Adequate Care or Nobody Cares?

That was the title of a press release I received the other day. But before I put up the whole press release I would like to tell you about one of the five patients referred to in the release. I met Irv Rosenfeld last year when Maryland's House of Delegates' Judiciary Committee was holding hears on HB 1040 Maryland's Compassionate Use Act. We spent the whole day together waiting for us to be called into the hearing room. We learned a lot about each other that day. For one I learned that someone is passionate enough about medical marijuana laws to give up basically two days to come all the way to Maryland from Florida to help me be able to get the medicine I need.
The second thing I learned is pain is visible. I sort of knew this already just from looking in the mirror everyday. But as Irv and I and several others wandered the halls outside the hearing room I could see it. I watched it slowly creep back into Irv's face every couple of hours. I also learned that I have to keep up this fight if not for myself then for the thousands of others that face debilitating pain everyday of their lives. I have to admit here that on that day I was getting jealous as the day rolled on into late afternoon. You see under my regiment of medicine I couldn't take anymore medicine until around six o'clock in the evening. Irv however could freely walk outside light one of his government provided cannabis cigarettes, you know "joints", every couple of hours. So while my pain steadily increased with every hour, Irv got relief every couple of hours. Now I'm one of those nasty cigarette smokers you know the regular kind. So when ever Irv went out side to get pain relief, I went outside and got my nicotine fix. While that does calm a smoker's nerves, and I was plenty nervous waiting around, it did nothing to alleviate the stabbing pain in my spine. So here is the press release I have spent too many words introducing. I hope there are many more who care than not.

November 14, 2007
Adequate Care or Nobody Cares?

On November 20, 2007 a Florida stockbroker will light up a “joint”, provided to him by the government of the United States.

He will not be arrested. Nor will he be sued, harassed, fired, demoted, or called an addict or a criminal.

Unless you care no one will.

Certainly the DEA, National Institute of Drug Abuse, US Justice Department, Health and Human Services, FBI, and Florida law enforcement will not care.

They have proved that over a 25-year period, but more importantly all the federal cannabis patients are healthy. (1)

When Irv Rosenfeld’s “Silver Anniversary” of November 20 arrives he will have been smoking, from a silver tin can, non-medical grade cannabis for a quarter of a century without the federal government ever studying the results of their treatment protocol.

This is how the US government treats the five legal cannabis patients left alive in the US, and they are special, deemed “investigational.” The rest of the millions of cannabis patients or potential patients cornered, caught, are arrested, harassed, fired, jailed.

The five: Irv, Barbara, Elvy, Corrine and George are living examples of a misdirected, punitive even mendacious policy of improper medical treatment by the US government to all other patients.

This is not a medical policy that keeps you or your loved ones from a potential medical solution; it is a political policy of ignorance and prejudice.

It can change (2), if you care.

Patients Out of Time

(434) 263-4484 fax (434) 263-6753
1472 Fish Pond Rd.
Howardsville, VA 24562
Al@medicalcannabis.com

1. Chronic Cannabis Use in the Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program: An Examination of Benefits and Adverse Effects of legal Clinical Cannabis. Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics, Vol. 2(1) 2002. www.medicalcannabis.com.

2. The Petition to Reschedule Cannabis. www.drugscience.org.

I have written by now several thousands of words on this topic. I have posted here and else where on the subject. I have written state legislators and members of congress. I have had letters to the editors published. I'm not alone. In fact the number of people who support what I feel is our constitutional right to be as pain free as possible is growing everyday.