From: MAPNews
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 10:21:09 AM
Subject: MN: US MO: OPED: Medical Marijuana


Newshawk: Herb
Pubdate: Fri, 13 Feb 2009
Source: Springfield News-Leader (MO)
Webpage:
http://www.news-leader.com/article/20090213/OPINIONS02/902130316/1006/OPINIONS
Copyright: 2009 The Springfield News-Leader
Contact: letters@...
Website: http://www.springfieldnews-leader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1129
Author: Joe Blundell
Note: Joe Blundell is the mayor of the Town of Cliff Village.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

Voice of the Day

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Ozarks town of Cliff Village approves medical marijuana - now it's
time for state lawmakers to follow.

My name is Joe Blundell. In the year 2000 I was crushed by a
30,000-ton train, and suffered much thereafter under the opium-based
narcotics doctors prescribed to me. Then I found that a flower could
be used to treat many of my subsequent conditions. Why am I telling
you this? Because I wish to tell that my life and those around me
have been enriched by my use of marijuana. I asked the people of
Cliff Village, Mo., if they would support me on legalizing medical
marijuana in our city. I had recently learned of Missouri House Bill
277 and the portion pertaining to the legalization of medical
marijuana in the State of Missouri. Fashioning our ordinance after
the state bill, I asked the village residents if they would support
such a proposal, and the town council voted in favor of adopting
Cliff Village Ordnance 277.

I'm not saying I'll be the first to try this ordnance, which permits
qualifying patients to grow medical marijuana; but I just might. Our
ordinance might just be a statement by our village of support for the
state bill, or perhaps more. If my choice is to either live under the
doctor-prescribed heroin , which costs my friends and neighbors - the
taxpayers of Missouri - hundreds of millions of dollars every year;
or grow and enjoy flowers in my yard for free, I have to pick the flowers.

Anyone who examines how the most widely used and useful plant in
human history became illegal, will see a clear-cut example of the
subversion of the U.S. Constitution for corporate interests over the
will of the people. Take for example the first law concerning
marijuana in America: a decree that every farmer's crop had to be 20
percent marijuana; for it is a nitrogen fixer, needs little care and
was the mainstay of human food, clothing, medicine and fuel for
nearly 8,000 years. What does it say about our country when we outlaw
the plant that made the paper for the Declaration of Independence,
the U.S. Constitution and every page of every Bible for 1,900 years?
Historically, marijuana was also one of the 13 herbs burnt as incense
in Solomon's Temple. So it could be argued that it's infringing on my
right to practice Judaism or Christianity.

If you delve deeper into the issue, it becomes clear that it is an
illegal illegalization, purely for the selfish interests of the few,
to the detriment of all.  They didn't even really make it illegal; t
hat would have been too constitutional. They simply snuck it in the
back door as a tax you can never pay, or get permission to pay.
What's that? Taxation without representation? Hello! Is this still America?

An ounce of good marijuana in the Midwest is roughly $800. On the
East Coast, you'll pay twice that or more.  An ounce of gold today is
$901. The only force that gives the value of gold to a flower is the
police force. The only way we can empower drug dealers is by having
the opposite side of the law enforcing the price, and enforcing
prohibition so that would-be farmers like me cannot grow their own
flowers. This was one of the most obvious facts of the abysmal
results of the prohibition of alcohol.

I've personally decided to stop buying marijuana. I'm tired of
empowering thugs with drugs. I'm tired of helping fill our prisons
with farmers! I serve my fellow man, and I would be derelict in my
duties to my friends, neighbors and future generations of Americans
if I did not act. I would be sentencing everyone to do as they're
told, and not what is right.

Does "We the People" still mean, "We the People"? If so, why have
bills similar to Missouri House Bill 277 gone to the Missouri House
several times, only to be put in "special session" right before the
election so it is never voted on by "We the people"! I'm calling for
every Missouri resident and reader of this to write their
representatives at the state and federal level, and demand that your
voice be heard. Demand a vote on this issue.

Demand a vote!
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Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake