Many of us on this blog have been advocates for years in favor of medical marijuana legalization. Frankly, as I have expressed before, I fail to understand the logic, let alone the humanity, that would sustain opposition to such drugs for people who are suffering. This woman however made a video that is simply remarkable. It shows the improvement, particularly in speech, that she experiences after using medical marijuana for her cerebal palsy.
I realize that government officials at the DEA and other agencies still contest the value of medical marijuana for such conditions. I believe we need to err on the side of these patients who report that it does help. I simply cannot imagine telling a woman like this that she cannot use such drugs to lessen her pain and desperation.
Aside from the tons of videos that are out there that show how positive medicinal marijuana can be, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing it with my own eyes. It’s amazing! I’ve watched people with all kinds of medical ailments get relief. Like you, I think the laws surrounding it are absurd! Thanks for the great read and sharing the video!
Got this in an email re soging a petition: This is the ridiculousness from mandatory sentencing:
“My brother Weldon is a talented musician, producer, and loving father. But for the past ten years his kids have grown up without their dad because he’s serving a mandatory 55 year sentence in prison for a nonviolent marijuana offense.
Weldon’s judge wanted to sentence him to just one day in prison for three small-time marijuana sales, but because an informant testified that he saw a gun, which wasn’t used or displayed, federal law forced him to issue a mandatory minimum 55 year sentence. The judge called it “unjust, cruel, and irrational.” But he had no choice.
The judge is hopeful that justice can still be served for my brother — he wrote a letter that strongly recommends President Obama commute Weldon’s sentence, and over 100 people signed his request in support — including former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and a prominent Republican Senator.
I started a petition on Change.org because I believe the momentum to free Weldon could pressure the President to grant him clemency. Please sign my petition asking Pardoning Attorney Rodgers to recommend that President Obama commute the remainder of Weldon’s sentence.
Weldon made the mistake of selling marijuana and deserves to serve some time, but his sentence is longer than those imposed for three aircraft hijackings, three second-degree murders, three kidnappings, and three rapes. Now, significant public support for the President to pardon him is the only chance Weldon has of getting out of prison before he’s 70 years old.”
ive said this before. big pharma and the liquor lobby and tobacco are the reasons behind the so called war on drugs. and lets not forget the po-lie-ticians are the biggest dealers in the world… back a couple centuries ago doctors used;
alcohol to clean a wound
heroin was used to knocked you out
cocaine was used to numb the wound or pain
marijuana was used for the same reasons.
once the screwillionaires got all of their people into major offices of the government, took over swhorewood, the noise industry, fashion , and lame stream media, their next step was to take over our lives, rights and freedoms slowly but surely. and it was then these laws were put into place.
It was in the 70’s when suddenly these drugs became so called so dangerous they needed to be made illegal. illegal by the definitons of those who were putting the drugs out on the streets cia/mossad. it was then the make up of the prison industry was changed and introduced. and began filling up non stop and the more people arrested on bogus charges the more prisons were needed ex the rockefeller drug laws.
its also when everything became politicized.
the same ones who are manufacturing the drugs and diseases are the same ones who has destroyed everything and they dont care. because it isnt them. and there is nothing that will happen to them unlike us the “useless eaters” as they call everyone not related to them by blood and marriage
Darren,
Are you sure you’re really in law enforcement…. You speak way to rational…..
Actually we need to legalize ALL drugs and REGULATE them!!
Why the rush?
Because of the new Russian drug, this stuff makes meth look like cotton candy, and we already have cases here of it!
So WHY would people take it knowing what it will do? Because they don’t KNOW what it is…illegal drugs can be anything…
People want to be medicated, then get the freaks off the stuff making them kill innocent people. Take the money away, and watch the gangs disappear…
And most of all keep this new horrific drug off our streets!!!
http://i2.photobucket.com/…/krokodilDrug_zps35474ff0.jpg
wonder how soon before she gets a knock at the door. (at 3:00am)
might be a good idea to start a legal defense fund for this lady.
This is why I support NORML
.
Do you folks know which country in the world has the most lax marijuana laws; meaning NONE?
North Korea.
And we are the land of the free.
Washington is a mess waiting to happen when the new regs take place. I predict that it will eventually be a disaster for the mom-and-pop recreational marijuana retailers. The taxed legal marijuana will be so expensive due to the three tiered 25% tax each level (growers, distributors, and retailers) will be so expensive the illegal market will continue to be in place because possession of one ounce or less is not illegal.
Some in the legislature are wanting to now go after medical marijuana. They want the 25% tax to apply. Furthermore thay want to have medical marijuana dispensaries submit to the same (in my view unconstitutional) surveillance equipment having gov’t access and require medical marijuana users to register with the state and obtain a card. (plus prohibit patients from growing their own) These representatives seem to not heard of the notion of HIPAA it seems. Plus, why would medical marijuana be taxed when other prescriptions are not. A bad precident to set in a state with a gov’t that is hungry for money from citizens and small businesses.
Lastly, many people mistakenly believe that medical marijuana is just a front for people to get stoned and get away form it. That is not the case. Some strains of MM such as CBD do not get a person high like the ones having much more THC but it works well for many people who suffer chronic pain and other ailments.
