PA - Bill in State House Would Make Marijuana Legal

Bill in State House Would Make Marijuana Legal
Posted by CN Staff on May 04, 2009 at 04:43:05 PT
By Kent Jackson, Staff Writer
Source: Citizens' Voice

Pennsylvania -- Bill Waschko reached to the shelf of vintage medicine bottles at his familyâ??s century-old drug store in Hazleton and pulled down one labeled â??Cannabis.â?�

The powdered extract of marijuana was bottled by Eli Lilly and Co., but although the bottle is empty and the label has no date, marijuana was a legal drug around the country until 1937.

A bill in the state House of Representatives would make marijuana legal again for medical uses, emulating action already taken in 13 states and also proposed in New York and New Jersey.

The Pennsylvania bill, sponsored by Reps. Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston, and Mark Cohen, D-Philadelphia, would set up compassion centers for growing and distributing marijuana to patients who had registered identification cards.

Physicians would give written statements to patients whom they believe would benefit medically from using marijuana, but they would not write prescriptions, which could subject them to federal prosecution.

â??They would have a (marijuana) clinic like a methadone clinic,â?� suggested George Waschko, Billâ??s brother and the pharmacist at Waschkoâ??s Pharmacy.

George Waschko said the possible medical uses of marijuana include treating glaucoma and nausea caused by chemotherapy given to cancer patients.

The bill also lists marijuana as a treatment for wasting due to AIDS and for chronic pain, seizures and Crohnâ??s disease.

Tom Dougherty, a pharmacist at Valley Pharmacy in Sugarloaf, remembers marijuana was in the dispensary at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia while he was a student.

â??It sat there. We had to count it every month. We never used it,â?� Dougherty said.

Dougherty wonders whether there is a great medical need for marijuana or whether it would be â??an orphan drug where you have six patients who need it in Pennsylvania.â?�

The Medical Board of California, which in 1996 became the first state to re-legalize marijuana, issued a statement in 2004 calling medical marijuana an emerging treatment.

Ed Pane, director of Serento Gardens Alcoholism and Drug Services in Hazleton, supports the use of marijuana for medical purposes only and said numerous patients might benefit from it.

He said marijuana can reduce vomiting in chemotherapy patients, and treat migraines and the spasms of multiple sclerosis, â??which can be extremely painful.â?�

Three hundred thousand Americans have multiple sclerosis, and 1.25 million people are diagnosed yearly with cancer, Pane wrote in a paper this fall for a class he is taking while earning a masterâ??s degree.

Marijuana â??helps individuals to put on weight and handle food and cuts down on the need for pain medication by enhancing what the person is taking. It doesnâ??t make the medication stronger to the point of overdose, but makes it more effective,â?� Pane said in an interview Friday.

While 32,000 people die yearly from prescription medicines, including overdoses and allergic reactions, no one ever has died from an overdose of marijuana, he said.

States can make money by taxing medical marijuana and save the expenses of prosecuting patients who use marijuana, but Pane still wants Pennsylvania to prohibit abuse of the drug.

â??Street dealing under any guise needs to be illegal,â?� he said. â??From my standpoint, it breaks my heart when I see kids using it. Theyâ??re not going to grow up emotionally. It becomes a means of handling problems.â?�

Source: Citizens' Voice, The (Wilkes-Barre, PA)
Author: Kent Jackson, Staff Writer
Published: Monday, May 4, 2009
Copyright: 2009 The Citizens' Voice
Contact: [email protected]
Website: Wilkes-Barre news, sports, obituaries, and shopping | citizensvoice.com | The Citizens' Voice
URL: Bill in state House would make marijuana legal for medical use | News | citizensvoice.com | The Citizens' Voice

Medicinal Marijuana Worth a Look
Posted by CN Staff on May 04, 2009 at 05:03:11 PT
Editorial
Source: Daily Review

Pennsylvania -- State Rep. Mark Cohen identified the principle obstacle to passage of his bill to legalize medical marijuana, when he announced the effort last week.

