Can we talk?

Yeah I know, not original but hey it's a conversation starter. So is any conversation about cannabis these days. Ever notice that all you have to do is mention cannabis in a conversation and right away people will start talking to you about it and for the most part very positive about it. It's funny how things change, there was a time when you didn't even mention it now everyone is talking. Makes you think they had a lot of pent up feelings about it.

When you think about it, cannabis prohibition has had a free hand in spreading their propaganda. Information that anti legalization groups are using still today. Thankfully the internet has helped dispel most of what they say but that still doesn't wipe out the 60 plus years head start they have enjoyed at our expense.

The one that bothers me most is how cannabis is being compared to alcohol, when it comes to being impaired. You could put five people under the influence of cannabis and five people who were drunk on alcohol in a room and it would take you long to see the difference. Not that any intoxication beyond your ability to control yourself is good but the difference between cannabis and alcohol make it impossible to judge one by the other.

There are times when a person who may have smoked cannabis can pull themselves together while under the influence and act rationally. A drunk stays drunk till they sober up. The idea of stoned drivers is an unproven accusation. Most people don't want to drive when they are under the influence of cannabis. They'd rather stay where they are and enjoy the feeling for awhile before they have to "come down" and drive. Drunks believe the more they drink the better they drive. The fact that cannabis can be tested in your system long after the effects have worn off make it impossible to determine if you're impaired. I will also state that I have never been with a group of people smoking cannabis that have degenerated into violence of any kind unlike a lot of places where alcohol is served.

Okay, I feel a ramble coming so hold on; I love to garden. I grow a lot of what I eat in the summer and year to year I grow more. It's beautiful what you and nature can create with the right ingredients. This is true with everything including cannabis. I grow fruits, my blueberry's will be coming on soon. I grow vegetables and herbs and there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to grow cannabis as well and consume it as I do other products of my garden.

Cannabis unlike any other so called intoxicant  needs no processing to do what it does. You grow it like anything else you pick it, dry it, cure it and use it. The Coca plant is natural, it's only through a man made process that we get cocaine. The natives in South America chew the coca leaf for energy as they have done for thousands of year. It's only through the process of making into a powder, that it becomes dangerous. Alcohol is the same way. The ingredients in whiskey by themselves wont affect you however you put them through the process and you can get drunk on them. Whiskey like cocaine comes with a price, addiction and health problems are common with the use of either one. But not with cannabis.

As I've said before I love to garden and I have come across many plants that surprise me but none amazes me like the cannabis plant. The many ways in which you can use it, besides consuming it for just pleasure, make recreational use a welcome addition to it's flexibility. However no plant, that I know of, has the receptors in our bodies like cannabis does. The other amazing thing is how the thc, one of the active ingredients in cannabis, stays in your body long after the mind affects are gone. What is your body doing with it for that length of time. We need to study this plant so badly with no prejudices.

I got to thinking about all this while remembering a conversation I had with a young Marine. He was retired, disabled from the Iraq war. He suffered from PTDS and he told me when the darkness starts to come he goes out back and loads a bowl of cannabis and after a couple hits the darkness goes away. It helps him forget and move on instead of relying on pills that let you down. I thought about how nice it would be if  veterans could grow cannabis in their gardens or someone could grow for them.

We still have a ways to go but through the efforts of some dedicated individuals we came a long way this year. it's just a matter of time now. I hope we don't lose too many before they have the courage to do the right thing. We need to repeal the Controlled Substance Act . There is irrefutable evidence that cannabis has medicinal value and it rating as a schedule 1 narcotic makes null and void the Controlled Substance Act. It has no validity and needs to be repealed. Lets have a serious debate about legalization!

As Routine As Naming A Bill

Thomas Tony Vance

The Kentucky House Health and Welfare Committee held an informational hearing on the Gatewood Galbraith Medical Marijuana Memorial Act on Wednesday the 21st of August 2013. Supporters gathered at the capitol and testimony was introduced by Senator Perry Clark and many patients testified as to their use of medical marijuana and how they benefit from that use.
Significantly, Mr. Irvin Rosenfeld, one of four surviving patients left from the Compassionate Care Program which provided investigational medicine for critical patients was there to testify. Mr. Rosenfeld receives a tin of 300 marijuana cigarettes from the Federal marijuana farm at the University of Mississippi every 25 days to treat his multiple congenital cartilaginous exostoses which causes bone spurs to grow into his joints, a very painful condition that would have resulted in his death at a young age were it not for his use of medical marijuana.
Senator Katie Stine made a motion to adjourn because the Senators had to be in session, however the Chair rejected that motion and kept the hearing open to allow the patients who had come to testify to do so. Representative Robert Benvenuti made a point that if marijuana is good to treat anxiety it has a high potential for abuse and said he wants more research before he makes up his mind. Opponents claim there is no scientific evidence of marijuana’s safety, however this ignores the many studies and anecdotal evidence that says otherwise.
As far back as 1988, in the matter of Docket 86-22 Marijuana Rescheduling Petition, Administrative Law Judge Francis Young of the Drug Enforcement Administration ruled in part VII Accepted Safety For Use Under Medical Supervision, “Marijuana in it’s natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care.”
One must also consider that statistics from the 20 States that do have medical marijuana laws show a decrease in teen marijuana use and in Colorado and Washington, 2 states having recreational marijuana, overall marijuana use is down. In order for these states to have these laws the laws must have passed a number of Public Safety, Health and Welfare, and Judicial committee hearings. Vetting the idea of medical marijuana laws has pretty well been done and it’s hard to imagine what we would find bad about marijuana that 20 other states didn’t find.
Actually the passing of State medical marijuana laws at this point, should be a routine and unremarkable bit of legislation as uncontroversial as naming a State highway after a respected Legislator, or naming a bill after a respected Gubernatorial Candidate such as Mr. Gatewood Galbraith.

