Sunday’s column: One man’s crusade for legal relief
When Attorney General Eric Holder announced in March that the federal government would stop prosecuting medical-marijuana cases, Elliston resident Michael Krawitz cheered.
Krawitz did it again when Holder renewed that pledge in a written directive in October.
He cheered again this month, when the American Medical Association reversed its longstanding opposition to expanded research into marijuana as a treatment for pain, glaucoma, HIV wasting syndrome and certain other maladies.
Krawitz, 47, is a disabled American veteran. He’s disabled as a result of a bad motorcycle crash he had in Guam while stationed there by the U.S. Air Force.
He also is a Virginia medical marijuana activist.
Comment below! Should Virginia expand it’s medical marijuana law?
November 29, 2009 - 9:32 AM
“An unjust law is no law at all” St. Augustine
The current laws only force people to purchase high priced drugs like Marinol from Big Pharma and deny them the ability grow it at home for free.
Never understood the problem with medical marijuana..I mean opiates are readily available for perscription but not marijuana..makes no sense
Who ever heard of smoking medicine?
Tony
Consider the USS Nimitz Crash Flight deck crash in 1981 were a pilot of a Prowler jet body tested positive for Marijuana usage.
In which the Navy determined that a combination of “environmental, mechanical and human factors” caused the crash of the Prowler, and recommended a zealous anti drug program that became known as “zero tolerance.
Like any drug, abuse is always a major concern. So be that is it may most individuals that want medical marijuana approve is the recreational user, so they can escape into “Rabbit Hole with Alice”.
As one who spent his teen years in the 1950s and early 1960s, I observed the changing definition of the word joint. In the 50s it was a bad place to be. In the 60s it became something altogether different. Perhaps I am becoming more relaxed in my advanced years, but I believe that medicinal marijuana should be legal. I’m not unconvinced that it shouldn’t be legal and regulated much like alcohol and cigarettes. There is obviously a big market for it in the U.S. Tax it and use the receipts to help pay for medical care. I know my position is a controversial one and it’s taken me a long time to get where I am. I hope those who disagree will not be too hard on this old guy.
In addition USS Nimitz Flight deck crash:
the 3 marines on board the Prowler, 11 sailors had died and 48 were injured; 21 of the most critical were evacuated to Naval Air Station Jacksonville. Four of the most severely burned men went on to the burn unit at Brooke Army Medical Center at San Antonio, Texas.
The fire destroyed three Tomcats as well as the Prowler, and damaged two Tomcats, nine Corsair IIs, one Intruder, three Vikings and one Sea King.
every time I hear this argument about Medical Marijuana I can come up with 83 reasons to say no….
Much like the gun rights advocates trot out the “statistics” to prove how low the crime rate is for CCP and legal gun owners, I do not know of any criminal statistics for those who use medical marijuana and to compare the casual irresponsible user who causes a catastrophe to a medical patient in pain is just not fair.
Well said Ron, I’m with you!
Umm, Static. Just because the pilot tested positive for Marijuana, doesn’t mean that he was under its influence at the time of the crash. As anyone who works for an employer who requires drug tests knows, you will test positive for Marijuana for quite some time after any usage, IE he may have been dog drunk on “legal” alcohol more recently than he was high on pot. Perhaps a hanover contributed to the crash, something that you do not experience the next day with pot.
Given that marijuana residue is detectable for two to four weeks after use, the Nimitz example is a stretch. I doubt seriously that the pilot was toking up in the air. But hey, any old excuse to keep it illegal will do. Right?
Got any staistics on all the other drugs that have been perscribed.I mean oxycotin..uh Anti depression pills .where they hung themselves……sleeping pill deaths…cmon man…..get real.You need to roll one up and get educated.i mean compared to medical marijuana and other drugs,,,,,,,,theres a million reasons to say no..to other drugs.weak argument static
Static Lines-
What does recreational abuse have to do with the medicinal value of a drug? Should morphine be banned from medical use because some people get hooked on it (or other pain killers)? Anyone who flies should be sober regardless of what drug they are being prescribed. I don’t think that pilot was using it for medicinal purposes, and if he was, he wouldn’t have been allowed to fly had it been legal. Have you noticed a wave of catastrophe in the medical marijuana states? Users running forklifts into preschools? Airliners falling out of the sky? Cats and dogs living together?
Dan
The pilot was under the influence of Marijuana at the time of the crash as well as the co-pilot and I’m sorry to say several members involved in the handling of flight deck operations. After joining the navy in 1982 I would say “zero tolerance” didn’t take place until 1984 when they finally had enough of the pot heads.
Hell I seen 1st class Petty Officers on locker inspection during that time with more marijuana and pills that would make you think drug cartel’s was a ship-board department.