The problem is broad public identification of the drug with its illegal use rather than with its potential as a legitimate therapeutic drug for people suffering from several types of cancer, Crohnâ??s disease, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma.

If marijuana wasnâ??t called marijuana, but was introduced anew as an inexpensive pain reliever or appetite stimulant that is effective under medical supervision and less addictive than many other prescription drugs, it easily would be included among the roster of regularly prescribed drugs.

Already, 13 other state governments donâ??t care that the drug is called marijuana; they have approved it for regulated medicinal use.

A great many Pennsylvanians share that view. Mr. Cohen cited an independent Franklin & Marshall College poll of the 2006 Senate race between Sen. Bob Casey and then-Sen. Rick Santorum, which asked about medical marijuana, among other issues.

It found that 76 percent favored state-regulated use of marijuana as prescribed medicine, while only 20 percent opposed it.

Mr. Cohenâ??s bill, unfortunately, was treated in Harrisburg as something of a curiosity, but it should be treated as serious medicine in behalf of patients who could benefit from its legitimate use.

New York and New Jersey also are considering regulated legal use of medicinal pot. Pennsylvania should approve it.

Source: Daily Review (PA)
Published: Monday, May 4, 2009
Copyright: 2009 The Daily Review
Contact: [email protected]
Website: Towanda, Pa. news, sports, obituaries, and shopping | thedailyreview.com - The Daily & Sunday Review
URL: Medicinal marijuana worth a look | Editorial | thedailyreview.com - The Daily & Sunday Review

To enlighten those who don't know Pennsylvania politics, don't expect this to pass anytime soon. The politicians haven't figured out how they and their cronies can make money off of medical marijuana. And when it does pass, if you aren't politically connected, good luck in opening a dispensary.

Another problem is the mythology surrounding marijuana. Getting rid of the stigma the myth has placed on marijuana is a major obstacle as long as politicans are allowed to continue to use it. Its like getting rid of the virgin birth myth, and its still active after 2000 years. :jointsmile:

Medical marijuana: Its time has come

by Ronald Fraser

Saturday May 09, 2009, 8:03 AM

Pennsylvania has not yet legalized medical marijuana use. At long last, policy makers in Washington have begun to draw a line between illicit drug use and the legitimate use of drugs as medicine.

In March, Eric Holder, President Obama's attorney general announced that the federal government will no longer prosecute medical marijuana clinics that operate in compliance with state laws.

This means lawmakers in Harrisburg are now free to decide -- without interference from Washington -- if marijuana will fill a medical niche in Pennsylvania.

Thirteen states have already removed criminal penalties for the use of medical marijuana and actively regulate how, with a medical doctor's recommendation, marijuana is made available for patients with cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, severe pain, glaucoma, epilepsy and other chronic conditions. But until now, Washington has disregarded these state laws. Since California legalized medical marijuana in 1996, for example, federal agents have raided more than 100 marijuana distribution centers there.

The first step has been taken with Washington's tacit acknowledgment that closing down state-regulated marijuana clinics is a misuse of taxpayers' money and harmful to Americans coping with serious illnesses.

Many thousands of ill people attest that smoking, vaporizing or orally ingesting marijuana relieves pain, nausea and other symptoms far more effectively than Marinol, a pharmaceutically available synthetic version of marijuana.

While the federal government still officially maintains -- contrary to solid medical evidence -- that marijuana has no medicinal value, at least it has pledged not to raid medical marijuana facilities that are sanctioned by state law.

According to the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington-based advocate for legalizing medical marijuana, only 14 states, including Pennsylvania, have never passed a law dealing with medical marijuana. Pennsylvania need not reinvent the wheel and can easily avoid pitfalls along the way.

A 2006 poll asked registered voters in Pennsylvania if they favored "allowing adults to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if a doctor recommends it." Sixty-one percent said they did favor the measure.