Policing For Profit

Policing For Profit
Posted on May 12, 2013by msgtvance


There is an interesting angle to the horror story of the 3 women who were kidnapped and held captive for ten years and who recently escaped their captors in Cleveland, Ohio. In that case neighbors called the police several times in 2011 and 2012 about goings on at the house the women were held at. One neighbor reported seeing a woman crawling around the back yard in a leash! In that instance the police were called but they did not enter the house. Neighbors claim they witnessed things that led them to believe all was not right in that house. They claim they called the police on numerous occasions. The police, for their part, deny receiving those calls.

Maybe the neighbors should have reported smelling marijuana coming from the house, or better yet a chemical smell, ‘like maybe their making some kinda drugs over there!’ Two calls like that and the police would have been there with the swat team breaking down the doors within forty eight hours!

In an opinion piece that appeared on the AlterNet web site by Kristen Gwynne titled ‘Why Cops Bust Down Doors Of Medical Pot Growers, But Ignore Men Who Keep Naked Girls On Leashes’ dated May 8, 2013 a pretty good case is presented as to why this is so. The article can be accessed here—

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/why-cops-bust-down-doors-medical-pot-growers-ignore-men-who-keep-naked-girls-leashes

A former LAPD Captain of Detectives makes the case–

‘Retired law enforcement veteran Stephen Downing, former captain of detectives in the LAPD, says he has not seen proof that the police officers failed to adequately respond to information in this case; indeed, police cannot possibly crack every case and investigate every angle all the time. At the same time, we must recognize that police are incentivized to go after certain crimes — like drug crimes — and not, other, far more heinous crimes, like rape.

In the first place, federal cash giveaways make police departments’ reactions to drug cases much more swift and severe.

“The statistical demands of the drug war and the grants that come from the federal government — all they do is incentivize our local police to chase drugs and chase seizures so they can supplement their budgets,” Downing said. “We call that ‘policing for profit.’”

Furthermore, allowing military training of local police has “turned our police into drug warriors,” instead of “police officers and peace officers.”

“Every police department, every sheriff’s department, and the federal government have personnel that are dedicated 100 percent of the time to drug enforcement,” said Downing, “and the result of that is to use police resources for that purpose.”

Perhaps the strongest example of how drug war policing can distract resources from more pressing problems is the use of department laboratories. In Ohio, police agencies across the state have sent more than 2,300 untested rape kits to a state crime lab for testing. Some of them are decades old, and could contain vital clues regarding suspects in rapes. But they’ve been backed up in police departments across the country.

“What they don’t talk about is why do they have that backlog in the first place?” said Downing. “The answer is that drugs take a priority because they often involve people in custody, and they’re going to be in court, so when they show up in court, they’re going to have those tests. Thousands and thousands of tests run through our police labs for drugs when most of the time it’s a personal use decision. Most of the time it’s a recreational use of drugs rather than an abuse of drugs, but our criminal justice system is completely involved in dealing with drug crime rather than dealing with crime that truly affects public safety, like property and crimes against persons.”

Praising the man who helped Amanda Berry escape, Stephen Downing also says police need to become more involved with their communities.

“The community is involved in solving these cases and the willingness of people is helpful,” he said. “If the police would recognize more the true value of their community — that the people are the police and the police are the people — rather than chasing drugs and asset seizures and policing for profit modalities, all our communities would be better off and more aware.’

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!

ALEC and why should we care...

In the 40 plus years of the war on cannabis one question jumps out at you, especially those who have studied the subject extensively, and that is why? Why is this plant still illegal and not only that it's very existence is called into question. As the years go by and more and more information is coming out it's evident that something or someone is holding back legislation.

Ever hear of an organization called ALEC? I start doing some investigating. It seems this organization has a hand in just about every bill on Capital hill.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) boasts ;During the 1999-2000 legislative cycle, ALEC legislators introduced more than 3100 pieces of legislation based on our models, and more than 450 of these were enacted. . . . In the legislative Sessions of 2000, there were more than 2150 introductions promoting ALEC Policy.
So why haven't we ever heard of this group?

Because corporate America doesn't want us to know. Close scrutiny reveals that ALEC is little more than a screen for hundreds of big corporations and trade associations to advance their legislative agendas in state capitals from coast to coast.

http://www.alecwatch.org/

Now my research took me here:

2.) Private Prisons Corporations: Private prison corporations make millions by incarcerating people who have been imprisoned for drug crimes, including marijuana. As Republic Report’s Matt Stoller noted last year, Corrections Corporation of America, one of the largest for-profit prison companies, revealed in a regulatory filing that continuing the drug war is part in parcel to their business strategy. Prison companies have spent millions bankrolling pro-drug war politicians and have used secretive front groups, like the American Legislative Exchange Council, to pass harsh sentencing requirements for drug crimes.