But not much better is to be expected from the federal government as well. WA law does not care where a prescription medication came from as long as legend drugs are possessed by the person having a valid prescription. But the federal government does if it people bring it in say from Canada or Mexico where the same drugs are significantly cheaper. Reason? Big Pharma. Sad that you could go to Canada and bring in $200.00 worth of dog food but you cannot bring in the same amount in Beta Blocker meds.
A very sad story that could be so easily solved. The refusal of politicians to help those who are living through these serious ailments is disturbing.
Was that in Kansas City, Kansas or Kansas City, Mizzoura?
There must be a way for us to stop the out of control drug abuse and addictive practices in this country while recognizing the humanitarian plight of those who truly do benefit from using marijuana medicinally.
We are a smart people. We need to find a way provide for the protection and comfort of those who suffer while we do our best to stop those who prey on people simply for making a profit from drugs.
All of us must be protected.
Stephan Gregory Patterson
(Len, yes.)
If drugs were legalized the only ones who would prey on those who suffer would be pharma. (and other entities involved in being the legal purveyors.
Lee – I only used the pharma example because the story referenced medical cannabis. You’re right about the liquor lobby. Also, big oil, timber/pulp paper, textiles, and private prisons,(I’m sure there’s a couple I’ve missed) are all businesses whose profits would suffer if cannabis/industrial hemp were to become legal and socially accepted.
Sanjay Gupta changed his opinion on it from bad to good. His special Weed” think it was called, showed a child emotionally developmentally and physically incapacitated by severe seizure disorder. Medical marijuana has helped her to an almost unfathomable degree.
In pa. there is a child who is dying because of his seizure disorder. Corbett is refusing to allow a compassionate use for this child.
(I understand it is not just phrama but the liquor lobby who could see their profits slashed if people went to pot.
War on Drugs, War on Terror, Cold War, War on Communism, – Even the War on Poverty – and of course, all of the actual military and sub-military conflicts the US has engaged in since the end of WWII – All “States of War” specifically engaged in to expand the powers and the role of the Federal Government, especially the Executive Branch, through all of the various “emergency powers” it has claimed allowances for under the Constitution (given that it is at war).
This has led to an accelerating erosion of personal liberty, freedom, privacy, civil rights and the protections offered under the Bill of Rights to the point where we are quickly reaching a point where it seems like te actual Constitution & Bill of Rights and the plain intention behind them, are being freely ignored and subverted by all of the tentacles of the Executive branch with almost total impunity.
Witness the militarization of virtually any agency with a modicum of police powers, the rise of the “warrior cop” and the free disdain he can show for the citizens under his thumb, the decimation of ANY sense of personal privacy or freedom of association, speech, assembly – even religion under attack.
We knew much of this – the Patriot Act, etc… Where just parts of the slippery slope, but did we EVER imagine just how slippery that slope could&would be; and just how fast we could be on the verge of losing almost everything? (The Administration has the power now – which will be the first to use it?).
The drug war – just another symptom of a Corporate bought & paid for Federal System with an Executive Branch run amok, more concerned with increasing power, budgets, and the size of their giant bureaucracies.
And the Taxpayer foots the bill for all of it – and in NO instance (the War on Drugs, Terror, Poverty, etc) – can we point to ANY real significant reduction in the root problems after pouring billions (or trillions) into the effort, and incarcerating an untold number of America’s youth.
The Saddest thing is – these failed “wars” (grabs for imperial power) – prevent ANY real & cost effective solutions from being discovered, developed or implemented.
[Soapbox OFF]
I agree that legalizing marijuana (and other drugs) is the right thing for so many reasons. I have also talked with those that oppose it and for the most part the opposition is a simple matter of religion, my god says it’s bad so you can’t have it. On this blog we read numerous articles about the muslim religion controlling what people can do. We have the same mind set here with certain religious sects wanting their way for no other reason that it is the “moral” and “right” thing to do according to what their god says. And we all know, my god is bigger than your god so you have to do it my way. Despite the success in Washington and Colorado, we have a long way to go. Keep pushing.
I have no problem even for recreational use…. But big pharmacology wants the profits for themselves…. Liquid THC… Hmmm…. I guess if it comes in a bottle it has to be good…..
Medicine or no, it has been demonstrated with crystal clarity the failure of attempting to ban a plant that grows in the ground and requires nothing but rain and sunshine. No processors, no middle-men, no taxes if you do it yourself. The product only degrades with more handling.
To ignore that failure in the face of suffering requires removal from office of anyone who stands in the way of the coming legalization, and without delay.
The drug war has failed and will be swept aside.
As someone who suffers from chronic vertigo and nausea, I believe it is cruel to keep this valuable medicine out of the hands of those of us who want to obey the law.
Their is no logic to the opposition, only the threat to the profits of the pharmaceutical industry. That is, until the feds allow them to monopolize it, then it will be Aok !!!
I wonder what the differences in “Medical Marijuana” and “Rock & Roll Marijuana” are which make one legal and the other not?