Today’s Labor Day edition of the ArgusLeader published a duo of stories outlining the political climate which surrounds most of the medical marijuana debate and prospects for Initiated Measure 13. I haven’t pursued personal blogging much since taking on my role with the Coalition for Compassion a little over a year ago, but after reading quotes from our opponents in today’s publication I feel compelled to refute the false claims and misguided rhetoric.
The Coalition for Compassion is led by Patrick K. Lynch the former chairman of the Multiple Scleroses Society and Tony Ryan, a retired lieutenant Police Officer. Since our founding, the Coalition collected twice as many signatures as the state requires for a ballot initiative far ahead of the deadline for 2010 – and with such success our grassroots network of volunteers has expanded to an impressive organization of doctors, nurses, current and former law-enforcement officials, and average South Dakotans from every political background, religion, and occupation who are united by a common cause of compassion and empathy for our loved ones living with painful and debilitating illnesses. My grandmother among many others, successfully and safely eased nausea and wasting syndrome during chemo-radiation with medical marijuana, a therapeutic option that is so effective it is often recommended by South Dakota doctors even while it remains illegal.
Measure 13 offers South Dakota a strictly controlled program to handle the need for this type of therapy. Patients and caregivers will be registered with the department of health. IM13 has several explicitly detailed restrictions which make obtaining a recommendation for medical marijuana more difficult then it would be for a patient to obtain many common prescription painkillers.
In a previous AP news article Art Mabry, Vermillion Police Chief, calls the Coalition for Compassion a ‘scam’ and in today’s article he opposes our measure with a somewhat more specific message: “it would create a black market for unused marijuana and it will increase the danger of drugged driving.. I’m curious about what a caregiver does with plants that don’t sell.” These statements clearly indicate that Mabry hasn’t even taken the time to analyze the initiative which is so concerning for he and his fleet of college-town cops.
Measure 13 strictly prohibits any sale of marijuana.
Driving under the influence is also strictly prohibited.
There is an even longer list of rules and regulations, even a requirement that each patient complete a re-evaluation every six months.
I don’t think I’m alone on this one, but considering the logistics of our proposal, there is little logic in Mabry’s vision of marijuana magically falling from the clouds and some how winding up in everyone’s backyard. Denial that marijuana isn’t already an easily available drug for anyone who desires to get their hands on it and use for leisure or any other reason is complete ignorance. Simply put, marijuana is around. If you can’t connect the dots Chief, then maybe you should swing by campus for intro to economics because where there is demand, there is supply. Whether it is alcohol sold underground by the mafia in the 20s, malt beverages and beer being sold by bartenders now, or coffee being sold at Starbucks.. When there is a product that people want, there is someone around to sell it.
So, while some chose to use marijuana for leisurely reasons (distasteful, yes) there is a market that exists for them. The arguments of medical marijuana creating some new substance out of thin air is used and tried, let’s have some common sense about what we’re talking about here, a natural plant on God’s green earth. The difference between marijuana on the streets and medical marijuana is that the legal, doctor-recommended marijuana is cultivated with every precaution the patient deserves. Safety and control is applied to medical marijuana while black market marijuana continues to be readily available to anyone who wants it without any oversight or control. And again, our proposal does not include any type of sale. IM13 is a not-for-profit, simple, yet strictly controlled approach for patients to have a safe, legal option as an alternative to the black market. Lynch, Ryan, the 100 + nurses in SD, myself and the rest of the Coalition are not looking to get rich.. If that was our interest, there is an abundence of lucrative career opportunities in the marijuana market, and there are no taxes involved either!
What we are proposing, it not to ‘create’ any market for marijuana as Mabry can foresee. With plain rationality, we are simply asking that people like my grandmother, who took 2 puffs of marijuana and ate her first full meal during cancer treatment, have a safe, legal, option to pursue so they don’t have to resort to the already existing black market.. Which is often dangerous, and has absolutely no standards for safety or quality and ultimately degrades the sick persons’ dignity and puts their whole family through anxiety while risking criminal repercussions.