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/907001/the_top_five_special_interest_groups_lobbying_to_keep_marijuana_illegal/

So then I do some checking around to see who actually is behind this hidden organization and who is at the top of the list but none other than the Koch brother:

The Koch Brothers, big tobacco, insurance companies, and the drug industry: all behind the shadowy corporate front group known as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). On the surface, ALEC is mostly comprised of thousands of state legislators, each paying a nominal fee to attend ALEC retreats and receive model legislation. In reality, corporations pay ALEC a king’s ransom to access legislators to distribute radical legislation that puts corporate interests over American workers and consumers.

 http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/xchg/justice/hs.xsl/15044.htm


But wait a minute David Koch comes out and says,

“I have friends who smoke pot... It's ridiculous to treat them as criminals.”

http://www.marijuanamajority.com/?id=89


So lets talk about this. On the one hand this man is the lead contributor to a group called ALEC who is working with for profit prisons to keep them profitable and on the other hand saying we need to change the laws that do just that? I would really like to to know whats going on and I will be investigating further you can be sure.

Next up, the Cancer Industry:

Rebutting A Failed Policy

Posted on March 4, 2013by msgtvance


A letter I wrote to the members of the General Assembly regarding SB11 the medical marijuana bill, and legalizing marijuana in Kentucky garnered a reply from Kentucky House Speaker Mr. Greg Stumbo. In his reply he said we should keep our current policy because marijuana today is more potent and because adding marijuana as another legal recreational drug will add social damage to that suffered by our citizens already from alcohol and tobacco. Below is my reply:

Sir,

Thank you for your kind reply to my last letter to you regarding marijuana. I’ve been writing you all in the Assembly for about 6 years now to try to educate the Assembly members about marijuana and to convince you all that the end of marijuana prohibition will be extremely good for Kentucky in all three uses, medical, recreational and industrial.

You cited the potency of the marijuana grown today and the idea of introducing another recreational substance to our citizens which might cause more social damage than we already experience with alcohol and tobacco as your reasons for not supporting ending prohibition here in Kentucky.

Please allow me to address your concerns. As to potency, most marijuana users in other states where medical or now recreational marijuana use is allowed report just using less or more depending on the potency or situation. Wouldn’t the potency be regulated by the State if potency were a problem?

Marijuana like alcohol has industrial, medical and recreational uses. This is where the comparability ends. The terrible outcomes of alcohol use are not present when marijuana is used. Violence, abuse, traffic deaths, all these things the prohibitionists say will happen if we were to allow the citizens the freedom to use marijuana without penalty do not happen. I can say this with confidence because the proof is right before our very eyes.

Consider medical marijuana. Both California and Colorado have had medical marijuana laws in place for well over a decade. If the prohibitionists are to be believed, and both alcohol and marijuana are available to the citizens then all the harms from alcohol should be doubled. There should be double the violence, double the traffic accidents etc. etc. What has happened in these states? Nothing, nada. No increase in the supposed harms that we should be seeing. Medical marijuana was so bad for Colorado that last November they Voted by a wide margin to legalize marijuana for recreational uses. Are they stupid do ya think?

Yes marijuana is usually smoked like tobacco but like tobacco now days there are many ways of ingesting medical marijuana without smoking it. Electronic cigarettes come to mind where one inhales a mist of nicotine and no burning of tobacco is involved. The largest study ever done designed to link marijuana to lung cancer was done by a Dr. Donald Tashkin involving 2500 patients. It was originally supported by the Government however the result showed that regular marijuana users get head neck and lung cancers at the same rate as people who have never smoked anything at all. Dr. Tashkin said in his conclusion that marijuana seemed to act as a cancer preventer. (This is why there is so much hope about marijuana and cancer. This research should be being done here in Kentucky) The Government withdrew it’s support because by law, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, the Government can only support research on marijuana that shows harm. The Drug Czar is forbidden to say anything positive about any drug listed as Schedule1. This is why everything the Government says about marijuana is circumspect.

You can find the facts about this subject by going to either NORML.org or MPP.org and click on library. Both sites have everything factually available on the subject both the good and the bad.

I called out to the Colorado office of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws to ask what Colorado Legislator there you could call to ask them directly how ten years of medical marijuana have helped or hurt their state. A nice woman named Rachel Gillette told me that you should talk to Congressman Jared Polis. No one knows about how marijuana has affected Colorado more than him. She also laughingly mentioned that one result since legalization is that marijuana use is down, not up. I called Congressman Polis’s Washington office and said I was going to suggest that you call him and they said they would be happy to take your call. The number is 1-202-225-2161. I thought if you could talk to another legislator you would get a different perspective than mine.

Congressman Polis D Colorado and Congressman Earl Blumenauer D Oregon have filed the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2013. It would among other things transfer marijuana to the ATF and create a new Department of Alcohol Tobacco Cannabis and Firearms. You can access a copy of the bill at this link—

http://polis.house.gov/uploadedfiles/the_path_forward.pdf

Thank you again for writing. I hope I haven’t bored you but I am passionate about ending this mistake we call prohibition, a policy failure of huge proportions. If you have any questions about this issue please don’t hesitate to ask, I am at your service. Remember every year we wait to end medical and recreational marijuana prohibition we, by the laws of statistics, condemn 9090 of our fellow citizens to arrest and possible jail time solely because we weren’t ‘ready’ or ‘the time is not right’.

