Elected officials in Cottleville want Missouri to join the growing number of U.S. states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal use. The city’s Board of Aldermen unanimously approved a resolution last week urging state legislators to legalize medical marijuana for Missourians who have their doctor’s approval.
Following Columbia in 2004, this is the second Missouri municipality to voice support for protecting medical marijuana patients through local ordinance or resolution.
A 2005 nationwide Gallup poll reported that 78 percent of adults support making marijuana legally available for doctors to prescribe to reduce pain and suffering. In August of 2007, a Rasmussen Report poll of likely voters in the state of Missouri commissioned by Fox News in St. Louis indicated that 57 percent of Missouri voters support legalizing the use of medical marijuana.
National support for the physician supervised use of medical cannabis includes endorsements from the American Nurses Association, the American Public Health Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. And just last year the American College of Physicians, the second largest U.S. physicians group, endorsed medical marijuana.
When they have their doctors’ approval, patients should be able to use medical marijuana without fear of arrest and incarceration. They should also be able to rely on a safe supply of marijuana without having to resort to the dangerous and unreliable black market.
In March, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the federal government will no longer prosecute medical marijuana clinics that operate in compliance with state laws.
Missouri legislators should take note of this new policy and act to protect our most vulnerable of citizens, the sick and dying.
Kelly Maddy
President, Joplin NORML
Opinion
Voices: Legislators take note
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Our View: Victims should come first
Millions of dollars in donations have poured in from around the world since the May 22, 2011, tornado. Those donations represent money from lemonade stands, charity auctions, corporate gifts and celebrity checks, just to name a few. In fact, one year later donations continue to come to Joplin.
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Beth Meeker, guest columnist: Same-sex marriage battle a quest for equal rights
I would like to take a moment to reply to guest columnist Anson Burlingame’s, “The Marriage Debate” (Globe, May 13).
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Sunday Forum: 2012 graduation speakers key on tornado, mall school and president’s visit
Editor’s note: In addition to speeches by President Barack Obama and Gov. Jay Nixon, Joplin High School’s top students addressed graduates, faculty, parents and other guests packed into the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center on the Missouri Southern State University campus. Following are the text of those speeches.
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Geoff Caldwell, guest columnist: Pack mentality takes truth as a casualty
President Obama’s Joplin graduation speech Monday showed that while there’s the political “right,” there’s also a very active “rabid” political right.
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Your View: ‘Study’ can mean anything
A few evenings ago, I watched a television program on the science of marriage.
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Our View: Support for museum
How can you tell the story of Joplin without the accounts of its mining history?
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Our View: Finding middle ground
The G-8 summit held last week in Camp David ended as expected.
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Anson Burlingame, guest columnist: Class of 2012 upholds character, hope
My oldest granddaughter was part of the class of 2012 from Joplin High School, and I attended the ceremony on Monday night.
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Scott Charton, guest columnist: 'Deadline in Disaster' film a story about storytellers
Local newspapers are at their best when they help their communities confront, understand, endure and overcome shared challenges.
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Our View: Make voting easiser
This year’s ballot will not include a proposed constitutional amendment that photo identification be required at the polls in Missouri. Good.
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