Politicians Changing Stance On Medical Marijuana
More and more politicians, whether it be Senators or Representatives, are changing their mind after meeting with patients who live with daily pain. Many politicians are caught up in the “drug war” mind-frame and have never sat down with patients and really examined the issue from a compassion point of view. As time moves on though, we see compassion and understanding regarding medical marijuana and those who need it daily.
Rep. Jerry McNerney is now willing to vote for an amendment he’d opposed last year that would bar the federal government from spending money to arrest or prosecute medical-marijuana patients in the states — including California — where medical marijuana is legal.
“In the past year, the congressman has met several patients with debilitating illnesses that use doctor-prescribed medical marijuana,” McNerney spokesman Andy Stone said Friday. “Hearing their stories, he feels that he cannot in good conscience deny doctor-prescribed treatment to a person that experiences excruciating pain on a daily basis.”
Asked whether this means McNerney, D-Pleasanton, will vote for the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment when it’s brought forward again in the next few weeks, Stone replied, “That’s a fair assumption.”
This is a sign of compassion and we applaud McNerney for taking this stance on this highly controversial topic. Once you get past the propaganda and cops vs drug dealers rhetoric, you will find medical cannabis is a very simple and easily discussed topic, that clearly has pros and cons - but when someone’s daily pain is in question, you have to be willing to look past your own prejudices and consider others. Again, a round of applause for Rep. Jerry McNerney.
“The support for medical marijuana and for the idea that states ought to be able to make these decisions for themselves … has grown every year” since 2004, Bernath said Friday. “So it’s very encouraging that Congressman McNerney has decided to support patients in his area, but I wouldn’t say it’s surprising.”
Public support as well as congress support seems to be growing and we hope it continues. Many people think the Civil War was fought over slavery, but it was actually “state rights” and there are Republicans as well as Democrats and Libertarians who regard state rights as Holy. This debate regarding state rights strikes at the heart of how laws are formed in this country. States have the right to make their own laws, despite Federal Law - it has been that way for a very long time.
A series of judicial defeats — including the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling in a case brought by Oakland activist Angel Raich — has had medical-marijuana advocates pinning most of their hopes on Congress. The bipartisan amendment to the Science-State-Justice-Commerce Appropriations bill has been introduced in each year since 2003, and takes its name from sponsors Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., and Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach. The amendment was defeated in 2007 on a 165-262 vote; it got 163 votes in 2006, 161 votes in 2005, 148 in 2004 and 152 in 2003.
Half of the House’s freshmen Democrats, including McNerney, opposed it last year. But with polls showing Democratic strength in this November’s House elections, it’s possible some now feel they have a bit more cover if they choose to displease a few conservative constituents this year.
Encourage and support those who vote for this.
McNerney last year had issued a statement saying his vote against the amendment was based on his conversations with law enforcement officials about the effect of drug use on his district’s communities, particularly in San Joaquin County. “We are facing a drug crisis with meth and other drug use on the rise. Until we get a handle on the crippling drug use in our society, I cannot support the relaxation of current drug policy,” he said at that time.
Glad to see McNerney has changed his position and has willfully came over to the compassion side of this debate instead of remaining on the side of the irrational. Medical marijuana is gaining support in the government and in the public.
Keep the topic on the minds of our leaders, and never stop pushing for legal and safe access to cannabis in America.