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New Mexico Senate calls Feds on medical marijuana policy
This is worth reading.

The Bush administration got involved in New Mexico's medical marijuana issue Friday, sending a top drug-policy administrator to testify against SB158. 

But David W.  Murray, a special assistant to national drug czar John Walters, had little or no effect on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which gave the measure a do-pass with bipartisan support. 

And some senators said Murray's presentation was heavy-handed . 

Murray told the committee that marijuana is an addictive substance with very serious health consequences , has no proven medical value and can lead to "serious mental illness ," depression and suicide. 

He likened medical-marijuana proponents to "medicine shows, traveling charlatans and snake-oil salesmen" selling phony "tinctures, magical herbs and remedies." Murray said medical marijuana is an issue that has been brought forth not by the medical profession but by advocates of drug legalization. 

"They use emotion, they use suffering patients, they use anecdote," he said.  And in a statement that some committee members criticized, Murray added: "I regard much of that as cynical and manipulative."

Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen , took him to task for those words, pointing out that sponsors of crime legislation often bring victims of crimes to testify without being called "cynical and manipulative ."

"I don't know how you do it back East," Sanchez told Murray, "But this is the people's house.  Everybody has a right to be here just as much as you do.  When you said this to us, you showed us where you were really at.  I don't think you should go to a state and say such things about their people."

Some of the other New Mexico State Senators really lit into him too.

Hat tip to Drug War Rant.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Mon - January 30, 2006 at 04:22 AM  Tag


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