Proposition 420

Section 1: Medicinal Cannabis

"If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny."

~ Thomas Jefferson

The use of Cannabis as a medicine of choice should not be prohibited or restricted in any fashion through Federally based controls. Being that Cannabis is a naturally occuring substance and that the active chemicals therein are historically confirmed through millennia of recorded use with no known social or health detriments, the use of Cannabis as a medicine of choice should not be restricted through Government force or coercion. No industry has the right, in a free society, to dictate the parameters of personal health care choices to ensure their own monopoly on such options. The use of Cannabis as a personal choice in pain management or other beneficial role should not be restricted for the benefit of a financial monopoly for limited Corporate concerns.

"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat."

~ Genesis 1:29

There are multiple methods for consuming Cannabis, the most familiar being the smoking of the flowered bud or the leaf. Various methods of burning Cannabis, from the ancient Sythian method described by Herodotus to the ubiquitous 'joint' or 'marijuana cigarette', a simple pipe to a water filtered device known as either a 'hookah' or a 'bong' exist. Some methods, such as the water filtered 'bong' or through a smokeless vaporizer, eliminate potentially conroversial elements associated with inhaling smoke directly. The use of Cannabis in food, primarily through butter made with Cannabis and thereafter backed into confections such as cookies or brownies provide a safe method of consumption without any controversy insofar as inhaling smoke is concerned. Cannabis may also be brewed as a 'tea', one free from the addictive effects of caffeine found in other brewed plants such as tea or coffee. Another method involves the creation of a balm or a salve through the use of oil created from Cannabis seeds. All methods of traditional use of Cannabis as a medicine are free of any lethal or addictive qualities, nor are there any substantiated or verifiable negative effects associated with any of the mentioned methods of consumption.

Being that Cannabis is a naturally occuring substance and that the potency of the medicinal elements therein are subject to both growing conditions as well as the individual quality of the plant grown, it is impossible to control or regulate the dosage amounts of any given incidence of Cannabis consumption for medicinal reasons. Being that there has never been, in the recorded history of humanity, an incident of death or illness associated with the consumption of Cannabis, there is no valid reason to, in a free soicety, limit or restrict the use or method of use of natural Cannabis. Thus the method of consumption and use of Cannabis should be left to the personal choice of the individual seeking its benefits based upon their own personal choice of consumption as well as personal experience as sought benefits require.

"Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself; and where they are, they should be changed. Nowhere is this clearer than in the laws against possession of marihuana in private for personal use...Therefore, I support legislation amending Federal law to eliminate all Federal criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce (28g) of marijuana."

~ Jimmy Carter, Message to Congress 1977

To allow for a set amount of Cannabis to be either cultivated or possessed by the private citizen for personal medicinal use at an amount allowing for lack of ambulation and/or ease of ability to acquire without facing recriminations for possession with intent to sell. Recommended amounts would be roughly one half of a pound or up to a half dozen live plants per adult individual to be allowed within a private residence. Statements as to recommended amounts here made are arbitrary and not based upon anything more than the generosity of the Author. The reasons for any limits would be to both allow an adult Citizen the aility to keep on hand a sufficient amount of Cannabis medicine in its natural form without the worry of diminished personal supplies wherein potential lack of ambulation or financial restraints would prevent procurement of Cannabis. Any upper limits placed would be set to discourage private individuals from engaging in commerce with Cannabis as a commodity without a recognized license to do so, thus depriveing the State and federal governments of potential tax-revenue to be associated with the purchase and sale of Cannabis.

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