Montel Williams on medical marijuana

[sqrlnts]

42 minute commercial free 'net videos.
Realvideo: http://drugpolicycentral.com/real/csa/montel.rm
Quicktime: http://cannabiscoalition.ca/temp/montel.mov
Windows Media Player: http://cannabiscoalition.ca/temp/montel.wmv
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Montel+Williams


LISTEN UP, MR. PRESIDENT
by Montel Williams, (Source:AlterNet)
Regional News
US CA: Swat Team Raids Rugged Pot Camps

US AK: Pot Prop Backers Take New Approach

US: Web: OPED: Chicago Pot Fines OK - Just Don't Say The 'D' Word


24 Sep 2004

United States
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What Would You Say to George Bush If You Had Five Minutes With the Man?

Montel William's Five Minutes

Mr. President: In the eyes of the public, I am an all-American tough guy, a former naval intelligence officer, a motivational speaker and a TV talk show host. I am beamed into the homes of millions of people around the globe each weekday. I urge individuals and family members to do better, to be better. But there is another side to my story.

For more than twenty years I have lived with a chronic, potentially debilitating disease called multiple sclerosis ( MS ). I have neuralgic pain in my feet and legs so severe that I have twice attempted suicide - the ultimate trauma to my kids and family, the ultimate sin against God. I have stayed awake for nights on end, rocked by violent spasms in my legs. Physicians have prescribed myriad painkillers and antispasmodic drugs - each more toxic than the next, each less effective than the other. I have taken Percocet, Vicodin, OxyContin, and a morphine drip, risking overdose to subdue the pain. Instead, I became spacey and dull. I could not function. Something had to give. Something did. I discovered medical marijuana, which is illegal everywhere in the country according to federal law, even though eight states have laws in effect that allow patients to use it without fear of arrest.

On many days, I live with pain that is a seven on a scale of one to ten, and with nerves so raw that if you brush against me in an elevator, I just want to scream. Medical marijuana brings that pain down to a three or four. But every day I am forced to make the choice between criminality and management of my symptoms.

Mr. President, I am not alone. Tens of thousands of Americans, your citizens, make this daily choice. They are people like me who suffer from pain and spasms from MS, wasting from AIDS and cancer, and from numerous other symptoms. Because of medical marijuana, those of us with chronic or life-threatening illnesses have emerged from the haze of narcotic-based or morphine-like painkillers and other toxic medications to continue being productive citizens.

For people like me who have been through the gamut of FDA-approved drugs with no relief, marijuana has given us our lives back. It allows us to sleep through the night, to gain weight and strength, to read a bedtime story to our child, to run an office. It offers us the liberty - the freedom to live with dignity - that is one of our inalienable rights as American citizens.

The states with strong medical marijuana laws have built-in safety measures to ensure that the drug is not opened up to recreational users. It must be recommended by a physician, and, in most cases, patients must register with a state or local health authority. There are also reasonable limits on how much of the drug an individual or a caretaker can possess.

Mr. President, I urge you to support legal access to medical marijuana across our great nation. I urge you to support legislation that would change marijuana from a Schedule I drug, a group that includes heroin, LSD, and Quaaludes, to a Schedule II drug, which includes drugs, like amphetamines and morphine, that are prescribed in extreme cases. As a Schedule II drug, marijuana could be prescribed by a physician - with all the checks and balances to keep patients like me safe.

That's all I ask of you. True compassion with all the conservative medical and legal boundaries in place. What better legacy to leave?



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake
Pubdate: Fri, 24 Sep 2004
Source: AlterNet (US Web)
Copyright: 2004 Independent Media Institute
Contact: letters@alternet.org
Website: http://www.alternet.org/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1451
Author: Montel Williams
Note: Montel Williams, an Emmy Award winning talk show host, has completed
thirteen seasons of the nationally syndicated The Montel Williams Show. He
is a retired, decorated naval officer, a motivational speaker, and the
author of six books, including "Climbing Higher," on living with MS. He is
also a member of The Creative Coalition's advisory board.
Note: Part of a larger collection of five minute statements.
Related: Montel Williams 21 September medical cannabis show is available as
42 minute commercial free 'net videos.
Realvideo: http://drugpolicycentral.com/real/csa/montel.rm
Quicktime: http://cannabiscoalition.ca/temp/montel.mov
Windows Media Player: http://cannabiscoalition.ca/temp/montel.wmv
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Montel+Williams

[Rascus]

I've meet Montel Williams and think he is a great guy. However I think if they spent more money on stem cell research instead of "legalizing" marijuana then they could find a cure for MS and every other spinal type of disease. Then they wouldn't need to legal a drug.

[sqrlnts]

Originally Posted by Rascus

I've meet Montel Williams and think he is a great guy. However I think if they spent more money on stem cell research instead of "legalizing" marijuana then they could find a cure for MS and every other spinal type of disease. Then they wouldn't need to legal a drug.

Thanks for your reply.Did you watch the video?
1. I believe the point is that it is already legal for 8 people.
2. It helps out with alot more than MS

[dbo]

stem research is great..but what does that do for the people that are suffering right now? i'm all for the weed...it should be legal...imo, alcohol is far more damaging than weed. and since it makes people feel great, why not legalize it, or atleast decriminalize. but i digress, in the very least, medical marijuana should be available...