Washington's new medical marijuana policy gives Pennsylvania the freedom to exercise its historic role as the primary watchdog for the health and welfare of its citizens. Whether Pennsylvania patients will be given greater access to medical marijuana is now up to the state Legislature.

Marijuana is not the only targeted medical drug.

Ronald Fraser

In all 50 states, federal raids can still close down pain clinics and errant pain management physicians who prescribe large doses of opioids, highly effective, legal pain killers made from opium or synthetics with the properties of opiate narcotics.

Dr. Joel Hochman, director of the National Foundation for the Treatment of Pain in Houston, says the drug-war hysteria is making it too risky for many doctors to accept patients in chronic pain and that, with help from the media, federal raids on so called "pain mills" paint a false picture that the streets are awash in drugs carelessly handed out by unprincipled doctors.

Instead, he claims, these clinics provide last-resort care to largely uninsured or underinsured blue-collar and other limited-income workers, many with work-related injuries, who can only afford a five-minute visit at high volume, low-cost, low-profit clinics.

To stay in business these clinics must see 60 to 100 patients each day. With this level of traffic, doctors can make errors and patients can lie about their aliments -- making the clinics easy targets for federal agents. But since these clinics provide valuable medical services, Hochman says law enforcement policies are misdirected. His bottom line is: "Wake up America. The dope lords are making billions. The little pain clinics in the strip shopping centers sure aren't."

Here is a rare opportunity for elected officials in Pennsylvania and in Washington to take a long, hard look at how harsh drug laws are undermining medical care. For millions of people desperately coping with chronic aliments, let's not waste it.

RONALD FRASER, Ph.D., works for the DKT Liberty Project.

When the people are bombarded daily for drugs to get rid of nervous leg syndrome, erectile disfunction (if god wanted you to get it up, you wouldn't need a pill!), and other hypocondriac ailments, or subliminal suggestions that you might need their poison so ask your doctor who has plenty of free trials for you to take so he can supplement his income. And we wonder why we are a drug society, yet ban the harmless or minamally harmless ones. :jointsmile:

I'm not, and most cannabis people are not crazy, they are. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Galaxy

Medical marijuana: Its time has come

by Ronald Fraser

Saturday May 09, 2009, 8:03 AM

Pennsylvania has not yet legalized medical marijuana use. At long last, policy makers in Washington have begun to draw a line between illicit drug use and the legitimate use of drugs as medicine.

In March, Eric Holder, President Obama's attorney general announced that the federal government will no longer prosecute medical marijuana clinics that operate in compliance with state laws.

This means lawmakers in Harrisburg are now free to decide -- without interference from Washington -- if marijuana will fill a medical niche in Pennsylvania.

Thirteen states have already removed criminal penalties for the use of medical marijuana and actively regulate how, with a medical doctor's recommendation, marijuana is made available for patients with cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, severe pain, glaucoma, epilepsy and other chronic conditions. But until now, Washington has disregarded these state laws. Since California legalized medical marijuana in 1996, for example, federal agents have raided more than 100 marijuana distribution centers there.

The first step has been taken with Washington's tacit acknowledgment that closing down state-regulated marijuana clinics is a misuse of taxpayers' money and harmful to Americans coping with serious illnesses.

Many thousands of ill people attest that smoking, vaporizing or orally ingesting marijuana relieves pain, nausea and other symptoms far more effectively than Marinol, a pharmaceutically available synthetic version of marijuana.

While the federal government still officially maintains -- contrary to solid medical evidence -- that marijuana has no medicinal value, at least it has pledged not to raid medical marijuana facilities that are sanctioned by state law.

According to the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington-based advocate for legalizing medical marijuana, only 14 states, including Pennsylvania, have never passed a law dealing with medical marijuana. Pennsylvania need not reinvent the wheel and can easily avoid pitfalls along the way.

A 2006 poll asked registered voters in Pennsylvania if they favored "allowing adults to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if a doctor recommends it." Sixty-one percent said they did favor the measure.

