Robert Celt
New Member
Gov. Tom Wolf, state Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17th Dist., and state Rep. Tim Briggs, D-149th Dist., joined about a dozen advocates of the medical marijuana bill Wolf recently signed into law in King of Prussia Tuesday to tout the new legislation and promise its swift implementation.
The law, which passed with bipartisan support, will allow marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes in pill form and in oils that can be vaporized. The bill's signing makes Pennsylvania the 24th state to sanction a medical marijuana program.
"This is about helping peoples lives, about helping people that are going to be better, faster. They're going to feel better and that is just such a rewarding thing," said Wolf after thanking the state Legislature.
Wolf said states that have legalized medical marijuana have seen a 25 percent decrease in opioid overdose deaths and predicted similar results in Pennsylvania, which recorded approximately 2,000 such deaths last year.
"That's 500 lives we're saving by legalizing medical marijuana, so we're making lives better. We're making lives more comfortable. We're making families stronger, and we're saving lives, and that's a really big thing," Wolf said before turning the podium over to Leach, whom he thanked for being one of the bill's major proponents in Harrisburg.
Leach said sparing approximately 500 people from opioid overdose deaths is just the "tip of the iceberg" when it comes to the potential benefits of the new law.
He cited greater tolerance of chemotherapy by cancer patients, the alleviation of post-traumatic stress disorder for veterans and the treatment and prolonging of life for children with intractable epilepsy as some of the ways medical marijuana could help Pennsylvanians.
Leach said he hoped the federal government will soon reassess marijuana's current status as a Schedule 1 drug, thus eliminating impediments for approved use by benefit organizations such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
"They're doing amazing work in research in terms of cannabis and diabetes, and cannabis not only for chemotherapy but for actual tumor reduction. There are lot of conditions that this can be helpful for and we're hopefully going to be making a huge difference in people's lives," Leach said.
Medical marijuana made the ultimate difference for Randal Ray Robertson, the former owner of Triple R Guitar in Lemoyne, who was present at the press conference, and who was diagnosed with bile duct cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease in March 2015. Following extensive surgery in which parts of several organs were removed, he embarked on what he described as a "horrific" course of chemotherapy that medical marijuana helped him survive.
"I was given three to four months to live without chemotherapy and nine to 11 with," Robertson said. "My mother started praying about it and someone came to my door and said, 'I heard you need the oil.' I didn't have any idea what he was talking about. It saved my life is what it did. It really did.
"It's obviously the right thing to do, that's the bottom line. People can finally have access to the medicine which they should have had access to in the beginning. To have the availability for children, for cancer patients, for all of us, PTSD, whatever it is, to be able to finally access that without persecution is a huge step. I'm saved, and that's a cool thing."
Leach stressed that the bill's passage represents the initial phase of a comprehensive mission to insure that Pennsylvanians have access to medical marijuana.
"It's one thing to sign a bill, that was huge step," Leach said. "It took two and a half years. We fought like crazy to make it happen and now it has happened and it's the law. But that's not the end of the story, that's the beginning of it.
"Now we have a process where we have to craft regulations. We have to implement those regulations. We have to get this industry up and running and we have to get medicine to people who need it. So that is what the governor's visit here today is designed to start."
Leach thanked Wolf for his leadership on that front, noting that after signing the bill into law, the governor visited state Sen. Mike Folmer, R-148th Dist., to work on expediting its implementation.
"We're not going to be slow about this," Leach said. "This is something we're going to go full speed ahead on.
"We don't make a difference in anyone's life until they actually get the medicine. And so that's why we have to work overtime."
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Wolf And Officials Tout Benefits Of New Medical Marijuana Law
Author: Oscar Gamble
Photo Credit: None found
Website: Mainline Media News
The law, which passed with bipartisan support, will allow marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes in pill form and in oils that can be vaporized. The bill's signing makes Pennsylvania the 24th state to sanction a medical marijuana program.
"This is about helping peoples lives, about helping people that are going to be better, faster. They're going to feel better and that is just such a rewarding thing," said Wolf after thanking the state Legislature.
Wolf said states that have legalized medical marijuana have seen a 25 percent decrease in opioid overdose deaths and predicted similar results in Pennsylvania, which recorded approximately 2,000 such deaths last year.
"That's 500 lives we're saving by legalizing medical marijuana, so we're making lives better. We're making lives more comfortable. We're making families stronger, and we're saving lives, and that's a really big thing," Wolf said before turning the podium over to Leach, whom he thanked for being one of the bill's major proponents in Harrisburg.
Leach said sparing approximately 500 people from opioid overdose deaths is just the "tip of the iceberg" when it comes to the potential benefits of the new law.
He cited greater tolerance of chemotherapy by cancer patients, the alleviation of post-traumatic stress disorder for veterans and the treatment and prolonging of life for children with intractable epilepsy as some of the ways medical marijuana could help Pennsylvanians.
Leach said he hoped the federal government will soon reassess marijuana's current status as a Schedule 1 drug, thus eliminating impediments for approved use by benefit organizations such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
"They're doing amazing work in research in terms of cannabis and diabetes, and cannabis not only for chemotherapy but for actual tumor reduction. There are lot of conditions that this can be helpful for and we're hopefully going to be making a huge difference in people's lives," Leach said.
Medical marijuana made the ultimate difference for Randal Ray Robertson, the former owner of Triple R Guitar in Lemoyne, who was present at the press conference, and who was diagnosed with bile duct cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease in March 2015. Following extensive surgery in which parts of several organs were removed, he embarked on what he described as a "horrific" course of chemotherapy that medical marijuana helped him survive.
"I was given three to four months to live without chemotherapy and nine to 11 with," Robertson said. "My mother started praying about it and someone came to my door and said, 'I heard you need the oil.' I didn't have any idea what he was talking about. It saved my life is what it did. It really did.
"It's obviously the right thing to do, that's the bottom line. People can finally have access to the medicine which they should have had access to in the beginning. To have the availability for children, for cancer patients, for all of us, PTSD, whatever it is, to be able to finally access that without persecution is a huge step. I'm saved, and that's a cool thing."
Leach stressed that the bill's passage represents the initial phase of a comprehensive mission to insure that Pennsylvanians have access to medical marijuana.
"It's one thing to sign a bill, that was huge step," Leach said. "It took two and a half years. We fought like crazy to make it happen and now it has happened and it's the law. But that's not the end of the story, that's the beginning of it.
"Now we have a process where we have to craft regulations. We have to implement those regulations. We have to get this industry up and running and we have to get medicine to people who need it. So that is what the governor's visit here today is designed to start."
Leach thanked Wolf for his leadership on that front, noting that after signing the bill into law, the governor visited state Sen. Mike Folmer, R-148th Dist., to work on expediting its implementation.
"We're not going to be slow about this," Leach said. "This is something we're going to go full speed ahead on.
"We don't make a difference in anyone's life until they actually get the medicine. And so that's why we have to work overtime."
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Wolf And Officials Tout Benefits Of New Medical Marijuana Law
Author: Oscar Gamble
Photo Credit: None found
Website: Mainline Media News
