Blessing Marijuana for Mercy's Sake
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by Bill
Broadway
The Washington Post
June 26, 2004
Support for Permitting Medical Use Is Growing
Among Major Religious Denominations
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Several major religious denominations have joined a growing movement
to legalize the medical use of marijuana, asserting an ethical responsibility
to help ease the pain and other debilitating effects of such diseases
as cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma.
The United Methodist Church, the Union for Reform Judaism, the Progressive
National Baptist Convention, the Episcopal Church, the Unitarian Universalist
Association, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America and the United Church of Christ have made statements
supporting the controlled use of marijuana for medical reasons.
"According to our tradition, a physician is obligated to heal
the sick," begins a resolution adopted in November by the Union
for Reform Judaism. The statement acknowledges the medical use of
marijuana as a 5,000-year-old tradition and encourages the federal
government to change marijuana's status from a prohibited substance
to a prescription drug.
The denominations have called for a reassessment of penalties for
marijuana users trying to increase their appetites during chemotherapy
or alleviate chronic pain. "We believe that seriously ill people
should not be subject to arrest and imprisonment for using medical
marijuana with their doctors' approval," asserted a Coalition
for Compassionate Access statement endorsed in 2002 by the United
Church of Christ.
Some denominations assert strong support for medicinal marijuana but
reject its recreational use -- thus supporting one goal of secular
marijuana lobbying groups but not the ultimate goal of completely
decriminalizing the drug.
"The medical use of any drug should not be seen as encouraging
recreational use of the drug," reads a statement approved last
month at the general conference of the United Methodist Church in
Pittsburgh. "We urge all persons to abstain from the use of marijuana,
unless it has been legally prescribed in a form appropriate for treating
a medical condition."
One thing notable about religious support of medical marijuana has
been the lack of intense debate, especially in denominations riven
over the issues of same-sex unions and the ordination of gay clergy,
according to religious activists.
The Rev. Cynthia Abrams, director of alcohol, tobacco and drug programming
for the United Methodists' General Board of Church and Society, said
delegates to last month's convention voted 877 to 19 in favor of an
amendment to drug-use guidelines that supports the drug's medical
use in states that allow it.
"The surprising thing, it was almost unanimous," she said
of the vote.
Increased evidence of the drug's usefulness and personal anecdotes
of lay members and clergy helped the amendment's passage, she said.
During the 18 months her panel worked on the proposal, "we heard
many stories, from conservatives and liberals, of family members,
or people they knew or ministered to, who had used marijuana in the
course of chronic illness."
The movement to legalize the medical use of marijuana faces significant
opposition, however -- especially from the Justice Department, which
enforces federal laws prohibiting the cultivation and distribution
of marijuana, and the White House Office of National Drug Control
Policy.
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In the
late 1990s, medical marijuana
supporters got a ballot measure approved
by District voters, but Congress has
blocked its implementation
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A news
letter promoting the medical use of marijuana is a sign of the
practices growing acceptance in the U.S
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Rep. Maurice
D. Hinchey would bar federal funds from being used to prosecute
medical marijuana users
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"Marijuana
is a dangerous drug, a surprisingly dangerous drug," said Tom
Riley, a spokesman for the drug policy office. More teenagers are
treated for marijuana abuse than for abuse of any other substance,
including alcohol, and any law making marijuana more accessible will
exacerbate the problem, he said.
Proponents are trying to circumvent "a well-developed system
for introducing new medicines," Riley said, adding that a pill
form of marijuana's primary active ingredient has been available for
years and that other cannabis-based medicines are in the works.
Since 1996, when a successful California referendum opened the door
to medical marijuana use there, nine states have enacted laws that
allow certain patients to use the drug despite federal prohibitions.
The most recent addition is Vermont, which last month passed a law
allowing qualified patients to grow, possess and use marijuana. The
other states are Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont
and Washington. In most cases, patients receive a card or other documentation
permitting them to use the drug.
D.C. residents approved the medical use of marijuana in a 1998 referendum
-- 69 percent voted in favor -- but Congress, the District's overseer,
has blocked implementation of the law and prevented efforts to hold
subsequent referendums on the issue.
Last year, the Maryland legislature stopped short of legalizing marijuana
for medical use but passed a bill allowing anyone convicted of marijuana
possession to argue for a reduced sentence based on its use to relieve
the pain of a chronic or life-threatening illness. Instead of a maximum
penalty of a year in jail and $1,000 fine, violators could get off
with a $100 fine.
