Posted on 01/25/2018 8:34:31 AM PST by Kaslin
The hippies of the 70s are old. Time is merciless and none of us get out of here alive. My dad is a baby boomer born in 1944. He enjoyed his time as a 20 and 30 something in the '60s and '70s of America. It was a crazy time marked by free-love, tie-dyed shirts, pot-smoking, a free-wheeling youth, and the chaos of Vietnam.
That was a long time ago. Until a year ago, my dad, now in his early 70s, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. My dad was a strong man who worked construction much of his life. His parents had lived into their 90s, so we all assumed he had a good 20-year run remaining. We’d all noticed a little shake in his hand at Christmas and by spring it was confirmed to be a ruthless and debilitating neurological disease that has no cure.
It’s a terrifying moment when you have to resign yourself to a fate that only a miracle from heaven can cure. The conversation immediately turns to symptom management. That’s all there is. The only hope is to fight the symptoms off long enough to live another five or 10 years or maybe more if you’re lucky.
So, when the moniker of the 70s, marijuana, is found to be in many cases a miracle drug in controlling those symptoms…it can turn the most die-hard anti-drug hardliner into a libertarian.
If marijuana oil, or pot gummy bears, or an inhaler, or whatever form we choose allows my dad to be a grandfather to my kids a few years longer, then I am for it. It’s time for Congress to get on the right side of federalism and let the states decide this issue. Let the drugs get to the people who need it.
I would not wish my dad’s illness on anybody, but I wonder if Attorney General Sessions would change is bulldog stance on medical marijuana if the next time he put his pen to paper he noticed a slight tremor in his hand. Nobody should take one of the most promising medications away from those who suffer.
Conservatives in Congress have long supported the idea of federalism and the right of states to govern themselves. Right now, Congress is debating the future of the 29 states and the District of Columbia that have passed laws allowing medical marijuana’s use and distribution within the states’ borders. There are a number of conservatives who are fighting to protect federalism from Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ stated intention to free up the Justice Department to prosecute medical marijuana states.
The time is now. Congress is working on finishing up appropriations bills for this year. They’re arguing over a funding rider that prevents the DOJ from prosecuting states that allow medical marijuana. Attorney General Sessions is an aggressive voice to remove that provision from law.
Why? He hates drugs of any kind more than he believes in the states rights to govern themselves. A government closer to the people being governed is always a better government.
Medical Marijuana won’t rise to the level of DACA, but if this provision is removed from the appropriations bill, more Republicans will oppose it on February 8th when Congress takes up appropriations again.
When President Donald J. Trump was running for office, he unequivocally told a Colorado reporter, Brandon Rittman, when asked if he would allow his Attorney General to shut down adult use of marijuana in Colorado he answered, “I think it should be up to the states, absolutely.”
It’s time to hold President Trump to that promise.
Trump professed many times his support for medical marijuana and made numerous statements in support of federalism in regards to state medical marijuana laws. Literally issues like this caused many to boldly vote Trump. Constitutional conservatives supported Trump because they believed he would protect federalism and states’ rights to make laws with regard to activities that are conducted within their boundaries.
The DOJ is on the attack and medical marijuana is in their sites. Earlier this month, the Justice Department withdrew the Cole Memo that provided a safe harbor for marijuana operators in states allowing its sale and following eight law enforcement guidelines. Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) Tweeted that Sessions's withdrawal of the Cole Memo contradicted, “what Attorney General Sessions told me prior to his confirmation.” Conservative Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) was the chief sponsor of an amendment in 2014 that defunded the federal government’s power to prosecute the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana and Congress voted to support his position 219-189 on May 30, 2014. His efforts were joined in the Senate by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).
This is an issue that has been championed by conservatives who respect federalism from day one. This isn’t about a bunch of people sitting around in VW Vans smoking doobies. This is about my dad being able to walk into my son’s band concert and not need a wheel chair.
Does the DOJ, Trump, and the GOP for that matter, really want to be against that?
I can respect an argument made on Constitutional grounds that this is not a federal matter and that it should be left to the several states.
I can respect an argument that says government (state or federal) should not declare that plants found in nature are “illegal”.
I do not respect arguments which are sob stories. “Waaaaah! My Dad has Parkinsons! Waaaaah! Change your drug policy! Waaaaah!”
