cannabisnews.com: Why Do People Keep Writing Us?





Why Do People Keep Writing Us?
Posted by CN Staff on September 04, 2007 at 11:39:02 PT
By David Borden and Paul Armentano
Source: Huffington Post 
USA -- According to the federal government, 53-year-old Deborah Palmer (not her real name) doesn't exist. A grandmother and former California corrections officer, Ms. Palmer suffers from chronic spinal pain (the result of a pair of botched back surgeries) and fibromyalgia. Because her body is allergic to opioid medications, she recently began using medical marijuana to obtain relief from her daily suffering. That is until federal and state law enforcement officials raided the California dispensary that provided her medicine.
"What am I going to do?" she lamented in one of our recent conversations. "If I have to live in this amount of pain 365 days a year without access to my medicine, then I'm not going to stay on this Earth very long."Having worked in drug-law reform for decades, we personally know hundreds of patients like Deborah Palmer. Unfortunately, those in the federal government who oppose the therapeutic use of medical marijuana appear to be unaware of even one. Speaking last month to the Associated Press, Tom Riley -- spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy -- launched into an all too common ad hominem attack against medical marijuana and those who advocate for its regulation. "There is a charade going on here," he charged. "[P]eople who are interested in drug legalization using genuinely sick people as pawns to get sympathy to get their agenda through."This critique bemuses us. After all, we actually know medical marijuana patients -- yes, real live medical marijuana patients. We interact with them at conferences. We help them organize protests. Some of us lobby with them in Congress or the state houses. Others help coordinate their legal defenses when they've been arrested. Many of them are our friends and colleagues too. Sure, we also want legalization, not just for medical use. But while the drug war continues to rage, we desire to have the sick and dying taken off the battlefield. Who wouldn't?Meanwhile, we keep getting these letters from the people that our government claims don't exist. "I have had multiple sclerosis and a seizure disorder for 13 years now. I tried treating my disease the legal way and just got sicker and sicker - to the point of staying in bed all day. Then I tried marijuana, and it's like a wonder drug for me! I do not get high from the marijuana; it helps relax my muscles and takes the spasms away. Not to mention it's the only way I have an appetite to eat anything. How could someone tell me, 'no medical marijuana for you?'" "Six years ago I was literally struck down with fibromyalgia. I simply couldn't get out of bed one morning. I crawled versus walking most of the time as it was less painful. I was of no use to anyone, including myself. I also had no appetite whatsoever. I lost 20 pounds in a matter of weeks, leaving me a frail 100 lb 50-year-old. My husband thought maybe marijuana might help with my appetite, so he 'scored' some for me. It not only restored my appetite, it also took a lot of my pain away. It makes me sick to think we both could [be] arrested. When is this country going to wake up?""I am a six-year ulcerative colitis patient who quit all prescribed medicines and only took to cannabis. It worked faster and more effectively than standard medications and had fewer side effects. Now I can't have cannabis for job purposes and my symptoms are returning.""I have Crohns disease. I do not smoke anymore because I'm afraid I could lose my job. My health has suffered because of quitting and I have suffered greatly. My own doctor has told me that cannabis can greatly benefit my disease, which has left me with the intestines of a 75-year-old person even though I am only 38.""I've moved back home to a state that does not allow the medical use of marijuana, and it is very hard for me to find relief from my pain now. My doctor has increased my medications twofold, and I [still] do not get the pain control I had with [marijuana]. I just hope some day the government will stop demonizing a very useful tool.""I am a highly qualified physician with years of experience in Africa and Asia, as well as seven years at the World Health Organization in Geneva. In 1991, I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. I now have a serious form of the disease with marked rigidity, loss of balance and tremor. Medication has proved useless or worse. At present I take none. About ten days ago I tried marijuana. After a delay of several hours there was an amazing improvement. Rigidity and loss of balance were much milder. I 'got my body back,' and could do things that had been impossible for five years.""I was recently diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor inside