Washington's new medical marijuana policy gives Pennsylvania the freedom to exercise its historic role as the primary watchdog for the health and welfare of its citizens. Whether Pennsylvania patients will be given greater access to medical marijuana is now up to the state Legislature.

Marijuana is not the only targeted medical drug.

Ronald Fraser

In all 50 states, federal raids can still close down pain clinics and errant pain management physicians who prescribe large doses of opioids, highly effective, legal pain killers made from opium or synthetics with the properties of opiate narcotics.

Dr. Joel Hochman, director of the National Foundation for the Treatment of Pain in Houston, says the drug-war hysteria is making it too risky for many doctors to accept patients in chronic pain and that, with help from the media, federal raids on so called "pain mills" paint a false picture that the streets are awash in drugs carelessly handed out by unprincipled doctors.

Instead, he claims, these clinics provide last-resort care to largely uninsured or underinsured blue-collar and other limited-income workers, many with work-related injuries, who can only afford a five-minute visit at high volume, low-cost, low-profit clinics.

To stay in business these clinics must see 60 to 100 patients each day. With this level of traffic, doctors can make errors and patients can lie about their aliments -- making the clinics easy targets for federal agents. But since these clinics provide valuable medical services, Hochman says law enforcement policies are misdirected. His bottom line is: "Wake up America. The dope lords are making billions. The little pain clinics in the strip shopping centers sure aren't."

Here is a rare opportunity for elected officials in Pennsylvania and in Washington to take a long, hard look at how harsh drug laws are undermining medical care. For millions of people desperately coping with chronic aliments, let's not waste it.

RONALD FRASER, Ph.D., works for the DKT Liberty Project.

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Hmmm does anyone else think Pennsylvania is going to be the next medical marijuana state?? It sure seems that way. I hope it passes because we need more MMJ support on the east coast!:hippy:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FourTwenty4Life

Hmmm does anyone else think Pennsylvania is going to be the next medical marijuana state?? It sure seems that way. I hope it passes because we need more MMJ support on the east coast!:hippy:

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Believe it or not, but back in the middle-late 70s, I thought we were going to get it first on the East Coast after PA gov. Shaffer said marijuana wasn't the demon it was being made into . Man, was that a pot dream!!!!!!! :jointsmile:

Legislation Seeks To Legalize MMJ in Pennsylvania
Posted by CN Staff on May 18, 2009 at 04:41:23 PT
By Larissa Theodore, Times Staff
Source: Beaver County Times

P.A. -- A Pennsylvania legislator has introduced a bill that would allow the sick and suffering to legally use small amounts of marijuana for medical purposes.

State Rep. Mark Cohen, D-Philadelphia, said he introduced the bill because it seemed, after talking to people, that marijuana had a legitimate use in easing the pain and suffering of patients diagnosed with life-threatening or painful illnesses. For Cohen, the sensitive issue also hits close to home. His father died four years ago with Crohnâ??s disease and glaucoma. Evidence has shown marijuana is helpful in treating both conditions, he said.

Medical marijuana was legally prescribed for many years in the United States until prohibition and there is now a stigma attached, Cohen said. He said itâ??s time to stop criminalizing people suffering from a painful disease or a treatment such as radiation or chemotherapy.

â??Today, tens of millions of people use marijuana. Making it illegal has clearly not stopped the flow of it. If anything, itâ??s increased it. Make it legal for those who can use it for legitimate medical purposes.â?�

Benjamin Wilhelm, president of Western Pennsylvania NORML, a Baden-based advocacy group that tries to spread awareness and educate the public about marijuana, said he wholeheartedly supports the bill. He says he has been in contact with people who say medical marijuana would take the edge off and help ease their condition. He said many prescription medications that people take donâ??t cure patient conditions.

