Robert Celt
New Member
Let's start with the latest news.
State House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, said he intends to bring Senate Bill 3, the medical marijuana bill, to the House floor for a vote in mid-March.
Reed has been a positive force in this effort, but at this point, I'll believe it when I see it. Like the people whose impatience I'm going to write about today, I've seen too many delays.
I've learned a lot about medical marijuana since SB3 passed the Senate 40-7 last spring and was assigned to a House committee chairman determined to bury it.
I've heard doctors talk about the ways in which access to marijuana treatments will help them treat patients with chronic pain, cancer, Parkinson's, PTSD and other conditions. I've seen videos of children convulsing with terrible seizure conditions and heard awful stories of the impact on their development and on the lives of their parents. I've seen, read and heard about the way some of these children have been transformed once they're treated with cannabis oil that isn't legal here. I've been horrified at the deadly side effects brought on by the pharmaceutical drugs that can be legally prescribed for some of these conditions and for which medicinal cannabis is a safer alternative. I've met a mother whose little girl died before help could arrive.
And I've watched with growing disgust as the state lawmakers who could change all this fail over and over to do so, despite overwhelming bipartisan support for legislation that offers hope to so many suffering Pennsylvanians. All because a handful of arrogant, powerful party leaders led by House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, are keeping the democratic process in a stranglehold, doing all they can to keep a life-saving bill from reaching the House floor.
The Still Waiting Room that members of the medical marijuana advocacy group Campaign for Compassion created in the state Capitol a few months ago and have staffed ever since was brilliant in its symbolic statement to the legislators who had to walk past it every day.
People are suffering. Children are dying. Do something. We're still waiting.
This month, the group decided that symbolism and patient reminders weren't enough. So it announced it would be holding a news conference in the Capitol Rotunda – and the tone suggested that its patience is gone.
Rightly so. The latest delays have been blamed on the state budget impasse, but that excuse has long since worn thin, particularly with no budget in sight.
So a throng of supporters gathered last week in the Capitol to serve notice that if gentle symbolism and quiet pleas for compassion aren't enough to persuade arrogant lawmakers to do the right thing, they'll turn up the heat – with civil disobedience, harsh language, voices raised in anger and whatever else it takes.
"First we were promised that something would be done in July, and then September and then November and then December and then nothing," said Cara Salemme, whose son Jackson suffers from seizures. "They went home, and our children and our loved ones suffer."
Organizers asked the audience of patients, parents, legislators and others to sit quietly on the floor while a line of speakers berated House leaders and talked about what they and their children have suffered while they wait for action on a bill that was first introduced two years ago.
"Screw you, Mike Turzai!" shouted cancer survivor Theresa Nightingale, calling on people to call him every day and even providing his district office phone number. Twice.
"[Legislators] Ask yourself," said Angela Sharrer, whose 11-year-old daughter, Annie, has been suffering from devastating seizures since she was 6 months old. "Am I showing compassion to Pennsylvania's most vulnerable citizens? If the answer is yes, thank you. Keep fighting with us. Keep fighting for us. If the answer is no, then I truly feel bad for you, but we are going to hold you accountable. We are done waiting."
They had announced they would sit a minute for every one of the nine months the bill has awaited action in the House, but it ended up being twice that as speaker after speaker urged action. Capitol security officers stirred more angry words from the crowd when they attempted to clear a path for lawmakers to pass through. I noticed that the contingent of security grew as the sit-in continued.
Then Gov. Tom Wolf showed up unexpectedly and expressed his strong support, reminding someone who shouted out a question about why the bill hasn't been passed: "The speaker of the House is right down the aisle here. Why don't you go down there and ask him?"
He concluded, to rousing cheers, "You get [a bill] to my desk, and I'm going to sign it."
When it was over, organizers began dismantling the Still Waiting Room, their final statement that it's time for new, stronger efforts to put the heat on legislators.
Which reminds me. Turzai's phone number is 412-369-2230.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Indiana Medical Marijuana Supporters Are Sick Of Waiting
Author: Bill White
Photo Credit: None found
Website: The Morning Call
State House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, said he intends to bring Senate Bill 3, the medical marijuana bill, to the House floor for a vote in mid-March.