the left the temporal lobe of my brain. I had surgery, and I've just started chemotherapy and radiation. The surgeon actually apologized for the fact that he could not write me a prescription for marijuana, but he told me it was safe to smoke. My prescriptions make me very dizzy and nauseous and I have ever-present headaches that top any of the worst hangover headaches anyone could possibly have. My brain is still so badly swollen. The swelling has actually gotten worse and is exacerbated by the radiation. Marijuana is saving my life right now; it has helped to kill my seizures, nausea, dizziness, and calm my headaches. If marijuana can help me with all my other problems in addition to possibly reducing the size of my tumor and extending my life, then why on earth would our government not allow me to have it?" Despite the venom of Tom Riley and his ilk, this issue is not about us. It is about these real Americans, from all walks of life, who are desperately in need, and who are desperately seeking help and looking for answers. They deserve the freedom to manage their serious medical travails as best they can -- with medical marijuana, if that's what works best for them. At a minimum, they deserve an acknowledgement from the Tom Rileys of the world that they are alive -- and living in pain. Perhaps to finally receive that, instead of just writing to us, they will need to confront those government officials who think so little of denying them legal access to a plant that can improve their health and well-being. Maybe then politicians and bureaucrats will stop cynically bashing "our agenda," and finally start responding to needs of the citizens it is their duty to serve.Complete Title: Why Do People The Government Says Don't Exist Keep Writing Us?Source: Huffington Post (NY)Author: David Borden and Paul Armentano Published: September 4, 2007Copyright: 2007 HuffingtonPost.com, LLC Contact: scoop huffingtonpost.comWebsite: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/DRCNethttp://www.drcnet.org/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #23 posted by FoM on September 05, 2007 at 05:53:25 PT
gloovins
Thank you. I am ok with it because I don't have any other option for the time being. At least I have a decent connection and am not on dial up. That would be very hard to go back to after years of having a satellite. Someday everyone will have quality broadband without restrictions. Patience is a virtue and I learn that almost everyday! LOL!Thanks for caring.
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Comment #22 posted by gloovins on September 04, 2007 at 23:43:56 PT
But the all time classic,
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lvzX8aNwxgMSorry FoM if you cannot get them (youtube vids) as I rmbr u having probs w/ youtube, is that still the case? Hopefully, your pt of Ohio will get its s&^% 2gether & u can get "upgraded" - u certainly deserve it!Take care all - much love 2 all 2 ... :)
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Comment #21 posted by gloovins on September 04, 2007 at 23:34:24 PT
Trouble is...
A State like Calif gets it's legalized for medical use & the cities flip like pancakes...http://youtube.com/watch?v=8M9NzcXaKQ8It's a brave new - scary - world....
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Comment #20 posted by aolbites on September 04, 2007 at 22:07:20 PT
Amazing...
Tom Riley -- spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy -- launched into an all too common ad hominem attack against medical marijuana and those who advocate for its regulation. "There is a charade going on here," he charged. "[P]eople who are interested in drug legalization using genuinely sick people as pawns to get sympathy to get their agenda through."So, Heres His agenda:http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/marijuana_position.html========================Someone has Got to do a detailed refutation of all those lies. its pretty absurd..
Heres some snips: The campaign to legitimize what is called "medical" marijuana is based on two propositions: that science views marijuana as medicine, and that DEA targets sick and dying people using the drug. Neither proposition is true. Smoked marijuana has not withstood the rigors of science – it is not medicine and it is not safe. DEA targets criminals engaged in cultivation and trafficking, not the sick and dying. No state has legalized the trafficking of marijuana, including the twelve states that have decriminalized certain marijuana use....The Netherlands
  *
   Due to international pressure on permissive Dutch cannabis policy and domestic complaints over the spread of marijuana "coffee shops," the government of the Netherlands has reconsidered its legalization measures. After marijuana became normalized, consumption nearly tripled – from 15 per cent to 44 per cent – among 18 to 20 year-old Dutch youth....
