Reply
Sat 11 Feb, 2006 09:00 am
The founder of a New York-based anti-drug group came to the Capitol on Friday to persuade legislators to vote against a bill that would make marijuana legal for patients suffering from some serious medical conditions.
Steven Steiner of Dads and Moms Against Drug Dealers said that passage of SB258 -- which is scheduled to be considered today by the House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee -- would lead to more drug abuse in the state.
Ironically, Steiner's group is partly funded by the company that makes the drug that killed his teenage son.
"Five years ago, I lost my 19-year-old son," Steiner told a reporter.
The drug that killed Steven Steiner Jr. was OxyContin, a prescription narcotic that is legal. "But marijuana played a major part in his death," Steiner said. "There's no doubt in my mind that marijuana is a gateway drug."
He repeated a common claim by medical-marijuana opponents that drug-liberalization advocates are using cancer and AIDS sufferers to pass medical laws, which, opponents say, is a first step to legalization of marijuana.
Backers of SB258, including Gov. Bill Richardson and senators from both political parties, have argued the bill provides sufficient safeguards to prevent widespread abuse and would help only people who are in serious pain.
According to DAMADD's Web site, Perdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin, is a sponsor of the organization.
Several other large pharmaceutical companies, including Jannsen, Bristol-Meyers, Roche, Alpharma, UCB, Endo, Cephalon, Teva and Boehringer Ingelheim, also support DAMADD. "Big (pharmaceuticals), they see what's happening," Steiner said. "They gave us funding unrestricted."
Steiner said his son wasn't using OxyContin correctly. "My son crushed it up and snorted it," he said.
The pharmaceutical industry never has been visibly active in opposing medical-marijuana legislation in New Mexico.
But the industry -- which contributed more than $97,000 to New Mexico political campaigns in 2002 and more than $56,000 in 2004 -- stands to lose money if marijuana became a free and legal treatment.
Prescription drugs to combat nausea and other symptoms, as some supporters say marijuana can do, may cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month.
Steiner appeared at a news conference with Rep Bill Rehm, R-Albuquerque. Rehm, a former narcotics detective with the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department, said he believes the medical-marijuana bill would result in more marijuana users driving vehicles.
"There's no requirement in the bill about having (marijuana-growing facilities) in close proximity to daycare centers or schools," he said. "There's nothing in the bill about smoking marijuana and driving a school bus or teaching school."
Quote:Steiner said his son wasn't using OxyContin correctly. "My son crushed it up and snorted it," he said.
Boy, he's got his finger right on the problem there.
UPDATE
A state House panel has shelved a Senate-passed bill that would have allowed patients suffering from illnesses like cancer or AIDS to use marijuana prescribed by a doctor to alleviate their pain.
With the end of the legislative session set for Thursday, the move likely kills the bill for this session.
The Agriculture and Water Resources Committee tabled the measure on a 4-3 vote Saturday.
"Why are you trying to kill us?" Essie DeBonet, 61, of Albuquerque shouted at committee members as the vote sank in after an emotional hearing on the proposal.
DeBonet said she has suffered from AIDS for 18 years and needs marijuana to control the pain without giving her nausea that prevents her from eating.
Reena Szczepanski of the Drug Policy Alliance Network, which lobbied for the bill, said supporters will try to regroup and get the committee to reconsider the measure before the session ends. "We're really disappointed, absolutely heartbroken," she said.
The bill would have created a program in the Health Department where doctors could have referred patients with debilitating-medical conditions. Patients who were certified under the program would be able to possess marijuana without risk of prosecution by state authorities, but they could not grow it.
The committee's decision was applauded by law-enforcement officers who said the proposal would cause legal problems because it conflicted with federal law and would increase illegal marijuana use and growth in the state.
Errol Chavez, director of the New Mexico High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area in Las Cruces, told the committee that abuse and growth of marijuana increased in California after a medical-marijuana law went into effect.
The committee's vote "prevents a threat from coming to the state of New Mexico, the threat of abuse of marijuana," he said after the meeting.
In a Feb. 8 letter circulated to the committee, U.S. Attorney David Iglesias wrote that even if the state made medical-marijuana use legal, "anyone who violates the (federal) Controlled Substances Act is subject to federal prosecution."
Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque, who sponsored the bill, said no patients have been prosecuted by federal authorities in states that have medical-marijuana laws. Those states include: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace