A bill pending in the state legislature could make Massachusetts the 17th state in the country to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes.
View full sizeThis map highlights the varied stances each of the 50 states have taken on the issue of marijuana. (Map courtesy of NORML)BOSTON - A bill pending in the state legislature could make Massachusetts the 17th state in the country to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes.
If the legislation is passed, patients suffering from a range of illnesses such as HIV, AIDS, cancer, glaucoma or other degenerative diseases could, with their doctor's prescription, purchase marijuana to ease symptoms caused by the disease or its treatment.
Advocated have long argued that using marijuana, which doesn't have to be smoked for its effects to be felt, can help with nausea, seizures, muscle spasms, wasting syndrome, and severe pain without impairing the patient’s mental capacity the way prescription pain medication can.
To recommend marijuana to patients, doctors are encouraged to be registered with the Drug Enforcement Agency under the U.S. Department of Justice as doctors who prescribe controlled substances such as oxycodone must be, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.
At a public hearing the bill in Boston, supporters and opponents of the bill voiced their opinions as legislators on both sides of the issue listened.
Marcy Duda, a Ware resident, told WWLP's statehouse reporter that the professionals at the Yale University School of Medicine and Pathology believed that her marijuana use is what prevented her issue with brain aneurysms from becoming fatal.
People suffering from various levels of paralysis also spoke of their experiences with marijuana, citing its ability to relieve pain and spasms that other drugs couldn't touch.
Not everyone was in support of the legislation. Dr. Leonard Morse, the former public health commissioner of Worcester said he believed the legislation would send the wrong message to children.
“I think the liberalization of the use of marijuana may send a strong message especially to young people who experiment with it, and It is a gateway drug and it is addictive," Morse testified as the public hearing.
The bill is co-sponsored by sen. Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, who has explained that the Massachusetts medical marijuana bill isn't set up to be like the one in California, and will include a tightly-controlled system.
Among the 16 states that allow marijuana for medicinal use of approved patients are Maine, Vermont and Rhode Island.
Eric Wunderlich, a board member of the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance, previously told MassLive.com that his group specifically supports legalizing marijuana for medical use because of the relief it can provide patients.
“At the heart of the issue is the fundamental belief that patients should have access to this option through their doctor and they shouldn’t have to live in fear of the authorities kicking in their door and arresting them,” Wunderlich said. “There are different beliefs between legalizing it medically and completely, but it is all about not living in fear.”
The bill, which reportedly has a better chance than ever of passing, has been referred to the Joint Committee on Public Health.
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