![[Masthead]](http://www.lemarssentinel.com/images/nameplate.png)
RSS
Print
Email link
Respond to editor
Read comments (18)
Share link
Facebook
Twitter
del.icio.us
Digg
StumbleUpon
Technorati
Newsvine
Reddit
GoogleA bill that dealt with that was taken off the table Tuesday.
Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, who filed Senate File 293 last week, pulled the bill during a subcommittee meeting, the first step any bill must pass through.
"He realized there were some flaws to it and he wanted to relook at it," said Sen. Randy Feenstra. "He may come back with it next year."
One of the problems with Bolkcom's bill was that it stated a "practitioner could prescribe it and the person could grow it, distribute it, and use it," Feenstra said.
He said the word "practitioner" was ambiguous as it didn't identify whether that was a doctor or someone else.
"There were some big, gaping loopholes in this bill," Feenstra said.
Bolkcom did not return a call to the Daily Sentinel seeking information as to his initial support of the bill.
This year was not the first time a bill to legalize marijuana for medical purposes in Iowa came before legislators.
In the 1993 legislative session another such bill passed the Senate with a 50-0 vote, but was not picked up by the House, Feenstra said.
"That bill was substantially different than the one they talked about yesterday (Monday)," he said. "The difference was it needed to be FDA certified marijuana. It needed to be prescribed by a physician, and it had to go through the pharmacy."
Feenstra said the reason the Senate passed the bill in 1993 to legalize marijuana for medical purposes was because a federal study completed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clarified marijuana as a drug that could relieve pain.
The 1993 attempt was the last bill until this year, said Feenstra, who opposes legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.
"I'm just against it because I think we already have other drugs that doctors can prescribe," he said. "I don't think we need to prescribe marijuana at this point."
Bolkcom's now dead legislative bill focused on making marijuana a legal treatment for certain debilitating medical conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer and those that cause severe pain, severe nausea and certain seizures.
A search of the Internet revealed thousands of websites where advocates favor legalizing marijuana for medical purposes because research has indicated the drug does help with those conditions and many others.
Liz Kurth, a registered nurse and oncology certified nurse and oncology coordinator at Floyd Valley Hospital in Le Mars, said there are better drugs on the market today that are very effective in treating conditions like severe nausea in chemotherapy patients.
"In my opinion the drugs we have such as Zofran and Kytril, they do a wonderful job of controlling nausea," Kurth said. "I don't see great strides in using marijuana. I think it's almost going backward."
Kurth said has treated a couple patients who moved to Iowa from other states where they had used Marinol, the synthetic form of marijuana, to treat their nausea related to chemotherapy.
"They said it didn't really help for long-term use," Kurth said.
Others including Rep. Chuck Soderberg, of Le Mars, are also against legalizing marijuana for medical purposes for a variety of reasons.
Plymouth County Sheriff Mike Van Otterloo and Le Mars Police Chief Stu Dekkenga have similar views.
"It's going to get into the hands of people who don't need it," Van Otterloo said. "I think it would make it even easier for marijuana possession."
Dekkenga said legalizing marijuana would create a host of problems.
For example, it would be difficult to determine who would be eligible and who would be the source of that marijuana. Insurance companies would have to rewrite their insurance policies and new laws would have to be written, Dekkenga said.
"In a time in history where our society boasts we have a drug that will cure almost anything, where does smoking marijuana come into that?" Dekkenga asked. "I think it's a political thing. People have been self-medicating with marijuana for years. They just want to do it without getting caught."
Dekkenga said there are bigger issues in Iowa than legalizing marijuana to worry about like the economy and people losing their jobs.
"I wish our legislators would worry about the issues at hand instead of worrying about where people are going to get their pot," Dekkenga said. "I don't see the purpose of legalizing it."
Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Rhode Island and Washington have laws legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please
I am here to dispute everything this Nurse has to say. I am living, breathing,walking,talking,working,VOTING,typing PROOF medical marijuana works.
Any nurse I have ever met always supports me.
It is experts like her that keep me from medicine.
thank you freedom speaker.....
This following PSA is brought to you from Iowans 4 Medical Marijuana..check the KCCI Video as an added bonus..a new PROMO for 2009 is in the works.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ofEqvUQn...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS89h961E...
Of course the Sentinel asks the opinion of cops...as if we didn't already know their answer.
How about asking a Doctor or someone who has used it Medically or even recreationally(gasp)?
