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Three years ago, when he first advanced the idea of legalizing marijuana for medical uses only, Delegate Mike Manypenny found his fellow lawmakers ill at ease when he buttonholed them in the hallways.
Even for him, it was a mite uncomfortable to broach the subject in the hallways of the Capitol.
"I needed to try to get support," Manypenny, D-Taylor, explained.
"I'd go out and start discussing it. Everybody I talked to stared at the floor and shuffled their feet in discomfort. No one walked away, but they said very little. They wouldn't give me eye contact."
At times, he heard whispered comments, snide remarks, as he went to and from his office.
And, of course, there were the jokes that surrounded him the second year in which he sought without success to get a floor vote on the measure.
"Your bill just went up in smoke," was a typical rejoinder.
No one is laughing any more.
Manypenny tried again in this year's session, and this time, he picked up nine co-sponsors, including Delegate Larry Kump, a conservative Republican in Berkeley County.
The shift in attitude has emboldened Manypenny to accelerate his efforts and he has been assured that an interims committee on health will give him time for at least one hearing, possibly two, before lawmakers convene in regular session next January.
One speaker Manypenny hopes to bring in for a hearing is Mary Lynn Mathre, president of Patients Out of Time, or POT, based in Howardsville, Va., where it was organized in 1995. The group advocates the use of marijuana for treating chronically ill patients, especially those in severe pain.
There is no plan at this stage for an interims panel to consider Manypenny's proposal in August, but the delegate says he has been promised he will get a hearing before the year is out.
Manypenny sees the times as a-changin' and the tide reversed, with some impetus gained by winning re-election in his conservative home county, despite taking a public stand on the marijuana bill.
Now that he has proved he can keep his office after publicly advocating limited access to marijuana, Manypenny believes other lawmakers will overcome fears of a voter backlash and get on his bandwagon.
"Everybody saw the writing on the wall after I got re-elected, after going out there on a limb," he says.
"It's just not the big deal that everybody thought that it was. And I think the more we talked about, the more people became desensitized."
No longer does he see lawmakers diverting their eyes or shuffling feet in the hallways, or hear any more spiteful jokes hurled in his direction. Across the nation, 20 states have legalized marijuana for medical purposes, four more than when Manypenny began his effort.
"It has evolved slowly," he said. "I think people are taking it much more seriously."
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: register-herald.com
Author: Mannix Porterfield
Contact: Contact us » The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia
Website: Medical marijuana gains support » Today's Front Page » The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia
Even for him, it was a mite uncomfortable to broach the subject in the hallways of the Capitol.
"I needed to try to get support," Manypenny, D-Taylor, explained.
"I'd go out and start discussing it. Everybody I talked to stared at the floor and shuffled their feet in discomfort. No one walked away, but they said very little. They wouldn't give me eye contact."
At times, he heard whispered comments, snide remarks, as he went to and from his office.
And, of course, there were the jokes that surrounded him the second year in which he sought without success to get a floor vote on the measure.
"Your bill just went up in smoke," was a typical rejoinder.
No one is laughing any more.
Manypenny tried again in this year's session, and this time, he picked up nine co-sponsors, including Delegate Larry Kump, a conservative Republican in Berkeley County.
The shift in attitude has emboldened Manypenny to accelerate his efforts and he has been assured that an interims committee on health will give him time for at least one hearing, possibly two, before lawmakers convene in regular session next January.
One speaker Manypenny hopes to bring in for a hearing is Mary Lynn Mathre, president of Patients Out of Time, or POT, based in Howardsville, Va., where it was organized in 1995. The group advocates the use of marijuana for treating chronically ill patients, especially those in severe pain.
There is no plan at this stage for an interims panel to consider Manypenny's proposal in August, but the delegate says he has been promised he will get a hearing before the year is out.
Manypenny sees the times as a-changin' and the tide reversed, with some impetus gained by winning re-election in his conservative home county, despite taking a public stand on the marijuana bill.
Now that he has proved he can keep his office after publicly advocating limited access to marijuana, Manypenny believes other lawmakers will overcome fears of a voter backlash and get on his bandwagon.
"Everybody saw the writing on the wall after I got re-elected, after going out there on a limb," he says.
"It's just not the big deal that everybody thought that it was. And I think the more we talked about, the more people became desensitized."
No longer does he see lawmakers diverting their eyes or shuffling feet in the hallways, or hear any more spiteful jokes hurled in his direction. Across the nation, 20 states have legalized marijuana for medical purposes, four more than when Manypenny began his effort.
"It has evolved slowly," he said. "I think people are taking it much more seriously."
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: register-herald.com
Author: Mannix Porterfield
Contact: Contact us » The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia
Website: Medical marijuana gains support » Today's Front Page » The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia
