Monday, July 30, 2012

Veteran Organizations Absent From Fight

Veteran Organizations Absent From Fight

Guest blogger Msgt Tony Vance:


7/28/2012 8:48 PM EDT

I received two of the monthly organization magazines I receive from the Veteran Organizations I belong to in the mail yesterday. As I looked them over I could not help notice the glaring absence of any reference to the grassroots Veteran effort to make medical marijuana available to our Veterans thru the Veterans Administration (VA).

The American Legion, The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), American Veterans (AMVETS), Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans (IAVA) and especially the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) are not only silent on the issue but seem to be ignoring it completely. Only groups that are specifically devoted to this issue like the Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access (VMCA) on the national level and local groups like Kentucky Veterans for Medical Marijuana at the state level are currently urging the Federal Government make medical marijuana available for our Veterans thru the Veterans Administration.

The current Veterans Administration policy on medical marijuana, that Veterans who live in states that allow their citizens access to medical marijuana should not have their medical care and medicines withheld from them as a result of a VA urinalysis, was wrested from the VA as a result of the dedication and persistence of Mr. Michael Krawitz, Director of Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access. Some of our Veterans have been able to prevail at VA hospitals not in medical marijuana States by simply pointing out that the regulations of the VA itself do not call for the mandatory withholding of medical care should a Veteran test positive for THC the active ingredient in marijuana. The regulations of the VA call only for a Doctor to “consider” using pain contracts, urinalysis, or pill counts if he thinks a patient has a problem. Nowhere in the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 or the regulations of the VA itself, is a Doctor required or even authorized to withhold medical care from our veterans as a part of some non judicial punishment meted by the VA for using medical cannabis!

We now have the Federal Government with an official policy at the VA regarding medical marijuana and an official Government policy that there is no such thing as medical marijuana. OOPS! The science and logic regarding the benefits of medical marijuana are no longer in doubt. Medical marijuana is most effective in treating Post Traumatic Stress (PTSD), neuropathic pain from traumatic injuries such as loss of a limb traumatic brain injury and a host of other conditions suffered by our Veterans.

So where are the major Veterans Organizations on the issue of Veteran access to medical marijuana? Are they concerned at all with making this wonderful medicine available to our Veterans? Their silence can only lead to one discernible conclusion, they are unwilling to, ‘make waves’ I guess fearing withdrawal of congressional or corporate support should they raise the issue. This makes sense to me as the many insurance companies these organizations are affiliated with would not want controversy to get in the way of selling insurance!

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Can we have the debate?


A little over 20 years ago I met a man who was running for governor or to be more precise he was running in the primary here in Kentucky with hopes of representing the Democratic party in that year’s campaign for governor. It wasn’t going to be easy, he was a long shot at best An issues candidate and a controversial one at that. He was a personable man, you couldn’t help but like him but most important of all he was honest. Like Willie Nelson said “this man speaks the truth”, he did, speak the truth.
Gatewood Galbraith was making his first run for the governor’s mansion, here in Kentucky, and I was happy to do what little I could to help him, if not win the election, at least get the word out about Cannabis. Gatewood never shied away from telling anyone within ear shot how he felt about cannabis and the prohibition of it. Gatewood stood for honesty and even his worst enemies had to admit he would walk up to their face and tell them the truth, square in the eye; he was that kind of man.
Gatewood had other issues but of course he was the Marijuana candidate to the media. He stood for teaching civics at an early age so that children would learn how their government works and how they could be part of it. He stood for less government interference in our lives along with being a great environmentalist but of course they never focused on those issues. He was, after all, the Marijuana candidate.
Back in 1990 things were a lot different. George Hebert Walker Bush was President; we had “Just Say No”, the escalation in the war on drugs and last but not least the Persian Gulf War had just started. Anyone who admitted smoking, as Gatewood had, was not only considered irrelevant for their cannabis smoking but in some crowds he was downright unpatriotic to even suggest legalizing cannabis. It was a different world back then. All people knew about cannabis was that they used to make rope out of it and people smoked it to get high. After that campaign people had a whole new attitude about cannabis and the conversation had turned. I know that I had learned so much that my opinion changed forever.
I’m a big stickler for the truth and as I said before that is what inspired me to come out and represent Gatewood. Although I took some time off after the campaign, most campaigns are stressful but this one was more so, I had to get my life back together  I always supported Gatewood. I followed his campaigns and voted for him when I could. He always stayed true to his message and we lost a champion for the truth when he passed away last January.
We had lost the one man here in Kentucky that has been able to keep this truth alive. I was concerned because I had started Kentucky Veterans for Medical Marijuana and with Gatewood gone who would we have to help plead our cause? The VA had published a directive that they would recognize cannabis in states where it was legal and they wouldn’t disqualify anyone for taking it. Studies have shown cannabis to be an effective treatment for PTSD but we here in Kentucky couldn’t participate so I started my group to lobby the state for legalization of medical marijuana. I was delighted to hear that Senator Perry Clark had introduced sb129 this past session of the legislature. Even though it was unlikely the bill would pass, we at last had a champion and finally a bill!