Reed has been a positive force in this effort, but at this point, I'll believe it when I see it. Like the people whose impatience I'm going to write about today, I've seen too many delays.
I've learned a lot about medical marijuana since SB3 passed the Senate 40-7 last spring and was assigned to a House committee chairman determined to bury it.
I've heard doctors talk about the ways in which access to marijuana treatments will help them treat patients with chronic pain, cancer, Parkinson's, PTSD and other conditions. I've seen videos of children convulsing with terrible seizure conditions and heard awful stories of the impact on their development and on the lives of their parents. I've seen, read and heard about the way some of these children have been transformed once they're treated with cannabis oil that isn't legal here. I've been horrified at the deadly side effects brought on by the pharmaceutical drugs that can be legally prescribed for some of these conditions and for which medicinal cannabis is a safer alternative. I've met a mother whose little girl died before help could arrive.
And I've watched with growing disgust as the state lawmakers who could change all this fail over and over to do so, despite overwhelming bipartisan support for legislation that offers hope to so many suffering Pennsylvanians. All because a handful of arrogant, powerful party leaders led by House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, are keeping the democratic process in a stranglehold, doing all they can to keep a life-saving bill from reaching the House floor.
The Still Waiting Room that members of the medical marijuana advocacy group Campaign for Compassion created in the state Capitol a few months ago and have staffed ever since was brilliant in its symbolic statement to the legislators who had to walk past it every day.
People are suffering. Children are dying. Do something. We're still waiting.
This month, the group decided that symbolism and patient reminders weren't enough. So it announced it would be holding a news conference in the Capitol Rotunda – and the tone suggested that its patience is gone.
Rightly so. The latest delays have been blamed on the state budget impasse, but that excuse has long since worn thin, particularly with no budget in sight.
So a throng of supporters gathered last week in the Capitol to serve notice that if gentle symbolism and quiet pleas for compassion aren't enough to persuade arrogant lawmakers to do the right thing, they'll turn up the heat – with civil disobedience, harsh language, voices raised in anger and whatever else it takes.
"First we were promised that something would be done in July, and then September and then November and then December and then nothing," said Cara Salemme, whose son Jackson suffers from seizures. "They went home, and our children and our loved ones suffer."
Organizers asked the audience of patients, parents, legislators and others to sit quietly on the floor while a line of speakers berated House leaders and talked about what they and their children have suffered while they wait for action on a bill that was first introduced two years ago.
"Screw you, Mike Turzai!" shouted cancer survivor Theresa Nightingale, calling on people to call him every day and even providing his district office phone number. Twice.
"[Legislators] Ask yourself," said Angela Sharrer, whose 11-year-old daughter, Annie, has been suffering from devastating seizures since she was 6 months old. "Am I showing compassion to Pennsylvania's most vulnerable citizens? If the answer is yes, thank you. Keep fighting with us. Keep fighting for us. If the answer is no, then I truly feel bad for you, but we are going to hold you accountable. We are done waiting."
They had announced they would sit a minute for every one of the nine months the bill has awaited action in the House, but it ended up being twice that as speaker after speaker urged action. Capitol security officers stirred more angry words from the crowd when they attempted to clear a path for lawmakers to pass through. I noticed that the contingent of security grew as the sit-in continued.
Then Gov. Tom Wolf showed up unexpectedly and expressed his strong support, reminding someone who shouted out a question about why the bill hasn't been passed: "The speaker of the House is right down the aisle here. Why don't you go down there and ask him?"
He concluded, to rousing cheers, "You get [a bill] to my desk, and I'm going to sign it."
When it was over, organizers began dismantling the Still Waiting Room, their final statement that it's time for new, stronger efforts to put the heat on legislators.
Which reminds me. Turzai's phone number is 412-369-2230.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Indiana Medical Marijuana Supporters Are Sick Of Waiting
Author: Bill White
Photo Credit: None found
Website: The Morning Call