| Medical marijuana next state legislative topic |
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| Written by Will McWilliams - Argonaut | ||||
| Thursday, 02 October 2008 | ||||
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Adam Assenberg, a 48-year-old Colfax resident, currently uses medicinal marijuana to treat the pain he suffers from being a quadriplegic. Assenberg broke nine vertebrae in his back when he was working as a security guard for a mining company in Corona, Calif. While working the night shift he was beaten and thrown off a bridge by people trying to steal dynamite and fell 15 feet into a dry riverbed. He said he could not feel anything below his belly button when he tried to move. He was 25 when it happened, and he started using medicinal marijuana when he was 27. “I had tried using everything known to science, and a friend of mine saw me going into one of my major pain convulsions and he gave me a marijuana joint,” Assenberg said. “I tried it and it stopped the pain seizure, and it’s the only thing that has been known to stop them since.” Assenberg said the pharmaceutical pills he had been using prior to medical marijuana made him unable to eat often and also caused him to get sick. He said he thinks medical marijuana should be legalized in the state of Idaho. “If you’re on heart pills, do you have to leave your heart pills at home when you cross the border?” Assenberg said. “It’s the same thing with marijuana, if you’re using it as medicine then you should be able to go anywhere and use that medicine.” Assenberg said he would probably be dead if he didn’t have medical marijuana. He said in 2004 he was not able to use the drug because of his living conditions. That year he had 18 pain convulsions in a row and tried to commit suicide with a steak knife because he couldn’t stand it. “No one should have to suffer when there is something available that helps,” Assenberg said. Idaho State Representative Tom Trail, a Republican who represents Idaho’s sixth district, is working to ensure no one will have to suffer the way Assenberg has. Trail has written a bill that would allow patients to use medical marijuana as a treatment for their ailments and he plans to present it at the next legislative session. “Under a physician’s prescription, (to) those individuals who can only get relief from pain from medical marijuana the right would be granted,” Trail said. “It would be very tightly controlled.” Trail said “tightly controlled” distribution means individuals who are under a doctor’s care could get a prescription to legally purchase medical marijuana through a pharmacy. He said it would be a very limited amount they could utilize to alleviate their pain and suffering. “The restrictions are the amount… of grams according to the doctor’s prescription,” Trail said. Trail said he is still working out the elements of how the patients would be able to legally possess the medicinal drug. “I do know that in several states all of these individuals are registered and do have a card (saying they can legally possess the drug),” Trail said. “The prescription from the doctor is the official legal document that authorizes it.” Trail said the medical marijuana would be for those patients who suffer from severe injuries, such as being quadriplegic and having brain cancer. “Morphine has been normally prescribed, but with long use of morphine the effects wear off and also causes damages to the kidneys and other parts of the body,” Trail said. “It’s not doing any good, it’s not relieving the pain, and it’s also, in essence, killing them.” Trail said the only way patients can get through the pain is through the use of medical marijuana. He also said he has a number of doctors lined up who are willing to support this belief. Trail said because of the war on drugs the attitude of the majority of Americans is anything could potentially open the gateway to harder drugs such as methamphetamine and heroine. “The 14 states that have medical marijuana legalized have been able to keep it very well under control and it has not been the opening to the gateway to harder drugs,” Trail said. He said he thinks the biggest opposition will come from certain medical doctors and law enforcement. Trail said they seem to think it will be opening Pandora’s Box. The bill has not been discussed much at the legislative level and it will soon come up in discussion. Judy Brown, a self-employed economic consultant, is running against Trail for Seat A in the Idaho House of Representatives. She said medical marijuana is an issue that is stagnant in the Idaho Legislature because it is so conservative. “While I think the idea of legalizing medical marijuana has some merits medically, it is an issue that is not going to go anywhere in the Idaho Legislature,” Brown said. “Tom Trail voted for and supports the leadership in the legislature so to me it looks like election season grand-standing.” Brown said Trail can’t just float the idea in and see it pass. She said that she is not opposed to the idea, but careful work must be put into the legislation. “It’s not going to pass in the state of Idaho,” Brown said. “The coming session is going to be dominated by what’s going on in the economy and how we’re going to manage a recession and protect our public schools and universities during some pretty tough economic times.” Brown said if the legalization of medical marijuana in the state of Idaho is not done the right way, then it will do more harm than good. The next legislative session starts on January 12, 2009.  Add as favorites (10) | Views: 287
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