Please urge your fellow members of the Assembly to have compassion and at least pass SB11 so our sick and disabled citizens do not have to risk life and freedom for another year for using a medicine the citizens in 18 states can legally use.

Msgt Thomas Vance USAF Ret.

Into The Twenty First Century

Posted on February 16, 2013 by msgtvance


The following listed research is considered valid and meet the scientific standards to be considered empirical evidence.

1. Mark A. Ware, MD, MSc, et al., stated the following in their Aug. 30, 2010 study titled “Smoked Cannabis for Chronic Neuropathic Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal:

“Adults with post-traumatic or postsurgical neuropathic pain were randomly assigned to receive cannabis at four potencies (0%, 2.5%, 6% and 9.4% tetrahydrocannabinol) over four 14-day periods in a crossover trial. Participants inhaled a single 25-mg dose through a pipe three times daily for the first five days in each cycle, followed by a nine-day washout period. Daily average pain intensity was measured using an 11-point numeric rating scale.

Conclusion

A single inhalation of 25 mg of 9.4% tetrahydrocannabinol herbal cannabis three times daily for five days reduced the intensity of pain, improved sleep and was well tolerated.”

2. Ronald J. Ellis, MD, PhD, Professor In Residence in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of California at San Diego, et al., stated the following in their Aug. 2008 study titled “Smoked Medicinal Cannabis for Neuropathic Pain in HIV: A Randomized, Crossover Clinical Trial,” published in Neuropsychopharmacology:

“In a double-blind, randomized, clinical trial of the short-term adjunctive treatment of neuropathic pain in HIV-associated distal sensory polyneuropathy, participants received either smoked cannabis or placebo cannabis cigarettes…

Among completers, pain relief was significantly greater with cannabis than placebo. The proportion of subjects achieving at least 30% pain relief was again significantly greater with cannabis (46%) compared to placebo (18%). It was concluded that smoked cannabis was generally well-tolerated and effective when added to concomitant analgesic therapy in patients with medically refractory pain due to HIV-associated neuropathy.”

3. David J. Rog, PhD, from the Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery at the University of Liverpool, et al., wrote in a Sep. 2005 article titled “Randomized, Controlled Trial of Cannabis-Based Medicine in Central Pain in Multiple Sclerosis” in the journal Neurology:

“BACKGROUND: Central pain in multiple sclerosis (MS) is common and often refractory to treatment…

CONCLUSIONS: Cannabis-based medicine is effective in reducing pain and sleep disturbance in patients with multiple sclerosis related central neuropathic pain and is mostly well tolerated.”

4. The Oct. 13, 2005 article “

Cannabinoids Promote Embryonic and Adult Hippocampus Neurogenesis and Produce Anxiolytic- and Antidepressant-like Effects” (1.5 MB) by Xia Zhang et al. from the peer-reviewed Journal of Clinical Investigation stated:

“We show that 1 month after chronic HU210 [high-potency cannabinoid] treatment, rats display increased newborn neurons [brain cell growth] in the hippocampal dentate gyrus [a portion of the brain] and significantly reduced measures of anxiety- and depression-like behavior.

Thus, cannabinoids appear to be the only illicit drug whose capacity to produce increased hippocampal newborn neurons is positively correlated with its anxiolytic- and antidepressant-like effects.”

5. A research study, published in the Sep. 2004 issue of the journal Neuropharmacology reported:

“Gliomas, in particular glioblastoma multiforme or grade IV astrocytoma, are the most frequent class of malignant primary brain tumours and one of the most aggressive forms of cancer. Current therapeutic strategies for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme are usually ineffective or just palliative.

During the last few years, several studies have shown that cannabinoids — the active components of the plant Cannabis sativa and their derivatives — slow the growth of different types of tumours, including gliomas, in laboratory animals.

Cannabinoids induce apoptosis of glioma cells in culture via sustained ceramide accumulation, extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation and Akt inhibition. In addition, cannabinoid treatment inhibits angiogenesis of gliomas in vivo….

Remarkably, cannabinoids kill glioma cells selectively and can protect non-transformed glial cells from death. These and other findings reviewed here might set the basis for a potential use of cannabinoids in the management of gliomas.”

6. Researchers with the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Biology, Complutense University, Spain, in a study of the use of cannabis-based ointment on skin tumors, published Jan. 2003 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI) stated:

“Local administration induced a considerable growth inhibition of malignant tumors generated by inoculation of epidermal tumor cells into nude mice. Cannabinoid-treated tumors showed an increased number of apoptotic cells…

These results support a new therapeutic approach [cannabis-based ointment] for the treatment of skin tumors.”



*The above listed research is but the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds of studies showing marijuana’s ability to relieve pain and help in the treatment of many diseases including cancer. None of the above however meets the standards necessary to be considered valid by our Government because the Government either did not support the research or provided the marijuana for the research, and the Government will only support research on marijuana that is designed to show harm, not good.

Oh the lengths our Government will go to keep marijuana from competing with wood pulp, cotton and nylon! Do you think Mr. Hearst of the Hearst Newspaper Corporation is still worried about marijuana paper competing with the wood pulp he uses for his newspapers?

The people who gave us this destructive war on marijuana users are dead and gone! Could we please bring marijuana policy into the light of science and reason? Could we please bring marijuana policy into the 21st century?

