Dispatches From Hellpeckersville-Gutted

(9 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

I should be happy today, Pa’s medical mj bill was finally passed by the state senate…I am happy for the select few it helps, you see, yesterday the bill was amended and Reefer Madness ruled the day.

Only ten medical conditions remain “acceptable” illnesses, while 30 or so more are not. Why? Your guess is as good as mine.

marijuana bill passes committee, heading for full Pa. Senate vote tomorrow

By Christina Kauffman |pennlive.com

on September 23, 2014 at 3:01 PM

The original bill enabled patients to use a vaporizer to inhale medical marijuana, but Folmer said there was a “fear that it was a sneaky way to smoke it.”

All non-smoking methods, including an oil-based orally administered treatment for children with intractable epilepsy, remain in the bill.

The number of conditions for which medical marijuana could be prescribed has been narrowed from about 40 to about a dozen.

Those still on the list include epilepsy, cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and post-concussion syndrome, multiple sclerosis, severe fibromyalgia, Parkinson’s Disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Those removed from the list include AIDS, HIV, diabetes, migraine headaches, Tourette Syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, glaucoma, and Crohn’s Disease.

So, thirty conditions just tossed away, I have to wonder how they arrived at that. How they weighed it out, did they weigh it out? The risks and long term damage of so many prescription medications– overdose, addiction, liver and kidney damage, stomach ulcers, the list goes on, can anyone say the same of marijuana? The stroke of the pen looks so casual, did the person writing even give a thought to those affected as they went down the line with a yes or a no?

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2407…

I saw a State Senator (who went on to vote no on the gutted bill, BTW) question how she could vote for the use of cannabis, come on people, even for something like a migraine??? Well, bless your heart, sweetie, clearly you’ve never been in bed for three days running, puking your guts out, praying for death. And as for your esteemed colleagues who so cavalierly whittled away at the list of acceptable illnesses, they too might have been excused for being so woefully ignorant on migraines, but HIV/AIDS? Rheumatoid arthritis? Crohn’s? What the hell went on in that room?

Tens of thousands of us affected. 85% of Pennsylvanians approve of medical marijuana, so what gives here? It’s pure cowardice and ignorance on the parts of the appropriation committee and I called out both Mike Folmer and Daylin Leach, who should have stood and fought for their bill as written,but were all too willing to compromise away far too many of us, for the sake of chalking up a win.

I will leave you tonight with the comment I left on both of their facebook pages:

The amendment to your bill make this nothing less than a Pyrrhic victory. You have sacrificed tens of thousands of us and left us hung out to dry. Ten conditions count and over thirty do not, tell us, how was that decision arrived at? Who advised on that decision?

The decision to not allow smoking or vaping, well, that takes us from immediate relief to relief that can take over an hour, tell me, who advised all of you fine people on that? Have you ever been in agony, and how long would you like to wait for that to let up?

The decision to not allow patients to grow their own plants, that penalizes the poor and working class. Medibles are great, but many would find it much more economically feasible to grow and make their own. For those that rely on medibles visits to a dispensary won’t be cheap.

We thought we had a Champion, who would finally stand up against the ignorant fear-mongering “reefer madness” that has plagued the chronic pain community for far too long, only to find that the vast majority of us were hung out to dry for the sake of a few.

No, I would not take what little this bill gives from those who need it so desperately. But I am filled with despair and disgust at the seemingly arbitrary and

capricious manner in which this bill was amended.

ps–this bill does help my beautiful cousin, Maddy, who has suffered far too long with life threatening seizures, so I am grateful for that~