I’m not opposed to giving this guy what he wants. But the constant victimhood approach to politics now earns my constant scorn.
There is a lot going on in this country right now; the pot battle is a small, but significant, fight for liberty.
Pot doesn’t help everyone. It does help some people, probably a lot more then is realized.
It seems a little ridiculous to allow people access to cigarettes and booze but draw a line at pot, which is provably and demonstratably less dangerous then cigarettes or alcohol.
Live free or die.
I thought marijuana was “medical” by fiat (a fiat medicine). Thus there is no debate. It’s “settled science.”
Just in the cases of a few people I know who have used medical marijuana, it’s effects are far from placebo. This stuff works. And works well.
The comical part was when my friend showed such amazing recovery results after his chemo therapy for stage four cancer, when he told the doctor it was due to the medical marijuana he was using, the doctor got so angry he became almost physically violent. Something is going on here.
Just in the cases of a few people I know who have used medical marijuana, it’s effects are far from placebo. This stuff works. And works well.
The comical part was when my friend showed such amazing recovery results after his chemo therapy for stage four cancer, when he told the doctor it was due to the medical marijuana he was using, the doctor got so angry he became almost physically violent. Something is going on here.
Edit: I forgot to mention. My friend’s amazing recovery meant he didn’t have to go through some very expensive follow up procedures. :)
As someone who began using cannabis in 2015 for medical reasons & has experienced a dramatic improvement in my quality of life, I 100% agree with candidate Trump.
It’s an issue for the states to decide. Not Fedzilla.
:-D
My comment has NOTHING to do with any disease.
My comment is about the rhetorical technique of victimhood. I oppose that method of political blackmail.
I have lived in Washington State my entire life and had a 25 year career responding to emergency medical calls. Legalization of marijuana has been nothing short of a nightmare where we live. It became legal for “medicinal purposes” long before it was legal for recreational use. That was nothing but a sick joke... absolutely anyone could recite the correct words to a quack doctor recommended by their local pot shop and then purchase marijuana.
I know dozens of people who have been using marijuana since their teens. Nearly all of them have problems related to their usage.
I doubt any prosecutor would charge a 70 yr old battling Parkinsons with smoking or possessing pot. Just buy it and smoke it if it helps.
“Marijuana use was also linked with a variety of factors known to increase cardiovascular risk, such as obesity, high blood pressure, smoking and alcohol use. After researchers adjusted the analysis to account for these factors, marijuana use was independently associated with a 26 percent increase in the risk of stroke and a 10 percent increase in the risk of developing heart failure.
“Even when we corrected for known risk factors, we still found a higher rate of both stroke and heart failure in these patients, so that leads us to believe that there is something else going on besides just obesity or diet-related cardiovascular side effects,” Kalla said. “More research will be needed to understand the pathophysiology behind this effect.”
https://www.livescience.com/56264-heavy-marijuana-use-may-damage-the-brain.html
Complete and total crap. IF pot WERE an effective medicine pharmaceuticals would be all over it. They already have THC based medicine but none are recommended for Parkinsons as far as I know.
The bottom line is that Parkinsons DOES have effective medicines. Much more effective then smoking pot with far fewer side effects.
See this link from the Mayo Clinic or read numerous other pages for REAL Parkinson's treatments.
The author of this piece is just using his dad's disease to further the pro-legalization's (LEFTIST) view of pot.
If the active ingredients in marijuana is a valid treatment for certain ailments then drug companies can and will go through the normal procedures to get it approved through the FDA. There is no reason or need for the states to be subverting federal restrictions. This current “legalization” effort is a complete farce and anyone familiar with FDA regulations and procedures can tell you so. Marijuana has been proven to be effective under only certain conditions for certain maladies in clinical studies. When the risks are factored in... most legitimate drug companies want nothing to do with it.
You’re talking to ma about drugs and FDA approval and sickness. My comment was about none of that stuff.
The rhetoric of “I’m a victim, so I win the argument” is distasteful to me. That’s all I’m saying.
I agree with you 100%. This argument has nothing to do with illness or effective medication. It is only about marijuana advocates claiming that it is a cure for basically any medical problem and that is why it should be “legalized”. If it were an effective treatment for various maladies with no nasty side effects drug companies would be all over it.
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