Medical Pot Use Up In Smoke

Saturday, March 4, 2006

by Emelie Rutherford, Daily News Staff
Metrowest Daily News

BOSTON -- Lawmakers effectively killed a bill to legalize marijuana for medical use in Massachusetts, citing concerns about a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing federal agents to arrest people who use pot to ease their pain or nausea from chemotherapy treatment.

The joint Public Health Committee sent a medical marijuana bill to be studied on Wednesday, thus stopping it from advancing to the full Legislature and effectively killing it this session.

"It was about the Supreme Court decision," state Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, House chairman of the committee, said about why the bill was sent to study.

The committee, he said, didn't "even really get to the issue of whether it should be allowed or not, because it was against the federal law and Constitution."

State Rep. Frank Smizik, D-Brookline, had filed the bill. Its co-sponsors include state Reps. Deborah Blumer, D-Framingham, and Ruth Balser, D-Newton.

The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision last year allows federal agents to arrest people who use pot to treat pain regardless of whether their states have legalized medical marijuana. Rhode Island earlier this year became the 11th state to allow medical marijuana, joining states including Maine and Vermont.

At the State House, separate legislation to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana was endorsed two weeks ago by the joint Mental Health and Substance Abuse Committee. That bill to make possession of less than one once of marijuana a civil offense is now before the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

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A hotbed of cannabis activism, Washington State is home to many organizations working to bring about rational drug policy. Here are some things to get involved with:

Cannabis Defense Coalition has been very active lately. They focus on courtroom observation and medical marijuana activism.

The ACLU-WA Drug Policy Project created the Marijuana: It's Time for a Conversation campaign, among other things.

Initiative 75, passed in 2003, deprioritized marijuana law enforcement in Seattle. A final report (2mb pdf) on the law was produced by the city.

The November Coalition, based in Colville, is a national reform group and works with prisoners and families.

SpoCannabis is a medical marijuana activist group in Spokane.

King Co. Bar Association Drug Policy Project has done amazing work educating the "suits" about the failure of our prohibition model of drug policy, and the need for a regulatory model of drug policy.

Seattle Hempfest is the third weekend in August on Seattle's waterfront.

Olympia Hempfest is a week after Seattle's big bash.