The Senate has passed a 'Medical Marijuana' bill that will help alleviate suffering of terminally ill patients in New Mexico. Governor Richardson supports the bill and hopefully it will pass the House and be sent up for his signature. This is a long running fight whose time may have come for resolution. It is sad to realize that this issue of human suffering had less visible support than the ban on cockfighting. (Pass the drumsticks please.)A state legislator, a Republican senator said the bill shouldn't be passed because there are still federal laws against the use of marijuana as a medicine. He said that the Congress should pass such a law before New Mexico does it on its own. In other words let the suffering continue.
At the same time the Catron County Commission has decided to make it their own business to
kill endangered Mexican Gray Wolves in their county if the Fish and Wildlife Service won't do it on a timetable acceptable to the Rancher/Commissioners. I think the Federal Endangered Species Act might take precedence here. Will that same Republican senator in Santa Fe agree to that? I am not saying that all wolves can be saved if they are truly endangering humans, but I feel Public Land Ranchers/Commissioners should not be making those decisions.
2 comments:
I'm not sure how the medical marijuana bill can work alongside the Supreme Court's decision in Gonzales v. Raich, 123 S. Ct. 2195 (2005). That Commerce Clause and Necessary and Proper clause make a pretty mean 1-2 combo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzales_v._Raich
The issue of cockfighting is important to the citizens of New Mexico. Who are we as a society if we cannot protect the meekest and the weakest - the children exposed to this horrible violence and the birds forced to participate? Med Marijuana is also extremely important, but who is to say that by bringing all of these issues to the forefront and getting them passed, won't raise the tide for all boats?
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