 The proposition that smoked marijuana is "medicine" is, in sum, false – trickery used by those promoting wholesale legalization. When a statute dramatically reducing penalties for "medical" marijuana took effect in Maryland in October 2003, a defense attorney noted that "[t]here are a whole bunch of people who like marijuana who can now try to use this defense." The attorney observed that lawyers would be "neglecting their clients if they did not try to find out what ‘physical, emotional or psychological’" condition could be enlisted to develop a defense to justify a defendant’s using the drug. "Sometimes people are self-medicating without even realizing it,’" he said.and how 'bout this gem:#? The legalization movement is not simply a harmless academic exercise. The mortal danger of thinking that marijuana is "medicine" was graphically illustrated by a story from California. In the spring of 2004, Irma Perez was "in the throes of her first experience with the drug ecstasy" when, after taking one ecstasy tablet, she became ill and told friends that she felt like she was "going to die." Two teenage acquaintances did not seek medical care and instead tried to get Perez to smoke marijuana. When that failed due to her seizures, the friends tried to force-feed marijuana leaves to her, "apparently because [they] knew that drug is sometimes used to treat cancer patients." Irma Perez lost consciousness and died a few days later when she was taken off life support. She was 14 years old.74
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Comment #19 posted by Dankhank on September 04, 2007 at 19:27:53 PT
aolbites
great find, I sent it to my local rag ...The usually run Neal Peirce's stuff.What kinda way is that to spell a name??? :-0
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Comment #18 posted by charmed quark on September 04, 2007 at 18:45:44 PT
Medical marijuana users speak out
It IS scary to speak out. You really can lose your job. There is definitely a climate of fear about this in the USA. But a number of medical marijuana users decided to speak out in a film made here in NJ to present to the state legislators discussing a med marijuana bill:
http://www.normlnj.org/mb_normlnj/showthread.php?t=116
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Comment #17 posted by mayan on September 04, 2007 at 18:22:32 PT
aolbites
That is a very hard-hitting article. The drug war does indeed feed terrorists, especially those in our own government. Thanks for the link!THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...Foreshadows of "The Kennebunkport Warning"
http://mujca.com/kennebunkport_priorities.htmThis September 11 - Rally for Truth, Peace and Impeachment in DC:
http://911blogger.com/node/11073Chinese Boxes, Rubik's Cubes and 3 Card Monte Games:
http://smokingmirrors.blogspot.com/2007/09/cninese-boxes-rubiks-cubes-and-3-card.html9/11 Building 7:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVBd03ibziM9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB - OUR NATION IS IN PERIL:
http://www.911sharethetruth.com/
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Comment #16 posted by whig on September 04, 2007 at 17:50:38 PT
RevRayGreen
But will it work well enough that I should abstain from taking the bisphosphonate the doctors are recommending for osteoporosis?That is still the question. I will ask for another bone density scan to be done to see what progression or change has occurred over the past year. It may be that the change will not be what they expect, or it may be further deterioration, in latter case of which I would take their drug upon consensus.Naturopath tomorrow, Dentist Thursday, endocrinologist and orthopedist (who made original recommendation) still to come. I have to say that Kaiser permanente has been good to me as long as I know to ask the right questions and not agree to recommendations without doing some research. All but the dentist know I use cannabis but I did not feel comfortable discussing it with him. He does not provide a private setting.
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Comment #15 posted by MikeC on September 04, 2007 at 17:24:20 PT
Question...
How come the federal drug agents don't raid the University of Mississippi for growing/providing medical marijuana to the Irv Rosenfeld and the few others of the Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program?
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Comment #14 posted by john wayne on September 04, 2007 at 17:23:20 PT
poetic justice
> A grandmother and former California corrections officer,betcha she administered plenty of drug-prison justice.  Poetic justice?Hoisted by her own petard?
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Comment #13 posted by potpal on September 04, 2007 at 16:23:22 PT
Who wouldn't?
But while the drug war (on cannabis users) continues to rage, we desire to have the sick and dying taken off the battlefield. Who wouldn't?Republicans.
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Comment #12 posted by RevRayGreen on September 04, 2007 at 16:08:30 PT
I ready to
stand side by side with Montel, if only his producers would come to Iowa to do a show with Barbara and George.I'm telling you I'm living proof medical marijuana works.
