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Ferre
Cannabis Sacrament Minister.
Joined: 14 Apr 2003
Posts: 7295
Location: Amsterdam
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 Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2005 9:06 am Post subject: South Dacota: Help ballot for medical cannabis! |
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The story below is at
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050321/NEWS/503210318/1001
===================================
S.D. medical marijuana proposal forming Marijuana: Signatures needed to
reach ballot
by TERRY WOSTER
twoster@midco.net
published: 03/21/05
PIERRE - A Hermosa man who supported an unsuccessful attempt to legalize
industrial hemp in 2002 said last week he is preparing a ballot
initiative to allow medical marijuana in South Dakota.
Robert Newland, who also ran for attorney general as a Libertarian
candidate in 2002, said Montana voters in November legalized marijuana
for medical uses.
"When I saw that Montana did it, I decided to start a campaign in South
Dakota," Newland said. "There is no question we can get the signatures
in fairly short order. The fact is, medical use has never failed on an
initiative."
A bill to legalize medical marijuana died 11-1 in a House committee
during the 2005 Legislature.
Newland can expect strong opposition from Attorney General Larry Long's
office if his proposal reaches the ballot. A spokesman for Long said the
office's position is contained in statements made at the House hearing
by Charles McGuigan, an assistant attorney general.
"We are in opposition to any plan to legalize marijuana in any form,
whether it is medical marijuana or industrial hemp or any other
concoction that would give credence to this substance,'' McGuigan said
then. "Marijuana is not scheduled as a controlled substance, but
marijuana use and possession is illegal and is a crime.''
Newland has until May 2006 to file petitions. He'll need 16,728 valid
signatures. He said he'd like to get started this spring by filing the
formal language of the proposed law, a first step in the process. That
would give petition carriers the opportunity to work fairs and other
summer events where large numbers of potential signers are concentrated
in small areas.
Ten states have some form of medical marijuana laws now. California's
law is being challenged in a U.S. Supreme Court case. Other states with
such laws are Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon,
Vermont and Washington. Arizona also has a law permitting marijuana
prescriptions but no active program.
South Dakota's Criminal Code Revision Commission considered, but
rejected, a medical marijuana proposal last summer.
In November 2003, the state Supreme Court upheld the marijuana
conviction of an Eagle Butte man who said he needed the drug to ease
chronic muscle spasms he had suffered since needing to use a wheelchair
after a car wreck.
Rep. Gerald Lange, D-Madison, sponsored the failed medical marijuana
bill last session. The patient's physician would have been required to
say that the beneficial impact of marijuana use for a patient would
outweigh risks.
"There's a nausea effect in a lot of medicine, where marijuana doesn't
cause this kind of side effect,'' Lange said.
McGuigan said the attorney general's office thought that passing such a
law "would reduce the perception of the risk for drug use.''
He also said the active ingredient in marijuana is available in pill
form, with a prescription.
Newland said that pill works for some people. But in cases of severe
nausea that sometimes accompany chemotherapy and other treatments, "the
patient just can't keep it down.''
So far, the only ballot issue qualified for the November 2006 general
election is a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a legal
union between a man and a woman. That proposal passed the 2005 Legislature.
Reach Terry Woster at 605-224-2760.
S.D. medical marijuana proposal forming Marijuana: Signatures needed to
reach ballot
TERRY WOSTER
twoster@midco.net
published: 03/21/05
STATES WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA
10 states with medical marijuana laws:
# California
# Alaska
# Colorado
# Hawaii
# Maine
# Montana
# Nevada
# Oregon
# Vermont
# Washington
# Arizona has a law but no active program.
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