Richardson’s Bold Call On Medical Marijuana
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Drugs, Legislation, News
The New Mexico governor and presidential hopeful is doing something that about 99.999% of other viable presidential hopefuls wouldn’t even think of. And maybe that’ll set him apart.
SANTA FE, N.M. - Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson, poised to sign a bill making New Mexico the 12th state to legalize medical marijuana, said Thursday he realizes his action could become an issue in the presidential race.“So what if it’s risky? It’s the right thing to do,” said Richardson, one of the candidates in the crowded 2008 field. “What we’re talking about is 160 people in deep pain. It only affects them.”
And lest we forget why it’s important to pass these laws…
The federal government declares marijuana an illegal controlled substance with no medical value.A federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled on Wednesday that a woman whose doctor says marijuana is the only medicine keeping her alive can face federal prosecution on drug charges.
The Supreme Court ruled against the woman two years ago, saying medical marijuana users and their suppliers could be prosecuted for breaching federal drug laws even if they lived in a state such as California where medical pot is legal.
I’ve gotta hand it to Bill…he’s got guts. But will it hamstring him later on?
What do you think?
This entry was posted on Friday, March 16th, 2007 and is filed under Drugs, Legislation, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
March 16th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
Are you kidding? He’s a Republican. Of course he is hamstrung. But I applaud him for doing the right thing.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court ruled against the doctor. Since the basis of the law ia that marijuana has no medicinal value (which is obviously untrue), how could that happen? We are all screwed.
March 17th, 2007 at 1:26 am
Um… Richardson’s actually a Democrat, not a Republican. Interestingly though, you may recall that his immediate predecessor as NM governor, Bill (?) Johnson - who was a Republican - openly advocated ending drug prohibition generally during his final term in office (no, he wasn’t voted out; he just ran into a term limit). That stance went even farther than what Richardson is doing here.
March 18th, 2007 at 11:44 am
iIstand corrected. Thanks for the heads up, Joshua.
September 16th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
The Supreme Court ruled against the doctor regarding the marijuana.Its the fact that the government should take steps to get control on this issue.
synjones
http://www.marijuanaaddictiontreatment.com