An Open Letter to Kentucky Ag Comm.

Commissioner Comer

I represent a small grassroots organization of veterans called Kentucky Veterans for Medical Marijuana we do have a web address www.kentuckyveternsformedicalmarijuana.net which will redirect you to our facebook page. We support the legalization, for medical purposes, the cannabis plant.

I have been a cannabis activist since running Gatewood Galbraith’s 1991 Primary campaign, here in Louisville. I applaud your efforts to the extent that they advance the debate for legalization of cannabis. The hemp bill (HB50) unfortunately does nothing to advance our cause. Gatewood understood that it was the total plant that was in Kentucky’s best interest to legalize. Many knew the medicinal advantage of cannabis even back then. Unfortunately the political atmosphere, at that time, was such that it was unwise to speak up about anything regarding legalization. That is why I admired Gatewood, he stood up and that’s primarily why I agreed to run his campaign.

As I have said, since that time I have done extensive research, which you can view at my facebook page. I have found that the more I researched the more question needed to be answered. Everything I found pointed to our making a huge mistake in regards to cannabis prohibition. This is borne out by one glaring statistic that despite years of prohibition, billions of dollars spent, thousands of lives ruined lost or imprisoned, we are no better off today than when President Nixon first declared this war. Nothing has changed.

It is my hope that this letter will open a dialog that I may discuss your efforts at righting the wrong that was done Kentucky farmers when the crop they had known as hemp, was renamed marijuana and taken from them in the name of corporate greed. I hope to work with your office to get you support to not only allow our farmers to compete on a global market in cordage hemp but give our research facilities the same advantages that other countries enjoy, such as Israel, where they are making remarkable discoveries in cancer research using cannabis. We deserve to have that advantage here.

We are breaking new ground this is true but it’s something I believe will be the best for Kentucky in the long run. Last but not least I am a grandfather. I look at where we are going if we don’t change what we are doing. I want a better world for my grandchildren and I believe what I am supporting is a far better future than what I see in store for them if nothing changes.

I know that cannabis makes a great shirt. I still have one hanging in my closet from the 1991 campaign. I also know that cannabis saves lives and I would hope that you will join me in helping save those lives. If you support the troops you will help Senator Clark and I pass SB11.

Sincerely

Ronald Moore

Kentucky Veterans for Medical Marijuana

Assembly Reconvenes to Consider Hemp and Medical Marijuana Bills

Thomas Tony Vance

Assembly Reconvenes to Consider Hemp and Medical Marijuana Bills
The 2013 Assembly will reconvene on Monday February 4. Two of the bills they are considering are the Medical Marijuana Bill and the Hemp bill.
There are 18 states and the District of Columbia that currently have medical marijuana laws in place. Joining them with legislation pending are13 more, Kentucky of course, Alabama, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Vermont. As anyone can see the rush is on. Our farmers are chomping at the bit to get started.
This brings to mind two questions. What do we know about this legislation that the 18 States that have approved it might have missed, that says we shouldn’t approve the medical marijuana and hemp bills?
What exactly is keeping our legislators from allowing our citizens to grab their share of a market estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars?
As far as full legalization goes, Washington State and Colorado have this. Seeking to join them with pending legislation are Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. Most of the states with medical bills and all with full legalization include some type of industrial hemp legislation.
I think it’s time for our legislators to be politically brave and forward thinking and go for full legalization. The Federal Government does not have the last word on this according to the Controlled Substances Act. If it did, it would have acted by now. Kentucky has the reputation for growing the best marijuana in the country and we should embrace our history. It’s as though the California gold rush is just beginning and we are already at Sutters Mill but we will not allow ourselves to pan for gold while everybody else is!
If you support allowing Kentucky’s citizens to enjoy the benefits of medical and industrial marijuana then beginning Monday and all thru the session till it ends in March call the Legislative hotline at 1-800-372-7181 and leave a message for all the legislators to support and pass Sb11 the Medical Marijuana bill and HB50 the Hemp/Industrial Marijuana bill. The people there are very nice and will help you with your message. You can call continually as often as you want. Your fellow citizens realize the importance of these bills passing, not only to help our sick and disabled citizens but also to help Kentucky’s economic recovery. Now is the time to act. Our State is in need of our help! Let us move ourselves forward into the 21st Century on this issue.

