By KSPR News
A Springfield doctor plans
to open a medical marijuana clinic in Seattle, Wash. He and his
Springfield staff plan to set up appointments for Washington state
clients from his clinic on Division Street.
Dr.
Gil Mobley says he would like to do the same for Missouri patients. A
new Missouri house bill could make that goal a reality.
Mobley
says he used marijuana before he became a doctor but does not anymore.
He says he’s decided he wants to a pioneer for pot -- specifically,
medical marijuana.
"I think it is profoundly immoral to make
prisoners and criminals of patients using marijuana for medical
purposes,” Mobley said. “It has been proven to the nth degree to be
safe."
"In Washington, there is room for someone to carry the
banner and say there is a right way to do this," Mobley said. “I'm a
licensed physician in Washington. It's a beautiful state and I enjoy
the progressive nature."
Soon the state may be progressive enough to make marijuana legal for anyone 21 years or older.
Mobley
testified at Washington hearings for two controversial marijuana bills.
One would legalize marijuana for those 21 and older, and regulate it
like alcohol. Another would decriminalize possession of small amounts
of pot for adults.
Mobley testified that marijuana is not
addictive. Many attending the hearings disagreed. Others questioned if
legalization and taxation could aid tight government budgets.
“You
know it's nonsense, just nonsense," Don Pierce of the Washington
Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs said about benefits to law
enforcement budgets.
Washington’s governor pointed out federal
law trumps state law."I don't know how you generate any money when
federal law makes it illegal,” Christine Gregoire said. “I've already
been to the U.S. attorney who says they will continue to enforce
federal law."
In the more conservative Ozarks, Mobley's staff
will set appointments for his Washington medical marijuana clinic. He
wants to open on March 1.
"From cancer patients going through
chemo and radiation, to AIDS and hepatitis C, they have terrible nausea
and vomiting and often have failure on traditional medicine," Mobley
said.
Mobley says every patient he'll recommend must bring
written documentation from a qualified doctor that proves they have a
terminal or debilitating medical condition. He says he also wants each
patient to have used marijuana before.
"There's no way a doctor
would approve smoking marijuana but there are other ways to dose it,”
Mobley said. “The most recommended is to use a vaporizer. You vaporize
the THC to harmless water vapor."
Mobley would like to recommend
the same treatment in Springfield and plans to promote HB 1670 -- a
bill introduced in this year's General Assembly.
Democrat Kate
Meiners from Kansas City and Republican Robert Schaaf from St. Joseph
are co-sponsoring a bill that would allow medical marijuana use. "I'll
be the wind in their sails," Mobley said.
He doesn't know if his
support of medical marijuana will keep Springfield patients away who
disagree. "I could lose a little skin but those people need to be
educated and that's what I’m campaigning to do." Mobley says he will
fly to Washington on the weekends until he hires a full time staff. He
says he plans to charge about $200 a patient.
Click here to read the Missouri bill.
Click here to read more on Washington’s medical marijuana laws.
Original URL: http://www.kspr.com/news/local/82008837.html
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Posts: 9
Reply #9 on : Tue March 09, 2010, 12:13:16