Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
What looked like a bleak outcome for the medical marijuana proposal, HB 1, as it passed from the Georgia House of Representatives to the Senate, became a little more hopeful on Thursday for families and legislators still fighting for the bill.
Dale Jackson believes it was a miracle.
Jackson, whose 7-year-old son, Colin, is autistic, testified before a Senate committee on Thursday about the benefits of cannabis oil and how it would potentially help thousands of people suffering from a variety of diseases.
Jackson said he was prepared for the worst, but was shocked at how the Senate session unfolded.
“It was an unbelievable day, compared to what we were expecting last week,” he said. “Technically, HB 1 no longer exists. Senator Renee Unterman presented a substitute for HB 1 and Senate Bill 185, which dealt with clinical trials for cannabis oil … and combined the two together.”
According to Jackson, the rumors of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee totally gutting the bill, which passed the House, proved to be false. Minor changes were made to the bill, including pairing down the list of diseases and disorders allowed to use medicinal marijuana from nine to eight. Fibromyalgia was cut from the list.
The Senate committee, chaired by Renee Unterman, R-Buford, still wouldn’t add autism back on to the bill. Jackson said he spoke with her about it on Thursday.
“In my world, I can appreciate her honesty. Her reason was 30 percent to 40 percent of autism patients have had seizures in their life time. So, in a way, autism is still covered,” Jackson said.
However, the diagnosis would not apply to his son Colin, who stopped suffering seizures when he was 3 years old. He is a low functioning and, according to Jackson, is starting to show signs of a “tic” where he bangs his head on things. Colin also can’t feed himself or communicate with his parents.
“He has one language, and it’s outbursts, and that’s if he’s angry or happy,” said Jackson. “It makes it difficult because we (family) know he’s trying to communicate with us.”
Jackson said he plans on petitioning other senators, including Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, to add autism back on the list as an amendment to the bill.
“I made a commitment to my son that I would speak on his behalf,” said Jackson. “So every chance I got, I did. And I’m not going anywhere … I’m still going to be there for all the families battling autism.”
“In everything I’ve done legislatively … and everyone knows this … I’m generally not happy with compromise. I’m more of a ‘Let’s go for what we know is right principally. No compromises.’ But with this, at the end of the day, if the only thing that passed was for seizures, I would be happy. Many people died because it got caught up in the legislative session last year. And we were determined this year, not to let that happen … we’re not talking about taxes, we’re talking about people’s lives.”
Jackson said he is confident the new version of HB 1 / SB 185 will pass the senate and be signed by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal into legislation this year – whether or not his petition for an amendment is added to the bill.
“Anything could happen on the Senate floor,” Jackson said. “But just the fact that they (Senate committee) kept most of HB 1 intact … it says a lot about the support we’ve gotten around the state. Legislators have been getting hundreds of phone calls every day. So compared to where we were a month ago … this truly is a miracle.
“It would be a massive shock to everything I know about the Georgia legislative process if the bill did not pass as is, right now, by the legislature and signed by the Governor.”
The new version of the bill went to the Senate Rules committee Friday afternoon. Jackson believes it will hit the Senate floor for a vote either today or Tuesday. Jackson planned on being at the capitol both days to watch the vote.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: A glimmer of hope Family hopeful as medical marijuana bill heads to Senate floor - Lagrange Daily News - lagrangenews.com
Author: Melanie Ruberti
Contact: mruberti@civitasmedia.com
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Lagrange Daily News - lagrangenews.com
Dale Jackson believes it was a miracle.
Jackson, whose 7-year-old son, Colin, is autistic, testified before a Senate committee on Thursday about the benefits of cannabis oil and how it would potentially help thousands of people suffering from a variety of diseases.
Jackson said he was prepared for the worst, but was shocked at how the Senate session unfolded.
“It was an unbelievable day, compared to what we were expecting last week,” he said. “Technically, HB 1 no longer exists. Senator Renee Unterman presented a substitute for HB 1 and Senate Bill 185, which dealt with clinical trials for cannabis oil … and combined the two together.”
According to Jackson, the rumors of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee totally gutting the bill, which passed the House, proved to be false. Minor changes were made to the bill, including pairing down the list of diseases and disorders allowed to use medicinal marijuana from nine to eight. Fibromyalgia was cut from the list.
The Senate committee, chaired by Renee Unterman, R-Buford, still wouldn’t add autism back on to the bill. Jackson said he spoke with her about it on Thursday.
“In my world, I can appreciate her honesty. Her reason was 30 percent to 40 percent of autism patients have had seizures in their life time. So, in a way, autism is still covered,” Jackson said.
However, the diagnosis would not apply to his son Colin, who stopped suffering seizures when he was 3 years old. He is a low functioning and, according to Jackson, is starting to show signs of a “tic” where he bangs his head on things. Colin also can’t feed himself or communicate with his parents.
“He has one language, and it’s outbursts, and that’s if he’s angry or happy,” said Jackson. “It makes it difficult because we (family) know he’s trying to communicate with us.”
Jackson said he plans on petitioning other senators, including Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, to add autism back on the list as an amendment to the bill.
“I made a commitment to my son that I would speak on his behalf,” said Jackson. “So every chance I got, I did. And I’m not going anywhere … I’m still going to be there for all the families battling autism.”
“In everything I’ve done legislatively … and everyone knows this … I’m generally not happy with compromise. I’m more of a ‘Let’s go for what we know is right principally. No compromises.’ But with this, at the end of the day, if the only thing that passed was for seizures, I would be happy. Many people died because it got caught up in the legislative session last year. And we were determined this year, not to let that happen … we’re not talking about taxes, we’re talking about people’s lives.”
Jackson said he is confident the new version of HB 1 / SB 185 will pass the senate and be signed by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal into legislation this year – whether or not his petition for an amendment is added to the bill.
“Anything could happen on the Senate floor,” Jackson said. “But just the fact that they (Senate committee) kept most of HB 1 intact … it says a lot about the support we’ve gotten around the state. Legislators have been getting hundreds of phone calls every day. So compared to where we were a month ago … this truly is a miracle.
“It would be a massive shock to everything I know about the Georgia legislative process if the bill did not pass as is, right now, by the legislature and signed by the Governor.”
The new version of the bill went to the Senate Rules committee Friday afternoon. Jackson believes it will hit the Senate floor for a vote either today or Tuesday. Jackson planned on being at the capitol both days to watch the vote.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: A glimmer of hope Family hopeful as medical marijuana bill heads to Senate floor - Lagrange Daily News - lagrangenews.com
Author: Melanie Ruberti
Contact: mruberti@civitasmedia.com
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Lagrange Daily News - lagrangenews.com