Best investigative reporting in all of Le Mars, Iowa from the Sentinel.
The definition of the word merciful escapes these two cops. Not one mention as to the pain and discomfort that is relieved of the poor people it is intended for.
They see the legalization of Medical Marijuana as a prelude to the legalization of all marijuana and thus a threat to themselves, their livelyhoods their AGENCY BUDGETS and most importantly their Police power.
Ask them if jaywalking should be legal...OMG the blood and the carnage that would fill our streets!
QUIT ASKING COPS we already know their answer.
Just think...empty the prisons, fewer cops, fewer lawyers, lower taxes, increased tax revenue if we tax it, less of a Police State and free up the courts all for a weed that makes people lazy AND comfortable if they are in pain.
It is a good thing for these two cops that compassion and IQ are not a requirement for modern day law enforcement. In fact I think it is frowned upon.
Gentlemen your DRUG WAR has gone on long enough and ruined way more peoples lives than it has helped.
It is easier for a young person to buy pot today than alcohol. Not so 20 years ago.
Your self-righteous arrogance disgusts me. God help you both.
Apparently Abe Lincoln agrees with me:
"Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded."
Abraham Lincoln (1809-65), U.S. President.
Speech, 18 Dec. 1840, to Illinois House of Representatives
RevRayGreen: ClearThinker AND Abraham Lincoln agree with you...and also some cops...
Check this link:
http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php
I think they have enough poison to put in peoples bodies they don't have to legalize mary jane just to please john q public
cannabis is not poison, cannabis is life.
Fight on Mike and Stu! Get this garbage and all other illegal drugs off our streets! I just wish that I could sign up to be an undercover informant to help bust those who deal it or buy it.
Well, my grandpa smoked pot to help ease the pain of bone cancer and at the same time he had the beginings stages of Alzheimer's. God bless California. He got down to 90 pounds because of the Chemo and then they gave him pot!
He had the munchies within days and he was able to start gaining weight. He felt better. He looked better....And the pot didn't seem as addictive like oxycodone or morophine.
I for one DONT think that these law makers, cops, or medical staff should get to have an opinion, UNLESS THEY HAVE HAD A DISEASE LIKE CANCER RAVAGE THEIR BODIES!!!
You cannot make an educated statment untill you have lived it.
You just better hope you DO NOT live in IOWA!
-- Posted by MommyinIOWA on Mon, Mar 16, 2009, at 10:35 AM
I for one DONT think that these law makers, cops, or medical staff should get to have an opinion, UNLESS THEY HAVE HAD A DISEASE LIKE CANCER RAVAGE THEIR BODIES!!!
---------------
Yeah, medical staff know NOTHING about diseases and such do they? They shouldn't get to have an opinion? So if someone doesn't have the same belief system as you they shouldn't get to have an opinion? I know it's a Wikipedia reference, but "a tyrant is a single ruler...who places his or her own interests...over the best interests of the general population." I'd say that shoe fits here!
Last time I checked, It was the criminals that HAD ALL THE WEED....So much for the "best interest of the general population". So, why not let the LAW obiding citizens that have to deal with excruciating DAILY pain decide for themselves if it works for them....
Until you have walked a mile in my shoes, or have experienced the afore mentioned ailments, keep you BIG MOUTH SHUT!
"Last time I checked, It was the criminals that HAD ALL THE WEED..." LOL. Do you check for weed a lot? By that statement, your grandpa was a criminal. And don't kid yourself. I'd put a big bankroll on the table that there are PLENTY of people in this town WITHOUT criminal records who have a pretty good stash of WEED in their homes. This WEED you refer to is just a cop-out. There are legal drugs that will do the same thing. It's just a cheap excuse to get high, and a lame excuse at that! You just go ahead and check around for your weed. Mike and Stu will find you soon enough so you can become one of those criminals that has all the weed.
I think it's entirely appropriate that law enforcement provide their opinion regarding any legalization of marijuana since they are the ones that often deal with the collateral damage and aftermath of illegal drug use.
I would show drug offenders much less mercy than these officers likely would.
Why don't we legalize cocaine and heroin also? They both come from plants so they must be good for you, right?!?!
Medical marijuana is a cop out. In this day and age there are a multitude of perscription medications to more effectively and safely treat illness.
If you look long enough and hard enough you can always find a handful of crackpots in any profession who will back your pothead point of view. The vast majority in law enforcement and the medical field don't support the legalization of marijuana.
