Majority Backs Medical Marijuana, but Feds Won't Budge

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NATION Majority Backs Medical Marijuana, but Advertisement Feds Won't Budge Updated: 1 day 1 hour ago

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(Jan. 20) -- When it comes to reforming the nation's health care system, Americans are firmly divided. But a surprisingly large majority now agrees that if you're sick, you should be allowed to pass the peace pipe.

Eighty-one percent of U.S. adults favor legalizing marijuana in a medical Carl Franzen context, according to a telephone poll conducted by ABC News and the Contributor Washington Post last week. In 1997, 69 percent of respondents were in favor TOP NEWS

of the idea. Sphere AP Real-Time Web

The news led some, such as the Raw Story's Stephen C. Webster, to conclude that "the medical Justices Gut Campaign-Finance Restrictions marijuana debate among American voters is over." Indeed, voters in nine states have approved Petraeus Tries to Quell 'Jesus' Gun Questions medical marijuana provisions, beginning with California in 1996. Immigrants Have Complex View of Race, Survey Finds Air France Frets Over How to Seat the Obese But it's not just citizens who are catching whiffs of a budding new era: The legislatures of five other Betty Broderick, Symbol of Bitter Divorce, Seeks states, most recently New Jersey, also passed their own laws setting up specific, government- Parole sponsored programs that provide controlled access to the plant to ill patients -- bringing to 14 the Scots May Be Allowed to Get Help in Ending Their Lives grand total of states where medical marijuana is available.

Studies have shown that marijuana can help fight pain in some patients and ease nausea that often SPOTLIGHT accompanies cancer treatments.

Katie Drummond Despite the Obama administration's recently stated tolerance for state-sponsored medical Contributor marijuana measures (the Justice Department announced last year it won't prosecute patients Cutting Salt Would Be a Lifesaver for Americans abiding by state laws), pot is an illegal drug under federal law, and users can be punished under a number of strict penalties. Since 1970, the DEA has classified marijuana as a Schedule 1 substance, Carl Franzen alongside heroin and LSD, all of which have been deemed to have a "high potential for abuse" and Contributor "no currently accepted medical use." Haiti Charity's E-mails Keep Wyclef Controversy Stirring

Yet scientists seeking federal clearance to grow and study their own marijuana crops for Paul Wachter therapeutic effects continue to find their requests rebuffed. "Marijuana is the only major drug for Contributor which the federal government controls the only legal research supply and for which the The Filter: Weighing the government requires a special scientific review," The New York Times reports. That supply is Odds for Obama's Bank grown on a single plantation at the University of Mississippi. Meanwhile, scientists investigating Meet the Team » other illegal drugs such as LSD can turn to many other suppliers.

Despite strong support from local voters, state efforts to allow medical marijuana use often have

gone up in smoke because of federal restrictions.

http://www.sphere.com/nation/article/majority-backs-medical-marijuana-but-feds-wont-budge/19324337 Page 1 / 3 Scott Brown Goes to Washington The first to fail was Arizona. Voters approved a ballot measure in 1996 allowing physicians to What Do Women Want? More! prescribe the drug. But they are barred from doing so professionally since it is against federal law. Some states got around this barrier by using other words such as "recommend" instead of Haiti and the Pat Robertson Paradox

"prescribe." A new provision to change Arizona's medical marijuana wording is gaining steam and National Enquirer Submits for Pulitzer Prize After may end up on the ballot later this year, CollegeNews reports. John Edwards Admits Paternity of Rielle Hunters Daughter

In 1998, the District of Columbia's vote to legalize medical marijuana was superseded by Gov. Mark Sanford Chatting Up Congressmen on House Floor congressional action. Congress recently cleared the way for the medical marijuana program to begin, though, so the D.C. council is moving ahead with plans to set up five dispensaries. More Stories »

Finally, in 2003, Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich signed a bill that allows people arrested and prosecuted on possession charges to use "medicinal necessity" in their defense, which they must prove with a physician's recommendation. But the state's terminally patients are still irked that they have turn to unreliable black market sources to procure their medicine. Mother-Daughter Reunite After 50 Years On Soup Kitchens Menu, $73 Caviar App So while medical marijuana activists can cheer at the news that voters are on their side, the Man Claims Lottery Day Before Deadline government is still in many cases behind the (high) times. Devotion to Packers Saves Mans Life Filed under: Nation, Health, Only On Sphere Boy Plays Santa For Other Sick Kids Follow Sphere on Facebook and Twitter. More Stories » 2010 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Before Stepping Aside in New Jersey, Corzine Signs Medical Marijuana Law 2 days ago In one of his final acts as governor of New Jersey, Jon Corzine approved a bill legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Corzine, a Democrat, signed the legislation, along with a flurry...

Bill That Would Legalize Marijuana in California Passes Committee 8 days ago

New Jersey Legislature Approves Medical Marijuana Use 9 days ago

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