â??The medication that they give you for those types of conditions can hold you back in a lot of the way you live your life,â?� Wilhelm said. â??Theyâ??re often a lot more dangerous and destructive to your body and your system than marijuana would be.â?�

For example, Dilaudid â?? prescribed to patients such as those with multiple sclerosis â?? is a narcotic pain-relieving drug with adverse side effects that can include withdrawal symptoms, respiratory depression, seizure and cardiac arrest, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Center Township Police Chief Barry Kramer, who is against decriminalization, said he believes legalizing marijuana for medical purposes will only introduce more users into society. He said alcohol use has increased since 1933, when prohibition was repealed, and is now the number one drug problem in the United States.

Kramer said the same can happen with marijuana. He said there will always be ways to circumvent the system to get the drug. For example, in California, where medical marijuana has been legal, Kramer said people who might not need it are finding ways to get prescriptions.

And with legalized usage come other issues, he said, such as dependency, crime, and introducing nonusers to the drug-user culture.

â??I think that these bills fail to see a lot of the peripheral effects of making something legal or decriminalizing.â?�

Whether or not marijuana is physically addictive has been disputed by advocates.

Cohen said there are 35,000 marijuana arrests in Pennsylvania each year, many of whom are people suffering from a painful condition. He believes if marijuana was legal for the sick, it would lose its appeal as a recreational drug.

â??Once passed, this would seriously protect patients who really need it from arrest,â?� Derek Rosenzweig, co-chairman of Philly NORML and an advocate for Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana. â??If theyâ??re within state law, the chances of them getting arrested are slim to none.â?�

Rosenzweig and Wilhelm are urging supporters to call or write to their legislators.

Cohen said the bill, which has six co-sponsors, needs 102 votes in the state House and 26 votes in the Senate to pass. The bill is currently in committee with the Health and Human Services.

â??I personally think Pennsylvania doesnâ??t have to wait and be the last state. We have shown we can recognize a good idea. We donâ??t have to wait until all 49 other states have done it,â?� Cohen said.

Local Legislators Skeptical

Sen. Elder Vogel Jr., R-47, New Sewickley Township, said he hasnâ??t had time to review all aspects of the bill and couldnâ??t comment one way or the other.

â??There are other things in Harrisburg that are more important right now than legalizing marijuana,â?� Vogel said.

Rep. Jim Christiana, R-15, Beaver, said he doesnâ??t think this is a political debate that state government should be involved in.

â??The FDA has not approved it, and thatâ??s the first step in legalizing it.â?�

Rep. Jim Marshall, R-14, Big Beaver, said unless he hears some overwhelming support from the district, he would likely vote against the bill.

â??My gut feeling would be that I would not support it. ... Iâ??ve heard that chemically, carcinogens in marijuana are the same that are in tobacco. Inhaling could cause lung cancer or other internal damage.â?�

A message left for Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Ambridge, was not returned.

Personal Experience

A former local woman agreed to speak with The Times about her use of marijuana as a treatment for Bipolar Type I disorder on condition of anonymity.

On some nights, she said, she is jolted awake by panic attacks and heart palpitations. A couple drags from a marijuana pipe and a prescription Xanax are usually enough to calm her nerves and allow her to get back to sleep.

Now in her 30s, the woman said marijuana has benefited her many times when prescription medication has failed. She has been prescribed Xanax since her late teens and says she is now addicted to it. She has been on a number of other medications over the years that she said didnâ??t work. Today, her medications include Lexapro and Geodon, used to treat anxiety and major depressive disorders, and Prilosec to combat stomach problems and nausea.

She said nothing works better than pot. It stops her nausea.

â??But they want me to take this addictive drug,â?� she said. â??If I lived in a state that allowed medical marijuana, I would be a candidate for it.â?�

She said marijuana has helped ease not only her anxiety, but also her horrible stomach problems. But itâ??s not something she would readily tell her doctors, she said.

â??I donâ??t want to be put in that (drug-abuser) category,â?� she said.