At least we live in the midwest where the rule of law generally holds true and common sense is the norm and not the exception.
If you want to smoke dope then move to the "left coast". Any legalization of marijuana is another foothold lost on the slippery slope of societies moral decay.
When I read some of the veiws on this blog I am deeply troubled for the future of this great country. I am again shown that there are weak minded individuals in society who aren't smart enough or strong enough to always make intelligent decisions. The rest of us have to make and enforce laws to save them from themselves.
I am no pillar of morality and I don't condemn everyone who has ever smoked a joint but I do see it as a weakness of character.
Many of us have lost family and friends to cancer and to suggest they should have smoked dope is insulting.
Stoned, stupid, and lazy is no way to go through life "dude".
Whiners....
He lived in SoCal where it is LEGAL...Thanks
Fighting the tide....
I didn't suggest you get off of your moral high horse...And I am from the "left coast". And Damn proud of it.
I would hate to be considered one of the mid west bible beaters that think they are above the rest of society. All I am saying is that the drugs they prescribed for my grandfather did NOT work for him. Canibis most certainly did...so, if I or one of my daughters could find no relief through conventional drugs, I would have no problems smoking weed.
If you do, thats your choice.
And they do prescribe heroine....Its called MORAPHINE......MORON
Its "legal" with a script and so is weed in 13 states...
Before I get called a POTHEAD...I would like to clarify something...I am not a drug user...well ok...Blood Pressure medicine. Other than my Blood Pressure medicine I am a responsible married tax paying parent. That said...here we go!
What is the BIG deal about Medical Marijuana? If it eases the pain of one ill person and makes them more comfortable, it should be legal for a Doctor to prescribe it..shouldn't it? Who cares what cops think?
To Fighting the Tide: Maybe your Family and Friends with cancer WERE smoking pot to ease the pain but afraid YOU would BUST them or turn them in if you knew.
"Dude" we already know a COPS answer to any question...If it is to repeal ANY law except a law limiting Police Power...the answer is NO. PROVE ME WRONG.
Fighting the Tide says: "I am again shown that there are weak minded individuals in society who aren't smart enough or strong enough to always make intelligent decisions. The rest of us have to make and enforce laws to save them from themselves."
"Dude"..Maybe you can save each of us and help decide what to wear every morning(Is my skirt too short? No wait Cops like that. Ask the CITIZENS of Creston.),....then maybe what to have for breakfast (because I might eat bacon and eggs) then maybe what kind of vehicle to drive (I like gas guzzlers)...and so on and so on and so on..
Talk about Self-Righteous and Arrogant!
Worry about yourself, because I sure don't. Well.. maybe I should start because nobody really watches the cops. Obviously.
You have proven my earlier statement true, "compassion and IQ are not a requirement for todays law enforcement...I think it is frowned upon."
"Dude", your drug WAR has gone on long enough...It's just an excuse for Barney Fife to conduct surveillance, play Army Man, break down doors, hurt people, feel SELF-RIGHTEOUS and pat each other on the back!
IT IS EASIER TO GET DRUGS NOW THAN BEFORE YOUR DRUG WAR!
(The RevRayGreen obviously has no problem finding POT.)
Has anybody noticed that the more militarized and merciless cops get, the less public support they have?
They don't care if you don't RESPECT them as long as you FEAR them.
The public is getting tired of it boys..and I do mean boys.
Click on this link about Police raids:
http://www.cato.org/raidmap/
Back to making supper....
I am also a responsible, married, tax paying parent who worries about the message our kids are getting when it comes to any legalization of street drugs.
I knew I was going to catch some heat on this forum but seriously "ClearThinker" you better take some more blood pressure medicine before you fall over.
One huge flaw in your anti-police logic- Police don't make any laws. They are only directed to enforce them.
Right now there are no specific laws against stupid so sometimes people are on there own.
Public support for law enforcement is much needed and very much appreciated but the police aren't in the business of making friends.
If criminal drug users fear the police more than respect them then I think law enforcement is okay with that.
"MommyinIowa" I know full well that morphine and heroin are both derived from opium. However, one is a medically accepted treatment for severe pain and the other is a life ruining street drug. I will not refer to you as a moron as I hope you are simply misguided.
I stand firm on this issue and I make no apologies.
"ClearThinker" paints all law enforcement with the same broad brush then attacks others for being self righteous and arrogant?!?
Don't spill your bong water.......
Response by Angel Anderson:
Attention readers,
This story will no longer be available for comments.
Thank you