Prior to him taking off from the carrier another pilot saw him smoking marijuana and it was also believed that he regular smoked weed while in flight. I wasn’t in the Navy in 1981, but in 1982 it was rampant and the Military didn’t really start taking a very strong stance about until 1984 depending on your rank. E1′s to E4′s Dishonorable Discharge for drug use. E5′s to E6′s they could receive a reduction in rate 30 to 45 days restriction to the ship and sent to a 30 day drug treatment program to help them.
Even one of the 1st class petty officer in my division was reduced in rank to from E-6 to E-1 and just being in the Navy for 1 year I became his supervisor in 4 men work details.
Jason
Last year and this year pilots reported to work drunk and hi or have you forgotten Pilot Ervin Vermont Washington was taken off his plane because employees reported seeing him drinking minutes before he was to take flight. Just this year alone 4 pilots on commercial airlines were removed from flights due to being under the influence of drugs or alcohol to say these are the only ones it would be naive in nature.
Even Generation couldn’t say it’s wide spread but they are aggressively investigating the problem. That translate it’s much more going on than we realize, consider pilot error. What’s Pilot Error and it’s causes?
Heard that crap before.. short for drunk as hell in some cases!
Let’s be real now should all drugs be banned no. There are some strict guidelines to the purchase and use of drugs and especially to aid those in pain from toothaches to cancer and under proper supervision abuse can be kept low…
Tony
Far as weak excuse and the throw backs of times gone by of the Hollywood sect, if death is a weak excuse especially an unintentional death isn’t sobering enough like Micheal Jackson how about, Elvis Presley 42 Died of a lethal cocktail of ten percribed drugs: Morphine, demerol, chloropheniramine, antihistamine, placidyl, vailum, codine, opiates, ethinamate, Quaaludes, barbiturates.,
Robert Pastorelli, Darrell Porter, Bryan Ottoson, Brent Mydland, Gerald Levert, Rick James, Steven Ronald “Stevo” Jensen and other poor souls.
The fact is drug abuse will be around for a long time look at Rush Limbaugh he kicked his daily dose of pills habit. And eventually everyone will follow the California crowd.
I guess we just hope for the best if a police officer is strung out on weed on a disturbance call. Man I can only imagine that train of thought.
Be that as it may, we will follow the California Standard and it will be marijuana for everyone from those that grow it it their homes and share it with their friends like giving someone 2 Tylenol pills or will it be teenage high school student prescribed marijuana for migraines, that will let their friend take a puff because of a stubbed toe pain.
People are already sharing drugs why stop now. Marijuana will be no different abuse is abuse no matter the form.
A pilot was pulled from the cockpit after co-worker notified authorities. For more go to: http://www.mefeedia.com/news/25476611
or youtube Bottle to Throttle: Was Pilot Flying Drunk?
4,300 pilots had to go through a alcohol drug program to overcome that dependency. So how many of those pilots may have been flying high on Marijuana? How many will not admit they have a problem that didn’t take the training?
Good lord Static…it’s a big difference between advocating marijuana for the treatment of chronic illness, and saying it’s ok if PILOTS use it. What the heck does that Nimitz story have to do with Dan’s piece?
Kristen
“What the heck does that Nimitz story have to do with Dan’s piece?”
About as much as Reefer Madness has to do with actual Marijuana use probably.
I agree that the Navy has legitimate concerns about its members using marijuana. Also the rest of the Armed Forces, like those Air Force personnel in bunkers in 1980, holding keys to nuclear missiles, should not have been allowed to use any mind altering substance including marijuana and alcohol. But that has nothing to do with allowing someone undergoing chemo to use marijuana to improve their appetite.
Static-
Your reply answered none of my points. Use and abuse are not the same thing, and prescribing marijuana for medical use won’t change a thing. People who currently are prescribed powerful pain killers aren’t allowed to drive (or fly) while under their influence. If they do, they are breaking the law and abusing the drug. The same would be true of marijuana.
Static,
There are laws against operating autos, commercial vehicles, forklifts, etc while under the influence of any substance that can reduce reaction time and reasoning skills. The pilots in your inane example broke rules and/or laws. They did that of their own free will. If a cop shows up to a call “strung out on weed” (a statement that really shows your ignorance of the substance) he is breaking the law/rules and should lose his job. Last time I checked, alcohol is treated in the same manner. Are you in favor of reinstating prohibition? If not, you need to re-examine your argument.
Static Lines,
You do realize that the Armed Forces give DEXEDRINE (speed) to their pilots to allow them to continue to fly missions twenty four hours a day. There was an instance when a pilot hallucinated and shot at Canadian Forces, thinking he was being fired upon. I think it was during the first Gulf War, but I may be mistaken. Regardless, your linking medical marijuana to these instances is a bit overboard (no pun intended), don’t you think?
Oh Static Lines, allowing marijuana for medical use and pilots flying while high aren’t even close to being the same thing. People aren’t allowed to drive cars high, either.
@3 “Who ever heard of smoking medicine?”