H.B. 1393

â?¢ Cohenâ??s H.B. 1393 would allow anyone with a â??debilitating medical condition,â?� including people with cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, HIV and AIDS, Crohnâ??s disease, severe nausea, muscle spasms or a condition for which treatment produces severe or chronic pain, to use small amounts of medicinal marijuana.

â?¢ The bill would bring Pennsylvania in line with 13 other states where prescription cannabis is legal. Neighboring New York and New Jersey, along with Illinois, Minnesota and New Hampshire, are considering similar bills.

â?¢ People in Pennsylvania under Cohenâ??s proposal would have to go through the normal process of being diagnosed with a written record and certification from a doctor. Patients would need to apply to the state Department of Health for an identification card.

â?¢ Once approved, patients would be allowed to purchase, grow or possess no more than six plants and have up to one ounce of marijuana in their personal stash at one time. Nonprofit â??compassion centers,â?� would legally sell the medical marijuana. All sales would be subject to Pennsylvaniaâ??s 6 percent sales tax, and buyers would have to pay an annual $50 state fee. Cohen said the bill would generate millions of dollars for Pennsylvania.

Source: Beaver County Times, The (PA)
Author: Larissa Theodore, Times Staff
Published: Sunday, May 17, 2009
Copyright: 2009 Beaver County Times
Contact: [email protected]
Website: Beaver County Times & Allegheny Times Online - Front
URL: Beaver County Times & Allegheny Times Online - News

The push for medical marijuana in Pennsylvania
May 26, 9:24 AM

Pennsylvania would be the 14th state to legalize medical marijuana if HB 1393 passes.

Pennsylvania State Representative Mark B. Cohen (D) introduced legislation late last month that would legalize medicinal marijuana in Pennsylvania. The bill, HB 1393, would allow doctors to legally prescribe marijuana to their patients. It also allows for the establishment of state-authorized "compassion centers" where medical marijuana patients can legally purchase marijuana as well as providing patients with a registry identification card that identifies them as legal medical marijuana users.

During a news conference discussing his introduction of the bill, Rep. Cohen spoke of medical marijuana's history. "When public hearings were held on making marijuana illegal by the federal government in the 1930s," he said, "the American Medical Association testified against it, pointing out the medical uses of marijuana. Prohibition has long since ended for alcohol. It is now time to end the prohibition of the medical use of marijuana.

"Once word came out that I was planning to introduce this legislation, I began receiving phone calls and letters from patients telling me how much legal medical marijuana would greatly alleviate their suffering," he added. "There are lots of people in every legislative district with cancer, wasting diseases, and HIV demanding we act to allow them to live their lives without pain. In listening to their stories, I know introducing this legislation is the right thing to do."

When asked to comment, Derek Rosenzweig of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws (Philly NORML) told the Examiner: "This bill is about giving patients the protection from arrest that they deserve. Some of them already illicitly obtain marijuana to use as medicine, sometimes also under an unofficial recommendation from their doctor. Many patients REFUSE to use cannabis, even though it could make their quality of life much better, BECAUSE it is illegal. HB 1393 will enable patients to get away from the black market situation, which can be stressful, inconsistent, expensive, and sometimes dangerous. Having compassion centers where qualified patients (with a valid card ID) can go and obtain their medicine will help immensely."

In March, Rosenzweig invited Rep. Cohen to attend a seminar with the Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New Jersey to discuss marijuana's benefits. "I do think that New Jersey's [recent medical marijuana] bill helped push ours along," Rosenzweig said.

California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996. Since then, 12 other states have passed bills protecting medical marijuana users. Although popular with the public, these laws remain controversial as they have long been in direct conflict with federal law that does not recognize marijuana's theraputic applications. Attorney General Eric S. Holder has pledged to stop raids on state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries, in keeping with President Obama's campaign promise to cease federal raids on dispensaries.

