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| MMJ Users Share Stories with County Supervisors |
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Posted by CN Staff on December 13, 2005 at 19:42:02 PT By Gretchen Wenner, Californian Staff Writer Source: Bakersfield Californian 
Calif. -- One by one, medical marijuana users — more than a dozen in all — stepped in front of county supervisors Tuesday morning to talk about how the outlawed plant helps them live. It was an unscheduled event, an impromptu comment session in advance of next week’s vote on state-mandated ID cards for medical pot users.Wayne Garland, for example, said he’d been prescribed Vicodin, Darvocet and other powerful painkillers after falling off a roof and getting run over by a car. But the drugs gave him a bleeding ulcer, he said. He moved from Maryland to California three years ago for the medical marijuana laws here. “I’ve never felt better in my life,” Garland told the board. “Without medical marijuana, I would be dead today, or a drug addict.” The story was repeated over and over: lives ruined by traditional painkillers then redeemed by marijuana. Tales poured from Jeffrey Clarke, Israel Cavazos and Jason Friedley and others. “These are my heroes,” Douglas McAfee, president of the Bakersfield chapter of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, told the board. McAfee said he admired their courage to publicly share experiences. Speakers were polite overall, although one angry outburst erupted after dentist Carson Stewart asked whether comments would be limited to two-minute blocks at the public hearing Dec. 20. Yes, they will, board Chairman Ray Watson said. “Yet 25 minutes of public aggrandizement,” Stewart retorted, had just been devoted to “someone retiring” — referring to retirement honors bestowed on three long-term employees. He then stormed out of chambers. Last week, the board postponed a decision on the ID cards until county lawyers had time to study how San Diego County has handled the issue. Supervisors there rejected the card program, knowing to do so was a violation of state law. They have reportedly filed suit against the state. California voters in 1996 approved a ballot measure legalizing medical marijuana, although federal law maintains use is illegal. A follow-up state bill established the ID card program that’s up for vote next Tuesday. Kern’s program is supposed to be running by Jan. 9, according to county health officials. Complete Title: Medical Pot Users Share Stories with County Supervisors Source: Bakersfield Californian, The (CA) Related Articles & Web Site: Supervisors Wrong on Medical Marijuana Marijuana Brought Relief To My Dying Father County To Sue To Overturn Medical Marijuana Law Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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