Now there’s one truly meaningless statement. There are any number of inhaled medications out there, including breathing treatments for folks with COPDs. And then people “shoot up” meds, just like those heroin users. Besides, you won’t find medical marijuana users dying from its effects. You do find tens of thousands or more dying every year from legal medications.
ALSO, on the armed forces front, I guarantee you pilots are flying hung over. While there’s zero tolerance for something like marijuana, the culture almost encourages heavy drinking (although not while flying, of course).
My take is largely similar to Ron’s. Legalize it, tax it, and treat it like anyone treats alcohol. It’s fine if you use it on your time off, but if you come in drunk or stones, chances are you’re going to be fired from your job for it. If you have a job driving or flying, or anything else related to public safety, have a zero tolerance rule in effect with mandatory and random testing to ensure compliance. If you want to toke up, you can find an employer who doesn’t test or perhaps become self-employed. I personally don’t see any problem with legalizing it for everyone, and thereby helping to reduce the illegal drug trade and associated crimes due to trafficking, distributing, and selling it now. That would take a bite out of a lot of gange activity, though I’m sure they’d move over to meth or other drugs to make up for it.
I fully believe that the tobacco and alcohol lobbies are responsible for the continued laws against marijuana use. They don’t want the competition.
There is no reasonable argument not to legalize it, tax it, and treat it like alcohol…unless you talk to a alcohol lobbyist.
I believe the tobacco companies are quite ready to grow, manufacture and market marijuana should it ever become widely legal, as opposed to merely legal for pain relief.
Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em…
Dan, they probably are…they’ve lost a lot of market potential with the decline in cigarette popularity here, though I hear they are selling quite well overseas, more than likely making up for the slow sales here.
I’m opposed to the abuse of any mind altering substance be it alcohol or marijuana. I do think it is somewhat hypocritical that one can purchase enough alcohol to literally kill oneself and it is illegal to purchase marijuana which to the best of my knowledge cannot be consumed to a toxic level. I agree the alcohol companies have a vested interest in keeping marijuana illegal. Did you ever consider that maybe keeping marijuana illegal has more to do with the effects the drug has on the user. Alcohol, in moderation, tends to be a social lubricant encouraging social intercourse. Marijuana, on the other hand has the opposite effect. It has been my experience with college roommates etc that were smoking pot that they simply wanted to be left alone to eat and watch TV. Folks consuming moderate amounts of alcohol wish to engage in social interaction.
Hey Dan
Will they ban it in Bars?
Howdyshell-
Even granting your hypothesis (which is hilariously wrong), the legality of any drug should not and does not have anything to do with what sort of social interaction they encourage or discourage (barring violent or illegal behavior of course). Marijuana was banned and continues to be illegal because of ignorance and fear, not because people think alcohol is social and weed isn’t.
And if you don’t think marijuana is a “social lubricant”, you’ve obviously never been to a rock concert.
Jason,
Pot affects different people in different ways. It never was never a social lubricant for me — more the opposite. Just made me feel dumb as a rock.
Dan-
Of course, the same is true for most drugs.
Well the one time in my life that I tried pot, it was certainly a “social lubricant” for me. It was a Waylon Jennings concert in 1976 and I had an absolute BLAST! Still a great memory 30 years later. I guess it is different for different folks and the amounts “consumed” just like alcohol. I was too big a prude to ever try it again, but I can say I would if it were legal because I suffer (and that is the word) with migraines on occasion. You cannot see the damage from alcohol (still legal) and not think us hypocrites for banning even medical marijuana. Not to mention the revenue and taxes from such a lucrative drug that so many use already. I say good luck and you got my vote.
It’s interesting to see the manner in which marijuana is becoming legal. It’s such a political hot tater that few politicians, at least in this neck of the woods, would be willing to sacrifice their career simply by stating it’s a completely hypocritical prohibition. Given the political impossibility of an outright legalization, proponents lean on the compassionate use of marijuana for chronic or terminal illness and use a large base of anecdotal medical evidence to justify their medical claims. In California, this approach has essentially legalized the drug in a manner that, so far, has prohibited the industrial cultivation of the plant and has not resulted in a revenue source from the State through taxation. With a note from your doctor, you can cultivate 100 square feet for personal consumption. Practically speaking, the medical community is the licensing agent for marijuana use and production(that’s weird). Other than that, there’s no government involvement and no taxation of the product.
I like this approach. Heck, I’d do the same for tobacco and alcohol. A substantial portion of tobacco addiction is the result of large scale tobacco production coupled with high volume processing and aggressive advertising. Throw in a nice addiction tax and the State has a financial interest in making sure people use the product. Those dynamics just don’t make sense to me. If people want to enjoy these things, I have no problem with that, but the State really shouldn’t be in the business of promoting their use, even if it does make a little money….on second though, especially if it brings in tax dollars.
Jason
Your probably right just a rambling thought