Good for RI...they legalized the use of medicianal marijuana today!

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Rhode Island on Tuesday became the 11th state to legalize medical marijuana and the first since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that patients who use the drug can still be prosecuted under federal law.

The House overrode a veto by Gov. Don Carcieri, 59-13, allowing people with illnesses such as cancer and AIDS to grow up to 12 marijuana plants or buy 2.5 ounces of marijuana to relieve their symptoms. Those who do are required to register with the state and get an identification card.

Federal law prohibits any use of marijuana, but Maine, Vermont, Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington allow it to be grown and used for medicinal purposes.

The U.S. high court ruled June 6 that people who smoke marijuana because their doctors recommend it can still be prosecuted under federal drug laws, even if their states allow it.

Federal authorities, however, have conceded they are unlikely to prosecute many medicinal marijuana users.

"I'm sure everybody in this room knows at least one person who would have benefited from medical marijuana," Rep. Thomas Slater, who has cancer, told fellow lawmakers before the vote. Slater said he doesn't use marijuana now but it could become part of his treatment in the future.

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My comments:
Now, I was probably one of the only children of the '80s who never did a drug, marijuana included, but I had some experience with this issue.

My father passed away Jan 2, 1989, so I guess this is particularly resonating with me now, given that the anniversary of his death just passed yesterday.

My dad was diagnosed with multi-systemic cancer when I was in my mid-teens, orginating in the liver/pancreas/stomach. He had a terrible time of it (actually this is an understatement...that damn disease tortured him) and his diagnosis was terminal. Near the end, my grandmother was unable to care for him alone any longer (my mom and he had been divorced for many years, and I helped out as much as I could, but it was too hard on a woman in her mid seventies even with home health aides).

My dad was able to be placed in a nursing facility and lived out his last weeks there. My stepfather was the assistant admin there and my mom worked there as well. Fortunately for Dad, so did one of his home health aides. This gentleman brought my father marijuana which helped settle his stomach and give him some measure of peace. This home health aide showed Dad unending compassion even though his job and career could have been toast.

Even now, close to two decades later I see absolutely NO problem with the use of medicinal marijuana. It wasn't as if my father got PLEASURE out of this...the man literally starved to death as the cancer ate his body little by little. If this drug was able to hold off the cravings of a dying man I fail to see the issue. If he got some measure of peace, so be it!

Now, fortunately I never learned of this at the time (it wasn't as if my dad would have asked me to score some pot for him LOL!) and when I learned of it, the home health aide had changed careers and to this day, I'm not sure if Mom and Stepdad know, but it turns my stomach to think that this aide could have faced criinal charges when his goal was just to ease my dad's suffering.

Marijuana has been shown to help AIDS patients, cancer patients and I believe even folks with glaucoma. The registration guidelines make sense to me. Yeah, some people may buck the system, but don't the benefits to folks suffering with illness outweigh this?