Doing What Works

Thomas Tony Vance

A ruling was made in the case of the Petition to Reschedule Marijuana from Schedule I, dangerous and having no medical value to Schedule II or lower to more properly reflect marijuana’s actual danger and it’s use as medicine. The Drug Enforcement Administration denied the petition, claiming the huge number of studies showing marijuana’s efficacy and safety in medical use did not meet the DEA’s standards for acceptable clinical studies. The Court did not rule on marijuana’s use as medicine or it’s scheduling. It only ruled on the Drug Enforcement Administration’s authority to decide what studies count and what studies fail to meet DEA standards. In effect the court ruled that the DEA is free to deny the validity of the studies being used to justify the rescheduling petition and thereby deny the petition.
The Marijuana Tax Stamp Act was the insterment used to make marijuana illegal in 1937. This law said that to possess marijuana you must first get a special tax stamp. To get the stamp you had to have the marijuana in your possession but, if you possess the marijuana before you get the stamp, you have already broken the law. Besides the government wasn’t printing stamps anyway cause they knew they wouldn’t be needed. This dirty little law was declared unconstitutional in 1969 and was very quickly replaced with the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, as onerous and unconstitutional a law as the 1937 Tax Stamp Act ever was!
In the just ruled on petition case, we see the old Tax Stamp Act. The DEA denied the petition based on the studies being presented not meeting DEA standards. In order for a study or research to be accepted by the DEA the Government must support the research and provide the marijuana for the research. No marijuana, no acceptable study. Perfect! The scheduling of marijuana can never be questioned or challenged. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? “What? No tax stamp! You’re under arrest! As with the Tax Stamp Act, the Government has never in all the years since 1970, provided the marijuana for any research.
This evil reincarnation of the old Tax Stamp Act actually points out the total injustice which is the basis of our whole policy on drugs and drug abuse. In the name of continuing this policy of total prohibition we have been willing to sacrifice the very values we purportedly claim to be the soul of what is to be an American. Truth, fairness, freedom and doing the right thing no matter what happens have all been sacrificed on the altar of this failed policy. Prohibition has not been successful during even one year of it’s 99 year existence.
Our leaders should scrap the policy of prohibition, pull our dignity and values back out of the gutter where we threw them when Prohibition began and replace the 1970 Controlled Substances Act with a 21st Century policy based on science, logic, and the fact that as President Nixon’s own Commission On Drug Abuse said long ago and were ignored, drug abuse is a medical problem not a criminal one. Harm reduction works, prohibition does not. We know what works, what are we waiting for?

Welcome to the Future, It’s Happening Now!

by: Tony Vance


After having given the opening speech of the 2013 Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Patrick Leahy said the most interesting thing during the question and answer period in response to a question regarding a film about the failure of the War on Drugs titled ’Taboo’. The question asked was, “Do you foresee a day when we’re gonna step back from the ledge of the War on Drugs, and if so, what specific legislative measures, and how do you see the process? The Senator’s reply was, ”I think we have, we have spent tens of billions, hundreds of billions of dollars on this so called War on Drugs. Well, we’ve lost!”

On the local front, in this morning’s 20 January 2013 Kentucky Enquirer, under the headline, ‘Effort Focuses on Heroin’ is a story about 50 Northern Kentucky city and county officials who met Saturday January 19, 2013 to discuss the area’s growing heroin problem. The meeting brought forth two conclusions. That the problem is worse than originally thought, and that pressure must be brought on State and Federal Legislators to do something. They complained about the lack of funding for mental health services, lack of addiction services and the lack of a coordinated effort to change our current policies. Kenton County Attorney Garry Edmonson was quoted as saying, “We’ve lost the War on Drugs. What we have been doing hasn’t worked. It will never work. Something different needs to be done.”

I wonder if any of these people know what has happened in Portugal? Portugal ended prohibition eleven years ago and replaced it with a policy of harm reduction. The result has been a 50% drop in all the markers by which we measure the damage from drug abuse.

Also on the local front, the resolution that the Veterans of Foreign Wars support Veteran access to medical marijuana thru the auspices of the Veterans Administration and that the Federal Government act post haste to make this happen has passed the 9th District of the Department of Kentucky of the Veterans Of Foreign Wars. The resolution should be on the agenda of the Spring Conference in March. If you are a member in good standing of the Department of Kentucky of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and you support this resolution, contact your Post Commander for details on attending the Conference. If you can’t attend the whole conference at least try to attend the Council Administration Meeting on Friday evening of the Conference. Show up and support the resolution!

http://thomyv.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/59/

In Good Conscience

by: Tony Vance

The Gatewood Galbraith Medical Marijuana Memorial Act has been designated as Senate Bill 11 for the 2013 session of the Kentucky General Assembly. Bills are usually numbered in order of importance so this designation we hope, bodes well for the fate of the bill. The opening day of the 2013 session found the Legislative Message Center jammed with calls from supporters all over the State asking for it’s passage. Calling has remained heavy and supporters are expected to be calling through out the session. Many groups supporting bill and marijuana law reform in general, think the Assembly should go all the way and pass legislation legalizing marijuana for recreational use as well as for medical and industrial uses.

What would the full legalization of marijuana look like in Kentucky. That’s not hard to decipher. It would look like the regulation of any other commodity. There will be regulations about who can use it, how they can use it and how to keep it away from minors. There will be rules governing the cultivation for farmers, and about sales for wholesalers and retailers. Most of all there will be a huge amount of economic activity. There will be licensing fees for wholesalers and retailers, possibly for cultivation. Industrial and recreational marijuana will be taxed, probably at each point of sale plus the existing sales tax. Medical marijuana will most certainly require oversight in cultivation and handling to ensure it meets whatever standards the State should decide. There is no doubt that as the industry expands, large corporate and business interests will begin to appear. Also it will be our research facilities and colleges who will be studying and expanding the uses for this plant instead of those of another state.

All of this activity will both cost money and make money and that economic activity will eventually be in the tens of millions of dollars. It is hard to estimate the number of jobs that will be created by all this but if a simple store or pharmacy employs 20 people, and for example there are more than 20 pharmacies in Campbell County alone, that’s 400 people employed!

Our legislators cannot in good conscience look at the facts and science of marijuana in all it’s uses and benefits and allow themselves to believe any longer the pronouncements of the Federal Government and the Drug Czar regarding anything they say about marijuana.

