"How many murders, suicides, robberies, criminal assaults, holdups, burglaries and deeds of maniacal insanity it causes each year, especially among the young, can only be conjectured...No one knows, when he places a marijuana cigarette to his lips, whether he will become a joyous reveller in a musical heaven, a mad insensate, a calm philosopher, or a murderer..." Harry J. Anslinger Commissioner of the US Bureau of Narcotics 1930-1962

Kucinich to support medical marijuana
Ohio native first Democratic candidate to endorse legalization

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic candidate Dennis Kucinich said Thursday that if elected president, he would issue an executive order legalizing the use of medical marijuana "as an act of compassion and expression of humanity."

"If a doctor makes that determination or the patient asks for it, I think it ought to be permitted," Kucinich said in a telephone interview. "I've talked to too many people who have had family members suffering from terminal illness who feel it would provide them the most relief from pain and suffering."

Kucinich is the first Democratic candidate to say he supports legalizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes.

In a statement posted on his Web site last week, Kucinich said most Americans believe that the drug should be made available to help relieve the suffering of seriously ill patients.

Kucinich talked about his stance at campaign appearances this week in California, a state where voters have approved the use of marijuana for medical needs.

Northern California has been the setting for several high-profile federal raids on medical marijuana clinics in recent months.

The state's voters in 1996 approved a measure allowing medically related marijuana use, but the Justice Department has ruled that federal law, which states that marijuana is illegal, takes precedence.

"The Bush administration has harassed medical marijuana patients in an effort to assert federal authority. This is another aspect of the drug war that should be ended," Kucinich's Web site says.

Kucinich opposed medical marijuana laws in 1998 but later changed his position. His stance in the campaign is consistent with his support of other legislation.

He is one of 33 co-sponsors of a bill that would allow defendants accused of using marijuana for medical reasons to present evidence of their illness to juries.

"My office would be involved in not only overturning the law, but in facilitating the use of medical marijuana as an act of compassion and expression of humanity," Kucinich said.

Another Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, said Wednesday in San Francisco that as president, he would not change the existing law, but would set up a commission to study the drug's medical effects.

http://www.marionstar.com/news/stories/20030530/localnews/394101.html