“The examination room is a sanctuary…the war on drugs does not belong there.”
Richard Bayer, M.D., FACP
I have seen many patients benefit from the use of medical marijuana, before and after I was cochief petitioner of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, when it successfully passed in 1998.
I support Measure 91 because it doesn’t negatively impact the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program and can benefit many patients not covered or served by the medical law. Marijuana regulation is a better policy than marijuana prohibition.
Measure 91 does not impact the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act in any way.
Understandably, I am very protective of Oregon’s medical marijuana program and its patients and would not support anything that would do the medical program or its patients any harm. I can wholeheartedly support Measure 91 because it protects the program and our patients.
Medical marijuana laws are not enough for many patients.
Because of local bans, too many patients have to travel long distances to acquire medical marijuana or go without. Too many patients can’t afford to pay for a state registration fee and the doctor visits necessary to acquire a medical marijuana card. Low income patients shouldn’t be subjected to criminal laws because of poverty.
Additionally, there is still too much discrimination against medical marijuana patients and medical marijuana research. Measure 91 will put us on a path to end that discrimination and start the serious study of medical marijuana in Oregon.
Regulation works better than marijuana prohibition.
Just as Al Capone and other mobsters profited from alcohol prohibition, drug cartels profit from marijuana prohibition today, endangering too many people. Measure 91 brings marijuana out of an unregulated market into a regulated market with the right restrictions, and creates new tax revenue for drug treatment and drug prevention programs. We have had great success decreasing teen use of tobacco with regulation, taxation, and education and we can do the same with marijuana.
Richard Bayer, M.D., FACP
(This information furnished by Dr. Richard E Bayer, MD. FACP.)