Lit_Match

Law Enforcement Condemns Medical Marijuana Measure.
10-21-06|keloland.com
Election day will determine the fate of legalizing medical marijuana for patients in South Dakota with chronic pain. On Friday, the White House sent its deputy drug czar to Sioux Falls to ask voters to vote "no."

Deputy Drug Czar Scott Burns joined state and local officials to get their message out, that legalizing medical marijuana will make it too easy for anyone to get and hard for law enforcement to monitor.

But those who support the ballot measure say the officials are just trying to scare voters.

Burns says if South Dakota legalizes medical marijuana, it will become much easier for kids to steal from their parents who use it legally, much like stealing beer from their parent's fridge.

"How can anyone think that making more drugs and more marijuana available to young people is a good thing?" he asks.

But Valerie Hannah, who smokes pot to help ease chronic pain says it's far less dangerous than other prescription drugs like Oxycontin, which kids could steal just as easily.

"They're trying to put scare and fear into people and put marijuana in a league with drugs it doesn't belong with," she says.

Burns calls the ballot measure a "con." And law enforcement officials say its language is too vague, making it nothing more than a drug legalization bill.

"This is not a medicinal marijuana," says Minnehaha County State's Attorney Dave Nelson. "This is an opportunity for people who are drug abusers and marijuana abusers to find a more ready source for their drug."

Hannah says because a doctor's recommendation is needed, only the very sick and suffering will get it. And for those who want to abuse it, they'd still have an easier time getting the pot from a drug dealer.

"I think they're giving too much glamour to it," Hannah says. "And I think they're really trying to scare the public into not thinking for themselves."

There are 11 states with legalized medical marijuana. The South Dakota ballot measure is based on Montana's law, which 66-percent of voters there approved two years ago.

Read the measure for youself here. And you can read more about the opposing arguments here.

dredpiratrobert

"Burns says if South Dakota legalizes medical marijuana, it will become much easier for kids to steal from their parents who use it legally, much like stealing beer from their parent's fridge."

If this is true, why not prohibit the use of beer? Statistics do not lie; 180,000 vehicle accident fatalities per year are alcohol related.... YES, one-hundred eighty-thousand deaths from alcohol... including many minors who got the drink from an elder one way or another.

Burns takes the citizens of SouthDakota for a bunch of retards!

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dedbr

I read the whole law, and damn if they haven't done a good job with this one. It's still a little vague on the "Where we gonna get it at?" part, but basically a good law, well written.

I really liked this part the best. It seemed to spell out the possesion part of it quite clearly......

They are going to issue state I.D. cards and the state is going to pay for them, and you can have twelve plants, and one ounce, dry.........

Really a nice, clear law for once. It's going to be hard to find fault with this one. It could be used as a model as far as wording for the rest of the states as they follow along with their medical marijuana laws.


Some Where In Ded Land......

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420godfather

...I read it too ded. , It's actually a pretty easy read and I agree with all of it except the age of the caregiver. If I recall, it was in section 1 and stated that the caregiver had to be at least 18 yrs. of age. IMO, it should be 21 yrs. of age . Other than that, I hope South Dakota passes it.
...I also went to the opposing arguments link and it's just more of the same bullshit reasons that they have been screaming about for yrs., which really did'nt surprise me.

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TehUberGeeK

My parents would have noticed if their beer/cigarettes started going missing. Thankfully there were people readability available to sell me marijuana at school.


/doesn't drink or use cigarettes.