[N-Ish]

Montel is a good guy.. although I think he should do something other then a daytalk show.. He could offer a lot more..anyways
I haven't watched the vid yet..(no soundcard @ work). but I agree with Rascus.. Stem Cell research looks very promising...but quite a few political / religious issues involved...which is limiting the science...

[Darkstar]

Originally Posted by dbo

stem research is great..but what does that do for the people that are suffering right now? i'm all for the weed...it should be legal...imo, alcohol is far more damaging than weed. and since it makes people feel great, why not legalize it, or atleast decriminalize. but i digress, in the very least, medical marijuana should be available...

+1. i dont even smoke weed. its a plant that grows in the dirt. its as natural as natural gets. why should it be illegal when alcohol is much more damaging.

i have a feeling this thread is gonna go in an intresting direction.

to stay on topic, good post. i think marijuana should be prescribed, at least. out here in cali it already is.

[TheSollyLama]

Agreed. Pot laws accomplish nothing of value. And cost billions to enforce that failed policy.
We should have learned from prohibition.
I've seen Montel on O'Reilly and he said "I break the law everyday."

Here's the dilema- severe chronic pain is treated with addictive painkillers like Oxycontin or, in my case, strait morphine. You're completely incapable of safely driving, and I even hate watching my kid when I'm in that kind of pain or drug induced stupor. The docs have to shuffle your meds because of reactions and simple addiction. You end up being miserable and depressed from pain, or feeling like crap from narcotics, or addicted like Rush Limbaugh.
OR-----you can get stoned, eat a twinkie and go to bed.

It's a strange mindset some folks have. Most think pot is so terrible but think the highly addictive narcotic is okay all because a doctor prescribed it. Docs will tell you that in these cases, the meds are like another illness along with whatever you're taking the meds for.
That's years of propaganda at work.

Then they point to smoke as a bad thing. You know what, the holes in my stomach from years of eating a handful of pills aren't exactly doing me any favors either. But they have a pill for that too now. And don't forget that drugs can react with each other. Oh that's fun....

And right there would be one way to reduce the costs of medication- give it cheap competition from pot! You'd see painkillers drop overnight in price. Talk about affordable- decriminalize pot and the price would plummet.

[jim schmidt]

The big question is "Why not make it legal?" After you wade through all the "gateway drug" nonsense, there is no reason not to.

[fzr1rider]

[N-Ish]

Originally Posted by jim schmidt

The big question is "Why not make it legal?" After you wade through all the "gateway drug" nonsense, there is no reason not to.

$$$$$$ that is my guess....anyone could grow it.. and the gov. wants to control it so it makes the $$

[Spike]

N-Ish is right, it's all about the fucking money. The govt is just going to wait until they can figure out a way to control every aspect of the sale of it, then they can tax the ever loving shit out of it. It's all about the money.

[TheSollyLama]

Money. Pure and simple.

Booze and cigarettes are difficult to manufacture. Most folks just can't make their own in any usable quantity. So the fed KNOWS it has a lock on the market and can make big money from taxing it. They know you'll have to buy it, and they can tax it to death.
With pot, anyone with a few seeds and a closet is pretty much self- sufficient. No need to buy it and hence, no way to tax it.

So right now the gov't gets a huge amount of money (lots of jobs, resources, etc) to fight pot, and there's no replacement for all that money by decriminalizing pot.

It's a matter of losing a heap of money. Sort of like getting rid of speeding laws. Not that it would have much impact on safety, but it's a HUGE source of income.

There is just no compelling reason for the gov't to drop it's ban on pot.

[jim schmidt]

It might be about money but if it is I'm guessing it's the pharmaceutical companies that oppose it. Sales of virtually every OTC pain reliever would slide overnight.

I'm pretty sure the government could regulate and tax it -- to great income -- without much trouble. Sure some would be grown at home, but who'd bother.

I'd be thinking about the products it would replace. Follow that money.

[sqrlnts]

N-Ish,
"$$$$$$ that is my guess....anyone could grow it.. and the gov. wants to control it so it makes the $$"

I think everyone is right on the money when talking about $ the gov would lose. Anyone seen Chris Rocks latest standup. He says something to the effect of "You know why pot and cocaine are illegal in the U.S. Its because the U.S. doesn't make the best pot and cocaine".

jim schmidt
"Sure some would be grown at home, but who'd bother."

I think you would be suprised my friend. From some boards I have been to its staggering the amount of pot grown in the States.

In my opinion med marijuana will never be available to the public. What I can't understand is why the gvmt. would open itself up to such a sore eye by providing it to 8 people currently. According to the vid its grown at the University of Missippi. What kind of implications does this carry for them?
Thanks for staying on subject and I value ALL your opinions.

[TheSollyLama]

I'm pretty sure the government could regulate and tax it -- to great income -- without much trouble.

--They can't control it now. A single closet and a couple grow lights and a trip to home depot for potting materials and you're a pot grower. No need to ever buy any from a source the gov't can tax.
The fact that the fed is powerless to stop even a small percentage of pot being circulated now means that they cannot control, regulate, or tax it effectively.
Being able to tax something means you have a virtual monopoly on it. Obviously, the gov't wouldn't have a monopoly on it with all the competition they already have.

Sure some would be grown at home, but who'd bother

--The same people that already do. And they already supply alot of folks. And frankly, I'd trust the local dealer to provide a better product cheaper than the