Although I live in Sen. Clark’s district, in fact not a block away, I had never met him until this past April. I contacted his office and assured him of my support. I rode over to his home shortly thereafter and we talked for hours. I found him to be a very personable man much like Gatewood. Fortunately for him he has a track record in both the house and Senate of legislation other than cannabis legalization so the press won’t be able to tag him in his election with just one issue. Senator Clark doesn’t hold back on anything as I soon found out.
I worked with Senator Clark from then on with his bill assembling a group of activists and patients whose lives have been changed or could be changed for the better should Kentucky legalize medicinal cannabis. We gathered all these folks for Senator Clark’s new conference. We showed a documentary to start with involving a young lady whose life was saved by juicing with cannabis and a young Childs cancer tumors disappeared.
We then had folks stand up one by one and tell their story. The young lady, law student, who told of childhood abuse and how just recently she was given the date rape drug and taken advantage of by two men. How she was advised by her doctors to try cannabis for her PTSD and how she had managed to obtain some and it actually worked. Then the MS patient testified to getting relief from cannabis for their symptoms. The young man who at four years old watched as his father was shot not four feet from him all because he was growing cannabis on his land. The man, a decorated Vietnam Veteran, was using cannabis for his PTSD.
But then a man, a stranger in the room stood up and asked Senator Clark about his cannabis use. Senator Clark was honest and said he had used cannabis but was not” a chronic user”. He also alluded to his time in service and how things were more accessible then. Out of all the good things that came out of that press conference this, that Sen. Clark had smoked cannabis in his life, something it had been suggested he try for his back problems. Not only that but it’s been suggested this somehow makes him unqualified to serve his constituents. I’m here to tell you it doesn’t.
I am here to tell you that as a resident of this district, as is Senator Clark, I don’t believe his constituents, many of whom hard working veterans who have shared Senator Clarks experiences, will let him down. In fact I believe his constituents know him well enough to know that any misgivings concerning his leadership ability, due to his having smoked something the majority of them have done and know the truth about, will assure him a victory.
This isn’t a left right issue this is a human issue. People need to know the truth and a free and open minded debate is all we want. People need to educate themselves, talk to your neighbors, and know what you are saying before you worry about whether someone has smoked cannabis or not. This is 2012 not 1991 and we have moved beyond that. Can we start talking about changing and saving lives?

Ron Moore
Kentucky Veterans for Medical Marijuana

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Education Summer


Aside from the American family the one big loser in this prohibition of cannabis has been the truth. The fact that cannabis is illegal and the ramifications of even admitting you smoke could jeopardize your employment, your standing in the community your entire life. All of this, while the agents of misinformation spread their lies. 
As a young airman I smoked cannabis while serving in Thailand. I found it to be something other than what I had thought it would be but nothing as harmful as I had heard. Back then there was so much misinformation. Over the years I have smoked off and on but it wasn’t until I met Gatewood Galbraith back in 1990 that I realized just how much I had been lied to.
The problem, over those years is no one could speak up. No one dared to, except a handful of activists and over a period of 18 months things changed. The genie was out of the bottle and all the establishment could say is “It’s a gateway drug”. By then that argument didn’t hold water and since then no one has been able to come up with a good enough reason for the prohibition. It’s as if they have been afraid of the debate, running from it from the President on down.
All we ask is for an honest and open debate. We have heard the concerns of those on the other side and we have answers for you. We want to take this past the Cheech and Chong persona of the cannabis culture our evidence is compelling if we can ever get a fair and impartial hearing unlike I have seen lately . The stereotypical “stoner” portrayed   in cartoon with misinformation and innuendo masked as an editorial. This does nothing to further the debate.
To our law enforcement community, whose concerns are that they would have a hard time identifying the medicinal hemp from Industrial,  I would first of all like to assure them that once the “Gatewood Galbraith Medical Marijuana Memorial Act” Is signed into law there will be no need for you to worry as all cannabis will be legal. There would be no reason for you to have to make that call.  Cannabis however is very easy to detect one from the other. Industrial hemp is grown in dense crops while medicinal is grown with the plant isolated from the male to ensure a high THC content.
The Family Foundation has voiced their displeasure but from their responses I can tell they just need to be educated as well. Cannabis is being proven to be a medicine all across the world. Countries such as Spain, Portugal, and Israel all have done remarkable research. Portugal has gone as far as legalize and regulating all drugs treating them on an individual basis, with great success. The folks at the Family Foundation question the motives of Senator Clark and commented they feared it would be used as relief for Jetlag and Stress. What I would ask is what do doctors prescribe now for these ailments and if cannabis is deemed a viable cure then why shouldn’t my doctor prescribe it. If the war on drugs has been so good for the family then why haven’t the figures of abuse changed since Nixon first declared a war on cannabis?
The fact is we need to take another course. We need to take a long hard look at this war on cannabis this war on the American family this war that has torn this country apart. We can no longer afford to chase down every grower in Kentucky cannabis will never be eradicated. We imprison more of our citizens than any other country on earth and we call this the land of the free. The drug war is financing our current industrial prison complex. Nothing good has come from it.
“Education Summer” is designed to educate Kentucky about the truth concerning cannabis hemp, the plant that our state depended on for so many years. We are getting the conversation started with volunteers all over the state. The facts are there. Before you judge someone unjustly do the research and find out for yourself.
Ron Moore
Kentucky Veterans for Medical Marijuana