Making it a crime doesn't pay

"If you were disappointed with the Supreme Court decision, then you must act," writes Peter Guither of Drug WarRant [via Desert Cat guest blogging at Little Miss Attila] re the Hinchey-Rohrbacher Amendment scheduled to come before the House on Tuesday:

This is the amendment that prevents the federal government from spending money to interfere with medical marijuana patients who are following state law in those states that have medical marijuana laws.

Guither has a Marijuana Policy Project instant letter to Congress to make it easy for those so inclined to register their support. We're headed there as soon as we finish this post.

How does Barry Campbell of the new blog Compassionate Use relax? Just ask Chow Fun (left) and Mr. Gato. "Animal lovers have always known it," and in recent years "health researchers are confirming it: animals are good for your health, Just 10 minutes of physical interaction with a beloved pet can lower blood pressure and increase finger temperature -- both clear signs of relaxation."

Along similar lines, our catblogging pal Barry Campbell of enrevanche has just launched a first-rate new blog called Compassionate Use, "which tracks the effort to make medical marijuana safe, legal and available to every sick person in the United States who might need it." Barry -- who's covering all the bases, including a new Harvard economists' report on the costs of marijuana prohibition vs. potential revenue gains from legalizing it and taxing its sale -- has poignant personal reasons for supporting medical-marijuana legislation:

To let you know where I'm coming from, I am a law-and-order Republican and a strong supporter of law enforcement. I am also the husband of a wonderful woman who was successfully treated for ovarian cancer five years ago, and I saw first-hand both the debilitating side-effects of chemotherapy and the remarkable efficacy of marijuana in reducing a chemotherapy patient's discomfort and enabling them to eat normally during treatment.

Re the Supreme Court's decision last week to prohibit and prosecute the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes -- even in the 11 states that permit it -- Barry sums up the case so we don't have to, citing Clarence Thomas's separate dissent:

Respondents Diane Monson and Angel Raich use marijuana that has never been bought or sold, that has never crossed state lines, and that has had no demonstrable effect on the national market for marijuana. If Congress can regulate this under the Commerce Clause, then it can regulate virtually anything -- and the Federal Government is no longer one of limited and enumerated powers.

As Barry says, "So much for the 'federalism revolution' in the judiciary." We are by no means up to speed on the nuances of SCOTUS arguments on the case, but that sounds to us like just plain common sense.

Comments

[Mr.Kurtz]

Sissy,

Thanks for the link to Barry Campbell's site, "Compassionate Use".

It went beyond irony for us that, living in the capitol of California's "Emerald Triangle", my wife had to get the weed from other cancer patients and seeing them in the oncologists office, to realize that not only were they desperately ill, they were felons.

Must research if Eminent Domain is as elastic as the Commerce Clause.

[goomp]

I think that in our democracy there is a continual struggle for power between various groups and that this struggle is reflected in the way three branches of government perform. Currently the Judiciary has assumed more power than it should and it is up to the voters to put pressure on the other to branches to reign in this abuse of power.

[Attila Girl]

Credit where credit's due: that post was actually by my guest-blogger Desert Cat:

http://desertcat.blogspot.com (IIRC)

But I endorse it!

[Sissy Willis]

'Have added a link to Desert Cat. Thanks for showing me the error of my ways. :)