ONE GIRL FULL OF INTESTINAL FORTITUDE

[boulder]

Controversy over medicinal marijuana has reached the eighth grade in Belmont, where a middle school principal has refused to let a student display her project on the possible medical benefits of pot.

 

Ralston Intermediate School Principal Deborah Ferguson told 13-year-old Veronica Mouser last week she was barring her project -- called ``Mary Jane for Pain'' -- from the school science fair opening today.

 

Projects are supposed to be hands-on, the school says, and marijuana is still considered an illegal drug by the federal government.

 

Veronica burst into sobs and called her stepfather from the nearest phone. Now the emboldened teen, who loves debating and wants to be a lawyer, is ready to put up a battle.

 

``It's just not fair,'' Veronica said. ``I put in months of work. This is a controversial subject and it should be discussed.''

 

The American Civil Liberties Union has already called, and the county's science fair coordinator says he plans to rewrite the rules to make it clear projects involving drugs are out.

 

Veronica's stepfather, Dave Phillips, a systems administrator at Oracle, filed a complaint with the school district to compel the school to display her work. A decision by district officials is expected today.

 

Veronica didn't smoke marijuana herself or give it to her research subjects. Instead, she studied the effects the weed had on three medicinal marijuana patients, visited an Oakland cannabis club, toured a private pot-growing room in Redwood Shores and interviewed doctors. She didn't attach any samples on her cardboard display, and her parents supervised her at every step.

 

She concluded that medicinal marijuana helped relieve pain and nausea in chronically ill patients.

 

Ferguson was not available for comment Monday. But Marcia Harter, assistant superintendent of the Belmont- Redwood Shores School District, said science fair projects are supposed to include hands-on experiments, and it could be inappropriate to let a student conduct research of marijuana; it is still considered an illegal drug by the federal government even though Californians have sanctioned it for medical use.

 

``Science fairs do not allow the use of controlled substances, and also they have been careful not to let students experiment with substances that are illegal or controlled,'' Harter said.

 

Veronica did get the approval of her science teacher Mark Jorgensen in December to do the project, Harter said. Jorgensen did not return calls seeking comment.

 

The dispute illustrates the wider conflict over use of medicinal marijuana since state voters approved its use while federal law bans it.

 

Cannabis buyer clubs have sprung up to fill prescriptions even as the federal government has swept in to shut them down. And in San Mateo County, work is under way on a federally sanctioned study of the possible benefits and detriments of using medicinal pot.

 

Veronica also conducted a survey of about 100 students and relatives on whether it's easier for teens to buy marijuana or alcohol. Seventy-two percent said pot is more accessible.

 

Veronica and her stepfather decided the project also should include a form from the principal approving the work to make it clear that Veronica was supervised and authorized.

 

That was how Ferguson learned of the project. The principal consulted the county's science fair coordinator, Gary Nakagiri, about whether the exhibit would meet guidelines set by the county, regional and state science fairs.

 

While the rules wouldn't ban her project, Nakagiri said the work would be viewed unfavorably because it amounts to a research paper not a scientific process. A hands-on experiment could bend a rule against using ``dangerous'' substances, though that rule was originally aimed at explosives and harmful chemicals.

 

``Marijuana is still borderline,'' Nakagiri said. ``It's still an emotional issue for many folks. Nowadays, with education being on the firing line already, when something like this comes up, our inclination is to be careful.''

 

But Veronica said pursuit of scientific inquiry shouldn't be restrained because of controversy. ``I think they just didn't like what I had to say, or talking about it, so they block it out, and that's not science,'' she said.

 

She also contends her project did have scientific merit; three patients logged what happened after using marijuana for one week and stopping use the next week. Veronica said she abhors recreational use of drugs, and warns in her project about the dangers of the smoke.

 

Either way, she's making change. Nakagiri said the county science fair will sharpen its guidelines to block handling of illegal substances.

 

``I guess I've learned not only about medical pot, but how people will try to control what you say,'' Veronica said. ``Now I'm even more determined to say what I have to say.''

 

Source: San Jose Mercury

[Ferre]

The youth is the future!

[Guest Urbanhog]

I wonder what will happen is this girl, Veronica Mouser did her project on Heroin/Opium/Morphine??? will the school allow her to display her project??

 

Obviously Opium/Heroin is more addictive than MJ.....

 

I did a project on Medicinal properties of Opium/Morphine and how Tasmainan Opium farms operated when I was about 13-15 in High school and got B+

 

Crazy......

