DR. TAFARI

SHARON LINDO

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Should Marijuana Be Legalized? Medical Marijuana Initiative Section 1. Section 11362.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 11362.5. (a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. (b) (l) The people of the State of California hereby find and declare that the purposes of the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 are as follows: (A) To ensure that seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes where that medical use is deemed appropriate and has been recommended by a physician who has determined that the person's health would benefit from the use of marijuana in the treatment of cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis, migraine, or any other illness for which marijuana provides relief. (B) To ensure that patients and their primary caregivers who obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes upon the recommendation of a physician are not subject to criminal prosecution or sanction. (C) To encourage the federal and state governments to implement a plan to provide for the safe and affordable distribution of marijuana to all patients in medical need of marijuana. (2) Nothing in this act shall be construed to supersede legislation prohibiting persons from engaging in conduct that endangers others, nor to condone the diversion of marijuana for nonmedical purposes. With standing any other provision of law, no physician in this state shall be punished, or denied any right or privilege, for having recommended marijuana to a patient for medical purposes. (d) Section 11357, relating to the possession of marijuana, and Section 11358, relating to the cultivation of marijuana, shall not apply to a patient, or to a patient's primary caregiver, who possesses or cultivates marijuana for the personal medical purposes of the patient upon the written or oral recommendation or approval of a physician. (e) For the purposes of this section, "primary caregiver" means the individual designated by the person exempted under this act who has consistently assumed responsibility for the housing, health, or safety of that person. Sec. 2. If any provision of this measure or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the measure which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this en d the provisions of this measure are severable. On November 5th, Californians approved Prop. 215, allowing patients to use medical marijuana. Voter support of this lhistoric new law was 55.7% in favor verses only 44.3% opposed, a spread of 11.4 points. The passage of Proposition 215 would give the people of California legal access to a remarkably safe, highly versatile, and potentially inexpensive medicine. Patients find marijuana helpful for nausea and vomiting, for glaucoma and as an appetite stimulant. It is used for the relief of muscle spasms and seizures, as well as osteoarthritis, menstrual cramps, migraine and other forms of chronic pain.

In my opinion, along with the MAJORITY of my youth, I think that Marijuana should be legalized and that we should ban all tobacco products nationally. Why? Well not to state the obvious, but weed hasn’t killed anyone, Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, imposing a terrible toll in health, lives and dollars on families, businesses and government. Tobacco kills more than 400,000+ people annually – more than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined. Tobacco costs the U.S. more than $96 billion in health care expenditures and $97 billion in lost productivity each year. While the United States has made major progress against tobacco use, nearly one in five Americans still smokes, and more than 3,000 kids try their first cigarette each day. 0 people in recorded history have