December 4th, 2009

Reports the Patriot-News:

Under a proposed bill, medical marijuana could be sold by the state Department of Health or a state-licensed compassion center. There was a time when talk in the state Capitol about legalizing marijuana would have drawn speculation about someone taking one toke too many at a Grateful Dead concert.

But a discussion among lawmakers Wednesday about a proposal to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes took on a far more serious tone.

Heart-wrenching stories about marijuana providing relief that prescription drugs didn’t and citations from studies backing up its medical benefits for those with debilitating conditions filled much of a 3½-hour House Health and Human Services Committee hearing.

Charles Rocha of Pittsburgh told of his mother’s long battle with cancer and how lighting up a marijuana cigarette brought her relief from the pain and nausea of chemotherapy. Yet, he said, she felt like a criminal using it.

Derek Rosenzweig, secretary of Philadelphia’s chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, told of his father, who suffers with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. He researched the condition and concluded that marijuana could improve his dad’s quality of life, but he can’t use it because it’s illegal.

A bill sponsored by Rep. Mark Cohen, D-Philadelphia, would have Pennsylvania join the 13 states that have enacted a medical marijuana law and several others, including New Jersey, that are considering one. But proponents say his proposal is far more restrictive than the others.

Find out more at the Patriot.