Cancer changes lawmaker's (GOP) mind on drug (pot)

[Bushfire]

Illness leads Underheim to introduce bill for use of medical marijuana
By STEVEN WALTERS
[e-mail]
Posted: Jan. 1, 2004
Madison - After doctors removed his cancerous prostate, Gregg Underheim was frozen by uncertainty: Had the cancer spread? Would he need chemotherapy and, if so, would the treatment itself make him miserably ill?

Underheim, chairman of the Assembly's Health Committee and a Republican, began thinking of others who had waged brave and painful battles with cancer. Some, like his father, had lost the fight.

He also engaged in an internal debate about whether those suffering from cancer should be allowed to use marijuana for medicinal purposes, to cope with the pain of the cancer and the nausea often caused by the treatment.

That consideration alone was a major shift for a legislator who in the late 1990s was quoted in High Times magazine opposing the legalization of marijuana.

more...

http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/jan04/196912.asp

more GOP hypocrisy once (on edit) it hits home :evilgrin:

[Kazak]

1. Whoo!!!

Freedom is NORML.

[madfloridian]

2. Wonder if he voted yes on Medicare bill that cuts cancer drug payments?

Oncologists still don't know how they will be affected.

I would love to know if he voted to play God with the lives of seniors on Medicare.

:shrug:

[wryter2000]

3. I hate that!

"Abortion is murder,"...."Oops, I'm pregnant."
"Pot is bad,"...."Oops, I'm sick."
"Welfare is cheating,"..."Oops, my sister's husband left her with three small children."

Is there no compassion unless you, yourself, are suffering from something? Damned Repukes.

[bleedingheart]

4. I hate it as well...no compassion unless they experience

a problem themselves or are confronted with and issue...

and you left of...

"Homosexuals should not be allowed to marry..they are abominations"..."Ooops...my daughter is a lesbian in a five year relationship"...

[waywest]

7. Compassion is an ability to feel for another..

WITHOUT necessarily having to suffer one's self.

It really doesn't fit in with IGMFY. Compassionate conservative is an oxymoron. (sorry Rush)

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

9. exactly

It's only when it affects a Republican personally that he'll show any compassion - it seems they lack the normal ability to empathize with other people.

[RandomKoolzip]

5. They're such "rugged individuals" they don't see the need for

a safety net. And then they themselves fall off the wire....

[Ellen Forradalom]

6. Yep, it's classic Repuke thinking

Add: "My skills are sharp enough so I'll always have a good job...Oops, my occupation was just outsourced overseas."

[Sir Craig]

12. What about the all-time classic...

"I believe we should go to war in Vietnam and defeat the Communists...oops, my idiot son doesn't have the brains to get an academic deferment from the draft - I'd better start pulling some strings to get him a safe job in the Guard."

[w4rma]

8. They seem to lack the ability to empathize.

That said, this guy is right on target. Maybe, he'll start thinking about other policies that the left wing already understands and switch on those, too? Maybe this Republican has learned, from his experience, how to empathize?

[RandomKoolzip]

10. Lack of empathy and thinking in absolutes.

"Abortion is ALWAYS bad," etc. It's that whole B&W vs. nuance thing again. They only allow for nuances when there's too much grey area to ignore.

[Cocoa]

11. impeach Clinton!

oops, Henry Hyde...

oops, Bob Livingston...

[mdmc]

13. Dinner Party Conversion

A local C-D (Conservative Democrat) recently came out to support med Marijuana. NYS Assemblyman Pat Manning recently was the dinner guest of a cancer surviver. Mr. Manning had met people whom survived cancer, including family members, but they all had a hell of a time with chemo. He wondered why his host wasn't bragging about his victory over chemo.
When he asked his guest why he wasn't caviler about his victory over chemo, the host responded, "I smoked pot. I would be dead if I didn't."
This pissed Mr. Manning off. Why wasn't his loved ones allowed to use pot? Why was it illegal? He is now on board.

The conservatives will back liberty before the democrats. Clinton / Gore and the 2004 party should be ashamed of the platform that they run on.

Bring on the Greens! They are our only chance to oppose the GOP, after Kucinich loses the primary.

[KittyWampus]

14. I Would Actually Call This Legitimate "Evolution"

or growth... that is the way so many of us learn lessons and broaden our view.

Something happens to break up the faulty foundation upon which our worldview is standing... and we adjust accordingly.

Lack of empathy, black & white thinking and basing our actions on fear are very much products of our Reptilian Mind... the most primitive part of our brains. It's deeply wired and an IMPORTANT part of our make up.

So hopefully, this sort of thing helps people evolve and experience their Higher Brain Capacity.