 

Urbanhog http://www.gamers-forums.com/smilies/contrib/sp/chefico.gif

[boulder]

Source: San Jose Mercury

 

 

A Belmont teenager refused to back down Tuesday on her fight to get her project on medicinal marijuana entered in the school science fair this week. The Belmont Redwood Shores School District offered a written apology for waiting so long to ban her project and full credit for her work. But 13-year-old Veronica Mouser would have none of it.

 

``I don't agree with them at all,'' she said. ``It seems like bribery to me. They just want to give me the letter of apology and a grade, so this won't get out and so they can keep it closed out. It needs to be open. This is something we need to talk about.''

 

She vowed to keep fighting unless her ``Mary Jane for Pain'' research project is entered into the science fair that began Tuesday and ends Thursday at Ralston Middle School. Superintendent Anne Campbell did agree to re- evaluate the decision, and asked to view Veronica's 4-foot-high wooden display on medicinal pot, but in the privacy of her office. A decision on whether to reinstate it could come today.

 

``We are learning more and more about what her project says, and we might have a new decision in the morning,'' Assistant Superintendent Marcia Harter said.

 

Veronica's project examines the possible medicinal benefits of marijuana. School principal Deborah Ferguson barred the project Jan. 17, citing concerns that pot is still illegal under federal law even though Californians have sanctioned it for medicinal use.

 

Veronica was showered Tuesday with invitations to talk to local and national media about the rejection of her work. The American Civil Liberties Union rose to her defense.

 

``The school's decision to exclude this project is troubling both in terms of free speech and in terms of the underlying purpose of a science fair, to encourage students to challenge conventional notions by engaging in research,'' staff attorney Ann Brick said in a statement. ``The idea that students cannot report the results of their research because its content is controversial is the antithesis of science.'' The ACLU has decided not to take the case to court, however.

 

Veronica became interested in medicinal weed after watching a close relative wasting away from a gastrointestinal disease. He recovered after he began smoking medicinal pot. She didn't use marijuana herself or give it to any research subjects. Her project display doesn't include any samples of the weed.

 

Instead, she logged the effects of the drug on three medicinal marijuana patients. She also visited a private pot- growing room, toured an Oakland cannabis club and interviewed doctors.

 

She also surveyed students and relatives, and 72 percent said it was easier for teenagers to buy pot than alcohol.

 

Veronica concluded that medicinal marijuana does help relieve pain and nausea for chronically ill and dying patients, but warned that smoke can be hazardous.

 

In addition to concerns about pot's legality, Ferguson rejected Veronica's project saying that it amounted to a research paper and not a scientific experiment. She said hands-on procedures are required for state and county science fairs.

 

But Cliff Gould, a board member for the California State Science Fair, said Veronica's project would be acceptable if it won at the local level and was entered in the statewide fair.

 

``My goodness, it's someone simply talking to people about their contact'' with marijuana, he said. ``Personally I find that terribly innocent. It is not illegal to talk about marijuana, to write a book about marijuana, do a school report about marijuana. And those are the things that she's done. If those are projects the science fair raised to the state level, it might raise some eyebrows but there would be no reason for us to question its acceptability.''

 

Veronica had three medicinal marijuana patients log the effects of the weed for one week and the effects of abstaining for one week. Gould said that aspect might raise the project to the level of scientific research.

 

Her dilemma is strikingly similar to a case last year involving a Santa Cruz County seventh-grader who submitted a science project with the same ``Mary Jane for Pain'' title.

 

The girl included a marijuana-laced muffin and a liquid steeped in pot. The school let her present the report but seized the potent props.

 

Both cases illustrate the wider conflict over marijuana that arose when California voters approved it for medicinal use in 1996 though it is still banned under federal law.

 

In San Mateo County, a huge research project examining pros and cons of medicinal pot is under way, using strict controls to meet federal sanctioning rules.

 

``For my daughter, this is all about what's right and wrong,'' said Veronica's stepfather, Dave Phillips. ``I could support her backing off, but she's firmly entrenched. Her project will be displayed.''

[Johnny Blaze]

Go For It!

[DOM]

The youth is the future!  

as this gal shows every one is an individual and each has their own opinion, so meabe the ptb's do not want to hear the truth from a very knowledgeable young teenager,so, is this freedom of speech or is this censorship?

 

some one has a signature on this board about

"knowledge is wasted if not shared"

 

SO TRUE in this case.

 

THANKS BOULDER for keeping us informed.