by Rachel Worthy

Created on: January 29, 2007   Last Updated: April 18, 2007

There is a long road ahead for those who advocate the use of medicinal marijuana for the chronically ill. Whether or not you believe that marijuana has extensive medicinal uses, the issue of states' rights versus federal intervention is a prong in the side of our rights as Americans.

In recent weeks, Rhode Island became the 11th state to join the ranks of Maine, Vermont, Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington to legalize marijuana. Rhode Island is the first state to do so after the June 6, 2005 Supreme Court Ruling which stated that patients who use the drug can be prosecuted under federal law.

Although authorities say they are unlikely to prosecute marijuana users, however critics of the Supreme Court ruling say there is no provision for users to buy marijuana legally, which forces patients with a physician's recommendation to use the drug to obtain it from the illegal street market.

Not only are states' rights undermined by the ruling, but patients who have been using marijuana to treat illnesses such as cancer and AIDS are now considered "criminals" in the eyes of the federal government.

Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri, who urged federal lawmakers to provide for the regulation of marijuana to medical patients, said he was unhappy with the House's decision against allowing patients with a state-issued ID card to grow 12 marijuana plants or to buy two and a half ounces of marijuana to relieve their symptoms.

"Users will be forced to purchase marijuana in the illegal street market, putting them at risk and complicating the difficult jobs that our law enforcement personnel must do every day," the governor said.

Should the federal government be allowed to waste taxpayer dollars arresting and prosecuting the sick and chronically ill for using a drug that is perfectly legal under state law? This is exactly what proponents of HR 2087, the "States' Rights to Medicinal Marijuana Act, which would reclassify marijuana under federal law to properly recognize its medical utility and enable physicians to legally prescribe it under controlled circumstances.
Hopefully Congress will be able to side with the people of the states who vote on whether or not they approve medicinal marijuana. Will the federal government decide to stay out of doctor's decisions of what is or is not safe medicine? This is the long road ahead I mentioned earlier.
Although 80 percent of Americans, including the American Nurses Association and the American Public Health

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