The end of marijuana prohibition means the unleashing of an industry estimated to be in the billions of dollars across the country. It is the responsibility and duty of our legislators to see that Kentucky captures as large a portion of that market as we can. For our legislators to do any less is, in military terms, dereliction of duty.

If you support legalizing marijuana in Kentucky, call the legislative hot line at 1-800-372-7181 and leave a message for all senators and legislators to support and pass Senate Bill 11, the Gatewood Galbraith medical marijuana Act this session. The people there are very nice and will help you with your call.




http://thomyv.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/54/

The Drug War Is Ending, Send The Prisoners Home

Posted on January 6, 2013

by msgtvance


I saw a news piece on television over the holidays that was posing the question, What happens when the War in Afghanistan, the War On Terror is over? For example, the legislation allowing for the killing and imprisoning of ‘enemy combatants’ will expire. The next question is how to go about repatriating prisoners and closing the prison when there exists legislation that specifically forbids using tax dollars to repatriate prisoners or close the prison.
Along the same line it seems our longest war, the War On Drugs, 98 years, is coming to a close also. A large number of states 18 as of the 2012 elections, have legalized marijuana use for medical purposes and two states, Washington and Colorado, have legalized marijuana for recreational use. Mandatory minimum sentencing is being recognized for the misery it causes as the crack / cocaine disparity is also being ended. Portugal, by changing it’s policy from one of prohibition to one of harm reduction eleven years ago has seen all the markers by which we measure the damage from drug use and abuse reduced by half.
Washington and Colorado having ended marijuana prohibition in their states, set the example by releasing and dropping the charges of hundreds of marijuana cases. Lest you think no one gets arrested for marijuana these days, think about this. Even with medical marijuana laws in 18 states we still manage to arrest more than 750,000 citizens a year for it. Hopefully the end of marijuana prohibition will find the other states following the example of Washington and Colorado.
Here in Kentucky we have the perfect opportunity to begin the end of prohibition as policy by ending the prohibition of marijuana in all its uses, medical, industrial and recreational. The Hemp bill and the Gatewood Galbraith Memorial Medical Marijuana bill both seek to legalize marijuana for medical and industrial uses. Our legislators could show great leadership and foresight and just legalize marijuana across the board as Washington and Colorado have done.
The chance to bring Kentucky into the 21st century on the marijuana issue will also generate hundreds of millions in economic activity and millions in tax and licensing revenue to the state. The Governor and the assembly are always talking about expanding commerce and increasing revenue and it is beyond comprehension why we aren’t tapping this lucrative market for our state. Thousands of our citizens need marijuana as medicine and thousands of our farmers need it as an alternative crop. The millions in revenue and economic activity generated by ending marijuana prohibition is too important to our state and it’s financial well being to allow it to be sacrificed on the alter of the failed federal policy of prohibition.

http://thomyv.wordpress.com/

In The Land Of Unintended Consequences

by: Thomas Tony Vance

The recently implemented regulations arising from the new prescription drug bill are being misinterpreted. Doctors all across the Commonwealth are doing required urine testing, and the results, in many cases, are being used to justify the withholding of medications from patients. The Doctors claim that if they don’t withhold these medications based solely on the urine test, they will lose their jobs or licenses. The regulation they say that requires them to do this is 201 KAR 9:260 Professional Standards for Prescribing and Dispensing Controlled Substances, Page 12, line 19, through Page 13 line 4.

The regulation reads:
(4) The Physician shall obtain and document a baseline urine drug screen to
determine whether the medications that are being prescribed are in the patient’s
system and to determine whether any un-prescribed or illegal controlled
substances are in the patient’s system.
(5) If, after screening, the physician determines that the controlled
substances prescribed to the patient will be used, or are likely be used other
than medicinally or other than for an accepted therapeutic purpose, the Physician
Shall not prescribe controlled substances to that patient.

As anyone can see the regulation only requires the withholding of medications if the physician determines that the medication will not be used properly. It does not require the withholding of medications if illegal drugs are present, only if the Doctor thinks the medicine they are prescribing will be misused.
Based on this misinterpretation Doctors are withholding medications because of the presence of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Many of these patients use marijuana in combination with their prescribed drugs and have been using this combination for decades. In many cases, with the approval of their Doctors. Now they are being told to chose between two drugs when the effectiveness lies in the two drugs working together. For example, marijuana works very well in controlling neuropathic pain, but it works best in combination with a small amount of pain meds usually in the evening before bed. Now these patients will have to give up either their medical marijuana or their pain medications. Many patients when faced with this choice have said that the marijuana works too well to give up and if they lose their pain meds they will get them on the black market. The fear of addiction from using pain medications alone is a major factor in their decision. Patients are being told the Doctor will help them experiment to find a pharmaceutical to replace the withheld pain medications but that requires them to become guinea pigs to the Pharmaceutical industry all over again.
No one doubts the need to get a handle on our prescription drug problem but what the patients are hearing and what the regulation says are two different things. In this interpretation of the regulations we are creating more problems than we are solving.
I wonder if the Doctors are making these decisions about their patients or the bureaucrats are? I suspect since some Doctors cited losing their jobs, it’s the bureaucrats, the absolute last people who should be making medical decisions. Unintended consequences, when not addressed can neutralize any good that might have been accomplished.

