuana, is bracing for a battle to legalize medical marijuana, as a growing number of U.S. states permit pot for both health and recreational use.
The Idaho Senate on Monday made its position clear with a 29-5 vote against allowing marijuana for even medical uses in the conservative state. The resolution, which will now go to the state House of Representatives, is only a political gesture. Marijuana is already illegal under both state and federal law.
Proponents of liberalized pot laws - spearheaded by a group called Compassionate Idaho - told senators last week they were working on a medical marijuana initiative they hope to place on the state ballot next year.
Eighteen states, plus the District of Columbia, have legalized marijuana for medical use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
In November, Washington state and Colorado went a step further and voters approved legalizing pot for recreational use.
Chuck Winder, assistant majority leader of the Republican-led Senate, told lawmakers on Monday that the anti-marijuana measure he crafted was vital to ensuring the safety of Idaho residents, especially children.
Republicans also hold a majority in the state House.
About the Marihuana Medical Access Program: Canada
Health Canada grants access to marihuana for medical use to those Canadians who are suffering from grave and debilitating illnesses. It is important to note that the Next link will take you to another Web site Marihuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR), deal exclusively with the medical use of marihuana and do not address the issue of legalizing marihuana for general consumption.
It is not legal to grow or possess marihuana except with legal permission by Health Canada under the purview of MMAR. Health Canada does not licence organizations such as compassion clubs or dispensaries to possess, produce or distribute marihuana for medical purposes. Health Canada is the only organization that can legally supply marihuana seeds and dried marihuana to persons authorized to possess and/or licenced to produce marihuana for medical purposes.
Marihuana (cannabis) is categorized as a controlled substance, regulated in Canada under the Next link will take you to another Web site Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA).
Health Canada regulations deal exclusively with the medical use of marihuana, which should not be confused with the movement to legalize marihuana for general consumption. Marihuana remains a controlled substance. Activities such as the possession of marihuana and production of marihuana are illegal except as authorized by regulation.
While the majority of Idaho senators on Monday expressed staunch opposition to legalization of marijuana in the state, some local officials and political leaders in the more liberal-leaning Sun Valley area have pushed to relax marijuana laws.
“It chases ghosts that haven’t appeared yet in anticipation that they might,” Senate Minority Leader Michelle Stennett of the affluent resort community of Ketchum said of the resolution. She said the measure was dismissive of those who rely on marijuana to provide relief from pain and other chronic health conditions.
In the United States, there are important legal differences between medical cannabis at the federal and state levels. At the federal level, cannabis per se has been made criminal by implementation of the Controlled Substances Act, but as of 2009, new federal guidelines have been enacted. According to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, “It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana, but we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal.” California passed an initiative to allow medical cannabis in 1996. In the intervening decades, multiple states have passed similar initiatives. A January 2010 ABC News poll showed that 81 percent of Americans believed that medical cannabis should be legal in the United States.
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Is Medical Marijuana Safe for Children?
As reported by ABC News, Mykayla was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in July. Against her doctor’s wishes, her mother, Erin Purchase, began giving her lime-flavored capsules filled with cannabis oil after she had a poor response to her initial chemotherapy treatment. Her doctors suggested a bone marrow transplant, but while she was taking the medical marijuana, she went into remission in August. She continues to rely on cannabis to ease pain and nausea and her mother plans to continue giving her the drug during the additional two to three years of chemotherapy she still faces. Purchase, believes that certain components in marijuana, which show anti-cancer activity in many early studies, helped spark the remission. Mykayla’s current doctor knows she takes the capsules, but doesn’t discuss the marijuana as part of her medical therapy.
Experts like Igor Grant of the University of California’s Center for Medical Cannabis Research warn that the effects of the drug on child development are unknown. But the same is true for other medications used to fight pain and nausea that are currently given to children with cancer, as well as for powerful antipsychotic drugs that are used in long term treatment of childhood mental illnesses. Opioid drugs like morphine and Oxycontin, which are sometimes used to treat the severe pain that accompanies life-threatening cancer and other diseases, for example, can cause overdoses.
Although marijuana can be addictive, addiction rates are often lower than those to opioid drugs, and discontinuing opioids is associated with severe physical withdrawal symptoms not seen with marijuana. While opioids can cause nausea and vomiting, marijuana reduces the risk of these symptoms that frequently plague cancer patients as side effects of radiation or chemotherapy. Advocates like Purchase argue that if opioids are acceptable to treat youngsters’ cancer pain, then marijuana should be as well.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, however, disagrees, and opposes the use of marijuana to treat young children, citing its addictive potential and the many unknowns about how it may affect developing bodies. The Institute of Medicine (IOM), a scientific group of experts consulted by Congress, analyzed the available data and since 1999 has acknowledged that certain legitimate medical uses of marijuana are worth additional study. While the panel noted that many effective treatments already exist to relieve nausea and cancer pain, it recognized that for some patients who may not respond to these therapies, the components in marijuana may be helpful. The group’s main objection to the drug was its use in smoked preparations, which is not an issue in this case.
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By Laura Zuckerman