cannabisnews.com: Legal Pot Smoker Wants Apology from Delta 





Legal Pot Smoker Wants Apology from Delta 
Posted by FoM on August 16, 2001 at 07:55:38 PT
By Terri Somers, Staff Writer 
Source: Sun-Sentinel
Like any pack-a-day smoker, Irvin Rosenfeld has some problems traveling by airplane because of the government ban on lighting up while in flight. But it is Rosenfeld's particular smoke -- marijuana -- and his need to light up once the plane touches down and during layovers that has landed him in some unusual situations.Now it could land the Broward County resident in federal court, accusing Delta Air Lines of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The 48-year-old Boca Raton stockbroker with a rare and painful bone disease has smoked his legally prescribed, government-grown marijuana in smoking lounges, medical clinics and even police substations of airports. Marijuana eases the constant, piercing pain of his rare disease, he said; it doesn't make him euphoric or "high." He needs to smoke a joint about every two hours, so a long layover in an airport poses a logistical challenge for Rosenfeld.For the past 19 years that he has used medical marijuana, he has called ahead, informed Delta of his medical needs and been accommodated with a spot to smoke.In March, when he had to fly to Washington, D.C., to testify before the U.S. Supreme Court about medical marijuana use, Rosenfeld called in advance, as usual. He says he left messages and never got a call back.But on March 26, the day of the flight and about 30 minutes before takeoff, he was paged and asked to report to Delta's customer service counter. Speaking at his lawyer's office on Wednesday, Rosenfeld recalled the exchange like this:"I'm sorry, you won't be allowed to board this flight," a Delta employee told him. "We've been informed that you're carrying marijuana.""Yes," Rosenfeld said. "I'm the one who informed you."Rosenfeld explained he is one of seven people in the United States permitted to smoke marijuana. In his case it relaxes his muscles so the multiple tumors that form on the long bones in his body do not rupture muscle and veins, which could cause him to bleed to death.He showed airline employees the prescription pasted to the plastic bag that holds 12 marijuana cigarettes, his average daily dose. Each month the prescription is taped to the tin canister stuffed with 300 marijuana cigarettes he gets in the mail. He showed them his name on the brief that was to be argued the next day in the Supreme Court.The Delta employees said the airline's lawyers wanted Rosenfeld to get a waiver from the government in each state the flight would pass over. Rosenfeld explained that he had never before received such a request from Delta."If I was a diabetic, would they expect me to board the plane without my insulin?" he asked. "They had a problem with me because my prescribed medication is marijuana. That's a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act."He tried to explain that the prescription, approved by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, trumps any state requirement. Called to the Delta desk, a Broward sheriff's officer agreed.Still, Rosenfeld could not get on the Delta plane. Eventually, he found a later flight on another carrier.He told the Delta employees they would hear from him again. And he boarded the second plane without telling anyone about the marijuana.Delta officials are investigating Rosenfeld's claim, said spokeswoman Cindi Kurczewski, but would not issue a comment Wednesday.It took Rosenfeld several months to find a lawyer, Christopher Sharp of Fort Lauderdale, who was willing to take a case in which the client cannot seek a large monetary settlement. They both talk about changing behavior. And Sharp, Rosenfeld said, is unlike other lawyers because he was comfortable with supporting someone's need to take a controversial medicine."My wife has lupus," Sharp said. "I can appreciate what Rosenfeld goes through."Sharp said he and his client are not ready to file a lawsuit just yet.They announced Wednesday they are giving Delta 30 days to issue an apology, reimburse Rosenfeld the $450 it cost to buy the ticket on the other airline, and promise that such discrimination will never happen again.Rosenfeld does not hide that he is an activist for the medicinal use of marijuana. But calling the media to his lawyer's office on Wednesday was about sticking up for people with disabilities, he said."It's important to stand up to this invidious discrimination," Sharp said.If Delta would issue an apology, Sharp said, Rosenfeld would go back to flying on its planes.His client nodded and smiled. "I have a lot of frequent flier miles," he explained.Complete Title: Legal Pot Smoker Wants Apology after Delta Boots Him from FlightTerri Somers can be reached at: tsomers sun-sentinel.com Source: Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel (FL) Author: Terri SomersPublished: August 16, 2001Copyright: 2001 Sun-Sentinel Company Contact: letters sun-sentinel.com Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmMan Says Delta Should Apologize http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10620.shtmlBroward Man Plays Role in Medicinal Pot Battle http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9167.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #7 posted by Patient1 on August 23, 2001 at 22:01:08 PT:
getting hi.
I get hi. but to be so sick , hi is about feeling good. so when a person feels so bad that hi is recognized to be simply a good mood in the face of terrible suffering , it isenough to be hi, you do not have to call it the same . as it is not. still as much effect. simply recognized differently.
patients 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by Spiderman on August 17, 2001 at 06:44:20 PT
Cannabis: You'll Love The Way We Fly
Does this strike anyone else as sickly suspicious? The fellow has NO problems ever before travelling by Delta, then when he wants to testify about the benefits of Cannabis he suddenly finds he isn’t allowed to fly. Hmm… I wonder if he thought the same, given that he didn’t tell the other airline about his medicine?Not getting high. I thought this notion was strange ever since I read the dubious sentence, "if you use marijuana medicinally you don't get high" (can't remember where). Perhaps the patients are too busy experiencing the relief of pain to notice anything else, or perhaps it's simply a sentence that contains only words of one syllable, suitable for explaining to dense prohibitionists that they're not in it for kicks. Susan Arnold, the journalist who is all-but blind except when having smoked skunk, has been keen for the development of a non-high version (inhaler or whatever) because she complains that the only time when she can see properly she is too high to appreciate it. Make of all this what you will. Now that Channel One business is scary...
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by dddd on August 16, 2001 at 12:22:00 PT
..not exactly sure
..how to interpret your explanation michael....Perhaps you could elucidate....dddd
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by michael on August 16, 2001 at 11:17:21 PT:
Well DDDD, this should explain it.
   When you get caught with your pants down, pull um up and lie about it.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by dddd on August 16, 2001 at 09:12:46 PT
HEY!
....Now ,,,,I gotta say,,that for many years,I have had a realproblem understanding just what kind of twisted,and contortedlogic is used to explain the 7 or 8 legal Marijuana users?...Doesanyone know if it can be explained?,,,,and if so,,who,,,and how?dddd
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by Ras James rsifwh on August 16, 2001 at 08:41:20 PT
"Healing the Nations"
The Seventh Seal has been opened by the Rider of the White Horse. Cannabis Sativa is the Sacred Tree of Life that has manifested...Book of Revelation 22:1&2..."...the leaves shall be used to heal the Nations of the World.Rastafari Overstanding is the the fruit of the Judeo-Muslem-Christian tradition...Queen Omega has given birth to the promised City of God here on Earth...and "The Sign" is the plant that bears fruit (achenes) on both sides of the street each month of the year.Bob Marley: The Book of Revelation reveals the true revolution...In case you don't know. It is not so important that the people use Cannabis. It is more important that the people accept Cannabis as the Tree of Life...'...Healing the Nations'.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by michael on August 16, 2001 at 08:34:31 PT:
How can that be?
  Doesn't get high? With all respect, even if a person reaches a high tolerence level, one would would still get high.
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment