HB1127 Testimony

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Beginning Tuesday morning at 7:45 a.m. South Dakotans for Safe Access will be testifyin’ in the House Health & Human Services Committee. The subject is HB1127, the 2009 South Dakota Safe Access [to cannabis as recommended by a doctor] Act.

These are the folks who are gonna be tellin’ the SDSA story there (as known at 9 a.m. Sunday).

A former Denver detective who now lives in Sen. Abdallah’s district in Sioux Falls.

A 25-year-old student and champion cowgirl who suffers debilitating migraines.

A 23-year-old student who has lost a leg from cancer.

A 45-ish eastern South Dak. businessman who suffers a degenerative digestive disorder palliated by cannabis.

A rancher with AIDS who has done time for trying to sustain his own life.

The rancher’s doctor.

A former chairman of the MS Society, North Central States Chapter (8000 members).

At least one more member of the MS Society, NC Chapter

A 1990 Gulf War veteran, with nerve damage due to exposure to chemicals

A federally supplied medical marijuana patient, who gets a tin with 300 perfectly-rolled marijuana cigarettes each month. For more information about the program under which she receives her medicine, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassionate_Investigational_New_Drug_program

You can listen live as we speak to the committee.
http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2009/CommitteeMenu.aspx
Scroll down the right column, click on “Health and Human Services
2/3/2009 7:45 AM” (When I do that, I get an error message, but an audio link is downloaded to my desktop, which I have to open to get the audio. Not sure if it works that way for everybody.)

We urge you to contact the members of the committee to which we will testify. The list of House Health and Human Services Committee is below. The best way to get an email to them is to go to this page,
http://legis.state.sd.us/email/LegislatorEmail.aspx. Once you rmessage is entered in the box, you can serially send to every member of the committee. Do it today; the hearing is Tuesday.

All the message needs to say is “Please support HB1127,” along with your name and city of residence. Anonymous pleas aren’t much good.

House Health and Human Services Committee

Rep. Blake, Susy (Dem.-Dist. 13, Sioux Falls) Rep. Blake has indicated favorability to 1127

Rep. Iron Cloud III, Ed (Dem.-Dist. 27, Bennett, Haakon counties) Probably a yes vote for 1127

Rep. Lucas, Larry (Dem.-Dist. 26A, Mellette, Todd counties) can be convinced on 1127, needs to hear from you.

Rep. Nygaard, Eldon (Dem.-Dist. 17, Clay, Turner counties) not on record on 1127

Rep. Vanderlinde, Martha (Dem.-Dist. 15, Minnehaha county) Is a nurse. Is one of the sponsors of 1127.

Rep. Boomgarden, Jamie (Rep.-Dist. 17, Clay, Turner counties) not on record on 1127. Clay County carried the 2006 medcan vote.

Rep. Curd, R. Blake (Rep.-Dist. 12, Lincoln, Minnehaha counties) not on record on 1127

Rep. Dreyer, Brian (Rep.-Dist. 32, Pennington county) might be able to convince him on 1127

Rep. Jensen, Phil (Rep.-Dist. 33, Meade, Pennington counties) not on record on 1127

Rep. Moser, Nick (Rep.-Dist. 18, Yankton county) not on record on 1127

Rep. Pitts, Carol (Chair) (Rep.-Dist. 7, Brookings county) not on record on 1127. Brookings county carried the 2006 medical cannabis vote.

Rep. Rave, Timothy (Vice Chair) (Rep.-Dist. 25, Hanson, McCook counties) not on record on 1127

Rep. Romkema, Fred (Rep.-Dist. 31, Lawrence county) Has met with medcan patients. Might be convinced to vote for 1127. Lawrence County carried the 2006 medcan vote.

AG; Medicinal or Recreational Cannabis, still illegal

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Larry Long, not a fan of ‘Getting Mongolian’ when dying of Cancer

Bob Newland brings us up to date on his fight with AG Larry Long. Though I support Newland’s measure, it doesn’t surprise me Long opposed it, he is our Attorney General and responsible for upholding the law. Marijuana is still illegal by Federal standards, no matter what you use it for. I don’t think you will get him to budge on it.

There is some irony here though. Long had no problem helping the anti-choicers write an abortion measure that was unconstitutional, so why the refusal to help with this measure?

It’s all about priorities I guess. The wrong priorities.

Listen to the program below;

Jan. 6, 2009

Today I engaged in a discussion for an hour with Larry Long, the Attorney General of South Dakota on So. Dak. Public Radio’s Midday Show, on the issue of SDSA’s proposed medical cannabis law.

You can listen to the archived show at 

http://www.sdpb.org/Archives/ProgramDetail.asp?ProgID=7583

After several mentions by the A-G of sections of our proposal with which he disagreed, during which I mentioned several times that I had tried to engage him in working on a bill that we could all live with, I finally asked him if he would work with me to come up with a bill that would work for the patients who need it.

“No,” he said. 

Even though he did not deny that some patients benefited from cannabis therapy, nor that sometimes cannabis is the only therapy that works, he simply, throughout the entire show, continued to denigrate our motives, saying that we were only after general legalization of marijuana. 

And then, “No, I will not try to help draft a law that will protect sick people from arrest for trying to save their own lives.” (not his actual words, but that’s the essence of what he said)

Read the letter we sent General Long on Dec. 9, 2008. 

http://www.sodaknorml.org/sdsa_files/campaign/081209AttyGenl.htm

Six days left until the legislative session starts. We’re down to seeds and stems in the finances dept. 

Please go to http://www.sodaksafeaccess.net/ and hit the “Donate” button, or send a check to the address on that page.

Best regards,

Bob

Hey Larry, go smoke a joint

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Prohibition didn’t work out so well either

From my email box;

Hello everyone,

 

I hope you all had good holiday celebrations. And even better day-after sale-shopping.

 

The immediately-following deals with medical cannabis only peripherally. It would not have happened without the current SDSA campaign to get the issue of medical cannabis into the legislative session beginning in January. It also shows that no matter what we do, our opponents will say that what we really want is to give heroin to babies, or some such.

 

For a couple of years now, Kevin Woster, a writer for the Rapid City (SD) Journal, and one of the moderators for the Mt Blogmore political blog (a Journal property), has periodically, if rather timidly, questioned the efficacy of the War on (Some) Drugs, and has written columns for the Journal in which he has told of people he knows who have used cannabis to fight the effects of illnesses and their treatments.

 

On Dec. 2, he made the following post to Mt. Blogmore…

 

Please, somebody explain how were winning the war on drugs

 

By Kevin Woster

 

I come to this discussion as one who does not smoke pot.

 

I dont want to smoke pot. I dont intend to smoke pot.

 

Whether its legal or not.

 

Ive smoked it, three or four times, way back when. Got no desire to smoke it again. (Yes, Newland, I might change my mind if I had a medical condition it made better.)

 

Mostly, I think pot does more harm than good. But mostly, I also think alcohol does more harm than good. All told, I think wed be better off if more people smoked pot and fewer people drank alcohol. But I think wed be a lot better off if more people didnt do much of either.

 

I have no desire to feel better, as Newland puts it. I like feeling the way I feel.

 

But thats just me. I dont care if somebody else smokes it, as long as they dont do something while feeling its effects – such as driving a car, most likely well under the speed limit, and threatening my safety.

 

But I think your average stoned motorist would probably be less of a threat than your average distracted – by cell-phone chatter and even, amazingly enough, texting – motorist.

 

Or your average fixing-her-lipstick motorist. Or your average reading-his-newspaper motorist. Or your average yelling-at-the-kids-in-the-backseat motorist.

 

Or the average charged-up-on-caffeine-and-nicotine motorist.

 

And as one who has spent a good share of time – sober, or straight – with friends and acquaintances who were either drunk or stoned, Ill tell you Ill take stoned every time. No contest.

 

Beyond all that, how does it benefit anyone in South Dakota to bust those goofy mules from the West Coast driving across South Dakota to deliver a load of pot someplace else? Most appear to be poor, and desperate for dollars.

 

Why should we celebrate throwing them in prison for many years, especially when state taxpayers pay for their keep?

 

Isnt it counterproductive to clog our courts and criminal system for pot offenses?

 

Isnt it a waste of resources? Does it have any real effect on how many people smoke pot?

 

Are we winning the war on drugs? If so, please tell me how?

 

(See the comments on this blog post)

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/politicalblog/?p=2940#comments

 

Read Woster’s response to AG Larry Long; woster-rcj

Pat, we’re not attacking you, we’re attacking your ignorance

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I guess everyone is a ‘pothead’ if they support medical cannabis. Just because some of us support the use of this (natural – non-chemical) drug for medical purposes doesn’t mean we partake, grow or sell. Far from it. Most of us still know the use of cannabis for recreational use is illegal. Duh. Not sure where you get your information or get off calling supporters ‘potheads’ – once again – making assumptions and spreading bullshit when the facts don’t support your agenda. It’s a typical conservative tactic, when progressives shoot holes in your arguments, attack their character with negative buzzwords like secret muslim, domestic terrorist or druggy. If someone is dying of terminal Cancer I think the least of their worries is an addiction to cannabis. God will forgive them when they die.

Aaaagh….

You may be noticing that posting has been light. It’s just been one of those weekends which has gone into this week. As the potheads…. er, legalization supporters went on the attack against me this AM (here and here), I just haven’t had time to ignore them sufficiently.

Pat, just admit it, your Federal agent father brainwashed you into believing all the myths about the evil weed.

Newland slams Powers

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From my email box (still laughing about the Republican principals);

Hello,

This message is going to several blog moderators. I spend a little time on Mt Blogmore and Sd Watch and War College, but I don’t have much browsing time, so I have to admit I am most likely not familiar with the politics of your blog.

I also admit that I have a grudge match going with Pat Powers (War College). Whenever I attempt to have a political philosophy discussion with him, he deletes my questions. The question I ask is, “Who owns you?”

This all stems from the drubbing he took, from lots of people, for his asinine reasons for opposing the medical cannabis initiative in 2006 and, more recently, when he reiterated them a month ago, in an exchange that as totally disappeared from his site, as far as I can tell.

I’m sending this in case you think it’s worth posting for comments. I also invite you to look at the site for the Medical Cannabis Campaign.

Unless you tell me not to send it, I’ll probably regularly send you information about our campaign.

War College currently has some typical hypocrisy posted about what Pat Powers’s (he calls himself PP) idea of being a Republican.

I edited PP’s post, trying to make it ring with a more accurate tone. My additions arein bold.

I, PP the Blogger, Am A Republican Because…

I believe the strength of our nation lies with the individual and that each person’s dignity freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored, except those people for whom government-approved medicine doesn’t work.

I believe in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, sex, age or disability, except when said disability is accompanied by  life-threatening muscle spasms or pain that can only be quelled by cannabis.

I believe free enterprise and encouraging individual initiative have brought this nation opportunity, economic growth and prosperity, which we squander prosecuting people whose doctors and they believe cannabis is beneficial for their ailments.

I believe that government must practice fiscal responsibility and allow individuals to keep more of the money they earn, except those individuals whose medicine of necessity is less expensive and less toxic to them than the stuff their doctors can prescribe.

I believe the proper role of government is to provide for the people only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations and that the best government is that which governs least and has the greatest suspicion that someone, somewhere is medicating (even under a doctor’s advice) with illegal medicine.

I believe the most effective, responsible and responsive government is government closest to the people, close enough to protect them from using non-governmental approved medicine that is safer than aspirin and nearly as miraculous.

I believe Americans must retain the principles that have made us strong while developing new and innovative ideas to meet the challenges of changing times. Those principles necessitate our feigning blindness from time to time.

I believe Americans value and should preserve our national strength and pride while working to extend peace, freedom and human rights throughout the world. Right.

Finally, I believe the Republican Party is the best vehicle for translating these ideals into positive and successful principles. Sure has been so far.

Now let’s take a Prozac and go stick some quarters in video lottery machines and get drunk. In South Dakota, of course.

Merry Weekend Before Christmas, Everyone
Bob