When a licensed physician whom a patient has an established relationship recommends a scientifically supported therapy for which the patient can find relief from their symptoms, no state law should stand as a barrier. Measure 13 will set a good example for the rest of the nation and will safely protect the many patients in SD who are and will benefit from the medical use of marijuana.
The Coalition for Compassion and our allies are ready to stand strong for what we’re proposing; we are united by a high-held virtue of compassion: our campaign for IM13 is an honest, sincere effort to extend compassion to the most vulnerable people among us.
Rhetoric and false claims will not appeal to voters in 2010.
Board members for the Coalition for Compassion are meeting this week to prepare an open invitation to debate IM13 with anyone who opposes the measure.
Tonight however, I’m personally extending an invitation to Mr. Mabry to sit down with the Coalition so we can go over the facts. Perhaps a town-hall style discussion or a head-to-head debate, accept this invitation in whichever way you would like. One thing is for sure, the nearly 33,000 South Dakotans who signed the petition and the many more thousands of citizens around the state who have loved ones suffering from cancer or other illnesses are not going to let your crude attempts belittle our cause or go without notice.
Let South Dakota doctors and patients decide!
Vote YES for Compassion, YES on 13!
I encourage everyone affected by any of these illnesses or anyone who has compassion for the sick and dying to join our growing Coalition at our website:
2008 study: Therapeutic use of Cannabis sativa on chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting among cancer patients: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Argus Leader Poll
These guys are cowards.. give me them hell!
Maybe if Doctor Hard ASS Huber didn’t have his pockets filled from some big pharma interest group he wouldn’t have qualms over such a strictly controlled approach to a natural medicine that is widely accepted by many physicians, the AMA, the Am. Nurses Association, Am. College of Physicians, American Addiction Soceity.. ect
He and Mabry are both on the wrong side of history and they have to know it deep down inside. Can anyone really be genuinely opposed to IM13? No one has ever died from marijuana, and last time I checked the records most people in treatment for marijuana are only there because of court referral. Marijuana is just as prevelant as alcohol and science shows better ways of handling marijuana use in society over our current racist-budget crunching backwards approach of prohibition that hasn’t worked for over 70 years!! These cowards are placeholders! EXPOSE THEM and you WILL WIN!
Good luck to the Coalition! I’m voting Yes for 13!!!
I have several friends who were given a prescription for medical marijuana years ago by doctors who recognized that despite all the advancements in medicine, marijuana is the only treatment that has effectively controlled their chronic pain and/or spastisity. While the prescriptions were purely symbolic the doctors wanted to make a statement that no one should have to face imprisonment for nothing more than trying to make their life bearable. These friends are all para or quadriplegics but otherwise run the gamut of backgrounds, veterans, farm boys, liberals, conservatives or apolitical, they all have one thing in common, they just want to be able to legally use the one drug that has been shown to effectively treat their condition.
This is a very well thought out argument that relies upon facts rather than emotion. That being said, I still think the coalition is fighting an uphill battle against ignorance and fear.
Considering the average intelligence of voters these days, and the fact that most don’t even bother to study the issues or candidates they are voting upon, I sincerely doubt this initative will pass. I suspect at least a 55% no vote. I hope I’m wrong, but South Dakota remains a very conservative state (both politically and idealogically), and I sincerely doubt a little information or logic will do much to impact that.
It should be taken further, eventually. Decriminalization.
Decriminalization reduced drug us, drug abuse, and crime associated with drug abuse in Portugal. We had this RIGHT about 100 years ago – until well-intended doo-gooders moralized personal behavior.
Download the full white paper:
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10080
All good points thus far, no logical reason this shouldn’t pass.
Ironically, it will be the anti-Obama backlash that will bring out the vote this year, and those folks will likely knock this back again.
The organizers of this movement would be well served to hit the next few Tea Party events with well prepared foot soldiers. Remind them that God created this wonderful plant.
“it would create a black market for unused marijuana and it will increase the danger of drugged driving.. I’m curious about what a caregiver does with plants that don’t sell.â€
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
The real fear the law enforcement and prison industry has about the continued march toward legalization is that they’ll lose a big chunk of their budgets.