Pennsylvania is a state that sits in the back pocket of the DuPont family.
The very ones that helped make MJ illeagle!
PA will be one of the last ones to make it leagle...........if at all!
Drackonian laws suck!:jointsmile:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gatekeeper777

Pennsylvania is a state that sits in the back pocket of the DuPont family.
The very ones that helped make MJ illeagle!
PA will be one of the last ones to make it leagle...........if at all!
Drackonian laws suck!:jointsmile:

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Just a minor correction. The DuPonts used to run Delaware to a degree. They have lost their great influence except within the GOP in Delaware and primarily Chester County and Delaware County, Pennsylvania. ;)

As a side note, in the early 1800s when the DuPonts arrived on the Lower Brandywine, my ancestors had a woolen mill on the Lower Brandywine. They raised their own sheep, had a school for their workers, and a contract with the French Government to produce woolen broadcloth.

Well, as I said, the DuPonts arrived on the scene, and my ancestors mill caught fire. The mill was rebuilt, the broad cloth market crashed due to style changes, and the DuPonts established their power mill. My ancestors went on to make paper for a while then got out of the business later in the 1800s.

Moral of the story, you can't trust most DuPonts, and if you read Behind the Nylon Curtain , you would know that Pierre S DuPont I stole the gunpowder recipe from the French Government and just escaped France with his head still intact during the French Revolution and Napoleon was after his ass for sigining a death warrant against Napoleon. And the DuPont Company so polluted the Delaware River, they dare not dredge it because of all the toxic crap in the ribver bottom. :jointsmile:

State Rep. Mark Cohen, D-Phila., introduced legislation (H.B. 1393) at the end of April that would allow the use of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania.

Few subjects stimulate the heated discussion legalizing a drug vilified for decades as a gateway to further drug abuse can cause.

But Cohen is right to say the time has come to recognize a need to expand options for health care and help alleviate patient suffering.

Medical cannabis, (commonly referred to as â??Medical marijuanaâ?�), refers to the use of the cannabis plant as a physician-recommended drug.

Its use is legalized in Canada, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Israel, Finland and Portugal and in 14 U.S. states â?? Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

Pennsylvania joins four other states considering medical-marijuana bills â?? Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York.

One of the earlier difficulties facing legislatures attempting to legalize the use of marijuana to alleviate patient suffering has been the response of the federal government.

Under the administration of George W. Bush, federal agents raided California â??dispensariesâ?� selling medical cannabis, claiming the state had no right to pass the bill since marijuana was prohibited under federal law.

That has changed under the Barack Obama administration. In February, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the federal government would no longer raid medical-marijuana clubs that abide by state laws.

At the news conference announcing his legislation, Cohen noted that modern medical research has discovered marijuana is beneficial in treating or alleviating the pain or other symptoms associated with certain debilitating medical conditions. The other option for helping those with such illnesses is prescription painkillers.

But as Cohen said, â??Many of todayâ??s prescribed pain medications have severe side effects and reactions that can be so horrible some patients would rather have the pain. Many of todayâ??s pain medicines are strongly addictive, leaving people with terrible withdrawal difficulties.â?�

So addiction cannot be a reason to refuse patients medical cannabis because legal medical marijuana is not physically addictive for most people.

Cohen said a survey on his Web site â?? www.pahouse.com/Cohen â?? found 80 percent supported the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes. And there is good reason. Opposition to this bill seems to be based on fear and misinformation.

A woman dying from brain cancer two years ago was able to get marijuana in pill form to alleviate her suffering. The pharmaceutical company manufacturing that pain reliever charged her $200 for each pill.

Cohenâ??s bill remains in the House Health and Human Services Committee. It is a fair attempt, as he said, â??to create a new image for marijuana â?? one as a medicine that when prescribed by responsible doctors could help thousands of patients across this commonwealth.â?�

Cohen is not asking for marijuana to be sold to anyone who asks for it. He wants sick patients with a doctorâ??s prescription to be able to go to an approved facility and get something to relieve their pain â?? something that would benefit the patient, not the pharmaceutical company charging an outlandish fee for a single pill.