More than a dozen other states, including Virginia and Arizona, have
enacted laws that recognize marijuana's medical value but do not protect
those involved in its use from federal law, said Steve Fox, director
of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington-based
lobbying organization.
Some of those states have laws that permit doctors to prescribe marijuana
as they would any other medication. But those statutes have only symbolic
value because federal law clearly prohibits doctors from doing so,
and they would be subject to prosecution, Fox said.
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling last October, however, bars the federal
government from punishing doctors who recommend marijuana to their
patients.
In the past six years, thousands of patients and hundreds of doctors
have participated in medical marijuana programs in the states that
allow them, and numerous medical associations have endorsed the concept.
More than 4,000 physicians have submitted statements to the Marijuana
Policy Project, saying they support the medical use of marijuana,
Fox said.
Religious activism on Capitol Hill began heating up in November with
the founding of the Silver Spring-based Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative,
whose purpose is to advocate "more just and compassionate drug
policies," according to executive director Charles Thomas.
This week, the initiative faxed letters to members of the House of
Representatives asking support for an appropriations bill amendment
coming up for a House vote after the Fourth of July break.
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Bishop
Kenneth Angell of the Catholic Diocese of Burlington urged Vermont
Gov. James Douglas (R) not to veto medical marijuana legislation.
Douglas opposed the bill but let it become law without his signature.
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The amendment, introduced by Rep. Maurice D. Hinchey (D-N.Y.) and
co-sponsored by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), would prohibit federal
funds from being used to arrest and prosecute approved medical marijuana
users and caregivers in states that allow such use. A similar amendment
introduced last summer was rejected by a vote of 273 to 152.
Hinchey said the amendment is needed because the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration has raided the homes of medical marijuana users in
such states as California, Colorado and Oregon -- confiscating the
drug, making arrests and obtaining some convictions -- despite the
states' laws on the issue.
"I'm suggesting to my colleagues that it doesn't make sense to
give money to the Justice Department to superimpose its will on several
states that decided in the interest of their citizens to go in a different
direction," Hinchey said, acknowledging the legal confusion over
a federal law that prohibits marijuana use and state laws that allow
it.
Hinchey said there's also an ethical dimension to the issue, involving
the freedom to make personal health choices, especially in a system
where most medical practices are regulated by state, not federal,
law.
"To the maximum extent possible, people should be able to regulate
their private lives in the way they see fit, as long as it doesn't
interfere with others," he said.
Hinchey welcomes the support of the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative
and the denominations whose leaders have signed a statement endorsing
the House amendment -- the United Methodist Church, the National Progressive
Baptist Convention, the Union of Reform Judaism and the Unitarian
Universalist Association.
The statement reads: "Licensed medical doctors should not be
punished for recommending the medical use of marijuana to seriously
ill people, and seriously ill people should not be subject to criminal
actions for using marijuana if the patient's physician has told the
patient that such use is likely to be beneficial."
In its letter-writing campaign, the initiative targeted members of
Congress who are members of those and other religious groups that
have taken a supportive position on medical marijuana. Letters included
a subject line that began with the name of the denomination, as in:
"United Methodist Church supports medical marijuana; please vote
accordingly."
General letters were sent to other House members, listing the organizations
that support medical marijuana use. "No denominations have opposed
medical marijuana," the letters assert.
Asked whether the letter wasn't a breach of church-state separation,
Thomas responded: "I don't think it is. It's a chance to educate
[representatives] about the thinking of people in their denomination
whose job is to put a lot of thought and prayer into a particular
issue."
Some religious leaders have undertaken their own lobbying efforts.
In Vermont, Bishop Kenneth Angell of the Roman Catholic Diocese of
Burlington personally urged Gov. James Douglas (R), who opposed the
bill, not to veto it. Douglas allowed the law to take effect -- without
his signature.
The Catholic Church has taken no official position on the issue.
"I know this was a hard decision for Governor Douglas, but I
am pleased to hear that he will not veto the bill for Medical Marijuana,
"Angell said in a statement. "I share his concern for the
possible abuse of the drug and his worry that our children might misinterpret
the message. I am encouraged, however, that the final bill addresses
those concerns and still preserves the real intent, which is to offer
relief and solace from chronic, severe suffering and pain."
Interfaith
Drug Policy
Initiative, P.O. Box 6299, Washington,
D.C. 20015
Phone: 301-933-7681 Fax:301-933-7682 |
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