Weed is easier for the average teenager to get than alcohol or tobacco. Why? Because the dealer down the street doesn’t have to check ID.
The organizers of this movement would be well served to hit the next few Tea Party events with well prepared foot soldiers. Remind them that God created this wonderful plant.
You’ve got to remember that these are just simple teabaggers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know… morons. Good luck making any headway with most of them. They’re still stuck on “Reefer Madness”.
If it passes I’m curious if the State Legislature can and will overturn it?
If it passes, I’m predicting shortly afterwards I’ll be diagnosed with fibromyalgia compounded by a serious case of the Fuck-Its.
I thought you already had a case of Fuck-Its?
I do, it just isn’t that serious yet… IM13 will cause flare ups… get it? Because you have to use fire to light a joint? Man, these jokes practically write themselves! Woo!
Angry Guy, that’s pretty funny. I DID laugh out loud.
Go to War College. Read the topic and comments. Now consider that Phat Phlowers asked me for a response, which he called goofy and “no response,” then shut off the comments section to me.
I hope you’ll go and post something worth reading.
Here is the last thing I sent, and which told me I was barred when it did not appear.
Okay. I don’t think PP wants a serious discussion, but on the off chance that he doesn’t get tired and run away as he has been wont to do in the past, I’ll post away for the benefit of those who think PP brings up serious points.
No doubt you’ve heard of legal precedent. In my illustration concerning alcohol prohibition I posted “nonsense” about a clearly legal way to change both state and federal laws. PP says “Y’can’t do it because it’s illegal.” We say, “Okay, then, let’s make it legal.” PP says, “It’s illegal because it’s illegal.” We say, “Yes. And…?”
Guarantee of quality control? Where do you get that with anything?
Quality control for what reason? To stop the medicine from killing people? Cannabis has never killed anyone. Ever. People like PP’s cop friends kill people because they think they might have some cannabis.
To stop caregivers from supplying their patients with crap that doesn’t alleviate their pain or nausea? Gee, I guess if the medicine ain’t workin’ ya gotta try a different medicine. Oh, but that’s what this is all about, isn’t it?
With absolutely no basis, PP says, “I asked about prescribing MM for Minors, and you cited some [goofy] justification of it being used in the treatment of autism.” Do you believe that cannabis has no medical application? Now , THAT’s goofy.
The court already deals regularly with divorced parents who disagree on courses of action to take with children in all aspects of their lives. IM13 takes care of the DSS aspect. If it doesn’t, the courts will.
Your red herring about property and employer rights and a “new protected class” may or may not be a deciding factor in the election. However, everything you say puts the lie on your self-ascribed antipathy towards the nanny state.
You can’t describe a single harmful factor about cannabis that is not caused or exacerbated by the laws prohibiting its possession.
Awwww. Fuck it.
Not sure how weed can help cure anyone with the Fuck-its, but the matter needs further study.
Not so fast Dude, you seem like you’ve taken a big gravity bong hit of the Olberman/Colbert/Stewarts mis-characterization of the Tea Party.
For the most, it’s a loose coalition of conservative & libertarian types who simply don’t like the recent huge run up (even when compared to Bush) of deficits and the inevitable tax increases that will be required to service them. The whackos are the ones who make the clips and the Youtube vids and that’s by design, but the vast majority are simply folks who want a change of direction from our last change of direction.
Wear a big T-shirt saying “I’m tokin’ up to reduce the debt” and you will get their attention.
This is really funny. I introduced Mike Austad (from the local tea party) to Emmett (from IM13) at the SE Empire Fair debate between Noem and Herseth. Mike (who is very amusing) made a comment about being a ‘teabagger’ that was really funny in respect to being a nutty tea party member. Good stuff.
Not so fast Dude, you seem like you’ve taken a big gravity bong hit of the Olberman/Colbert/Stewarts mis-characterization of the Tea Party.
Check out the idiocy on PP’s blog and tell me those aren’t the exact people I’m talking about.
1. It’s illegal because it’s bad for you (see #2)
2. It’s bad for you because it’s illegal and you can get arrested (see #1)
Great discussion today. Thanks to all that advanced the cause.