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Comment #11 posted by aolbites on September 04, 2007 at 14:20:40 PT
Drug war's latest achievement:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2003863047_neal04.htmlNeal Peirce / Syndicated columnist
Drug war's latest achievement: Boosting global terrorismThirty-eight million arrests, most for simple possession. Lives ruined, families disrupted. America turned into the most prison-happy nation on the face of the earth. Illegal rewards incentivizing shooting fields in inner-city neighborhoods — enough bloodshed to appall even an Al Capone. More than $1 trillion in taxpayer outlays.Thirty-six years after President Richard Nixon inaugurated this country's misbegotten "war on drugs," worldwide narcotics markets are booming, drug-ring profits are higher than ever, and drugs cost less than ever on the street.Our "war" is a miserable, incredibly costly failure.But now, we're learning, there's a jarring new dimension. The drug war is directly feeding international terrorism. The most startling new evidence comes from Afghanistan.-=snip=-
Drug war's latest achievement: Boosting global terrorism
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Comment #10 posted by dongenero on September 04, 2007 at 13:49:04 PT
sam, sad but true I guess
How many Montel Williams are there? Besides, he looks good, even healthy, he's strong forceful and outspoken. Congress probably cannot imagine the suffering.Angel tried, look how that went. She looks more frail and ill than Montel. She probably made Congress uncomfortable for a few moments, then her testimony ended. Whew! back to planning the weekend at the Hamptons and soliciting gay sex under the stall and sexually harassing interns. Wait cash that Pharma lobbyist's check before we go.I don't know if Congress is in touch enough to have any real empathy for people. Sad state of society.
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Comment #9 posted by sam adams on September 04, 2007 at 13:32:26 PT
another thought
the calvacade of angry medical patients isn't happening anytime soon. The vast majority are not like us; they are afraid of even calling their state reps and giving their name. Many are desparately ill and their lives are falling apart and they know nothing about MJ enforcement or who is targeted. The system is working perfectly for Big Pharm, as designed. Opposition is forced into silence with intimidation or brute force when necessary. It's really the same for recreational users. Of course no one believes the silly reefer madness ideas and themes that are circulated by the government and mainstream media; however, the propaganda is very successful at creating a climate of fear and even embarassment for people who are considering pushing back or speaking out.How many times have I met a medical MJ patients who can't speak out or send a letter or call his/her state rep because they fear losing their job. Too many to count.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on September 04, 2007 at 13:15:03 PT
Just a Thought
I really appreciate Granite Staters getting questions answered but what would work better would be people who most definitely will vote for a Democrat to get a question asked and answered. I would be afraid to answer a question if I was running for President if I knew they weren't from the party I was representing.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on September 04, 2007 at 13:10:18 PT
Dankhank
I believe you are right. Go for it. I'm too much of a wall flower type to think that anyone would ever listen to a question of mine. For those who aren't shy for lack of a better word make us proud!
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Comment #6 posted by Dankhank on September 04, 2007 at 13:07:00 PT
FoM
sometimes you only have to ask and the most amazing things happen ...
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on September 04, 2007 at 12:48:12 PT
It's Time
Dankhank I agree. Now that we are in the home stretch until the Primaries now is the time to get involved and ask questions and write letters, go to events if possible and let them hear our voices. After we know who will get the nomination then we can focus on one person and not all of them. 
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Comment #4 posted by Hope on September 04, 2007 at 12:44:02 PT
Paul Armentano
It is good.Thank you.
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Comment #3 posted by Dankhank on September 04, 2007 at 12:42:02 PT
right ...
we have to face the politicians down ...It's election season, time to go to work ...
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Comment #2 posted by dongenero on September 04, 2007 at 12:40:33 PT
Another great article Paul
This is a great article. Testimony of patients like this needs to be presented personally, to Congress, in high profile hearings.I was thinking how strong this article is and then noticed Paul Armentano is coauthor. Paul is a treasured tour de force for reason and the freedom of cannabis. Thanks again.
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Comment #1 posted by ekim on September 04, 2007 at 12:22:41 PT
what would happen?
law enforcement officials raided the California dispensary that provided her medicineIF everybody that has a med cannabis card write a letter OR better yet show up some where at the same time.Say for a Pres Debate.
http://blog.leap.cc/
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