More on the Amendment

I now have the full text of the debate online. Parts of it are very much worth reading. All of Farr’s opening remarks were excellent. Rohrabacher had some nice points on states’ rights. Also speaking in favor were Paul, Woolsey, Pelosi, and Drug WarRant’s endorsement for the Democratic nomination Dennis Kucinich.
Oddly, since it’s often been referred to as the Hinchey amendment, Hinchey himself did not speak or vote. I assume he had a major conflict or illness.
The opponents mostly came up with the same tired old disproved arguments – that marijuana is dangerous because most people in treatment are there for marijuana (No, most people in treatment are there for marijuana because they’ve been forced there by law enforcement, not because of any actual danger.) – and, of course, the old “message to the children” argument. They also showed how much they were in the pocket of the pharmaceutical companies by their continual advertisements for Marinol.
Confirmed drug warrior Mark Souder submitted a bunch of letters that he solicited from die-hard drug warriors who need the status quo (and mostly lied to support their position).
And then he sunk to his lowest point yet. He used anecdotes of tragedies (that had absolutely nothing to do with medical marijuana) to get people to vote against the amendment.

Irma Perez, age 14, the late Irma Perez, was overdosing on Ecstasy. Her friends had heard that marijuana was medical, and instead of
getting her to a doctor, where they said she would have been saved,
they gave her marijuana on top of her Ecstasy and she died.

When we have silly debates like this, quite frankly, we bear
responsibility. Yesterday, in Ohio, six people died, including a family
of four, two adults and two children, when a young person on marijuana
and alcohol collided into a truck that hit two other vehicles and
killed six people.

This is just sick. First, in Ohio, as of today no official cause has been given in the crash in Ohio, and even this guy was at fault, and even if he was impaired, and even if it could somehow be traced back to his marijuana use and not his alcohol or valium use, what possible connection would that have with cancer patients in California?
Then there’s the Irma Perez case. This is one that has more to do with the fact that ecstasy is illegal so her friends were afraid to get help.
Here’s what happened:

According to several sources close to the investigation, Perez had a strong negative reaction April 23 after taking a blue pill presumed to be MDMA, known on the street as ecstasy. Toxicological tests are still pending to show whether the pill was contaminated with other substances.

Perez complained of feeling awful and said she felt like she was “going to die,” the sources said. In response, her friends gave her water and helped her take a bath.

She also was given ibuprofen and possibly marijuana, apparently because the friends knew that drug is sometimes used to treat cancer patients, sources said.

The two girls also contacted a 17-year-old boy who allegedly supplied them with the drug and asked him for advice, the sources said. He has since been arrested on the same charges as the two girls.

So Souder wants to keep harassing medical marijuana patients because some twit girls tried everything they could think of to avoid authorities who would arrest them. Oh yeah, they also tried Ibuprofen. Better make that illegal.
By the way, via Random Act of Kindness I learn of another voice that supported the amendment — Libertarian Presidential Candidate Michael Badnarik:

“That our congress consistently acts against the will of the people on this issue is certainly no surprise to me. That the Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment even needs to be offered indicates the disdain that our congress has for the Constitution. Individuals have the right to use whatever medication they see fit.”

That’s class.