Time To Reclaim A Kentucky Industry

State Agriculture Commissioner James Comer is trying to get industrial hemp, (cannabis), legalized as an alternative crop for our farmers. State Senator Perry Clark wants to get marijuana, (cannabis), legalized for medical uses. Many of our citizens would like to see cannabis legalized for recreational uses. Maybe it’s time for our legislators to take back the cannabis industry.

At one time Kentucky had a lucrative cannabis market providing hemp fiber and medicines for retail sale. Kentuckians were fooled into voting this industry out of existence by a newspaper propaganda campaign that made cannabis out to be something different and foreign by calling it by it’s Mexican name, marijuana. The reason cannabis and the cannabis industry was suddenly vilified and driven out of the market place and into the black market had more to do with business interests eliminating the competition, than the idea of protecting Americans from what has turned out to be a relatively harmless and mostly beneficial plant. Even the American Medical Association spoke against making cannabis illegal but the fix was in and we have had 75 years of the failed policy of prohibition.

President Nixon who, against the recommendation of his own commission on drugs, used it to prove he was tough on crime by declaring the War On Drugs, and to harass war protesters. President Reagan said it was the number one enemy of America. H. W. Bush, Clinton, Carter and now Obama have all allowed this waste of 51 billion a year accomplishing nothing and inflicting misery and fear on the citizens to continue. Admittedly Carter said the law should be reformed and Obama has recently said it’s a debate worth having but nothing has been done at the Federal level, leaving it up to Congress and the State legislatures to change policy. Ironically our last 3 Presidents have used cannabis at one time or another.

Kentucky Legislators have a unique opportunity to reestablish the cannabis industry in Kentucky and position Kentucky to claim a huge portion of what is estimated to be a multibillion dollar industry. Our legislators should join forces and go for outright legalization across the board. The billions in economic activity to be realized from this action would lift the lives and improve the conditions of all our citizens. For our legislators to allow the failed policy of cannabis prohibition to continue and cause Kentucky’s businesses and farmers to miss out on this opportunity is unthinkable!

Now is the time for us to join the ranks of Colorado and Washington State. Now is the time to stand up to the Federal Authorities and do what’s best for Kentucky. Now is the time to bring the cannabis industry back to life in Kentucky!

by: Thomas Tony Vance

Can We Talk?

This is an open letter to the WAVE 3 commentator that did the piece on Industrial Hemp, you will find a link at the bottom.

Dear Sir

 I'm a 64 year old retired salesman and I'm also a four year Air Force veteran with 18 months duty "in theater" during the Vietnam war.

It was during that war, while stationed in Thailand, that I tried cannabis for the first time. That was 1970 and I have smoked recreationally off and on ever since.

It wasn't until I met Gatewood Galbraith in 1990 that I and others realized there was more to smoking "marijuana" than just getting high. Sure we had heard about making rope but most where just jokes about smoking rope no one took them seriously. After meeting with Gatewood, Willie Nelson, Jack Herer and other cannabis activists I agreed to run Gatewood's primary campaign for him here in Louisville; in which by the way we got 13% of the vote for him.

I read Jack Herer's book "The Emperor Wears No Cloths" http://www.jackherer.com/thebook/  and have been an advocate ever since. In the '91 campaign we took that book along with other literature and we worked tirelessly spreading the word and educating people through out the commonwealth. We are the reason that people are even talking about Industrial Hemp today and now we have wealthy industrialist that wish to ignore our fight, our hard work for their own profit motive. I resent that.

Gatewood's name was never brought up in your documentary nor the work of thousands of volunteers but the most egregious part of your documentary was your emphasis on "mind altering drug". I take offense to that, that was uncalled for. There were a lot of good facts in there but I felt that tone of prejudice against medicinal and I suspect recreational use as well. I wish we could have a candid discussion about all the uses of Cannabis Sativa/Indica and maybe dispel some of the rumors and fears once and for all.

I started a grassroots group www.kentuckyveteransformedicalmarijuana.net and I have been working with Sen. Perry Clark on his legislation to legalize medical marijuana. I started this group because a decision was made by the Veterans Administration to allow patients, in states where it is legal, to have THC in their blood tests but in states where it isn't legal you could be taken off your medication. That's not right but then there is so much hypocrisy in this prohibition it's hard to put it all together.

I would welcome a dialog and I can bring in some experts. I have contacts with LEAP(Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) MPP (Marijuana Policy Project) and others. Can we talk candidly? I'm retired so I don't have to pass anyone's drug test to survive  so I'm speaking out and not just for myself but my grandchildren as well. They deserve better.

Thank You

Kentucky Veterans for Medical Marijuana

attachment enclosed:

http://www.wave3.com/story/20143133/growing-controversy-the-push-to-legalize-hemp-in-ky?=#WNPoll124811

Veterans To Consider Medical Marijuana Resolution

Veteran members of the Veterans Of Foreign Wars in the Ninth District of Kentucky will vote in January on a resolution supporting Veteran access to medical marijuana thru the auspices of the Veterans Administration.  The resolution recommends that the Federal Government provide, thru the Veterans Administration Health System, medical marijuana to Veterans with qualifying conditions such as chronic pain, Post Traumatic Stress and a number of other conditions for which medical marijuana is effective.

The Government can accomplish this, the resolution states, “ by providing vouchers to Veterans who live in medical marijuana States and by directly providing the marijuana from the Government’s marijuana farm in Mississippi to Veterans who do not live in medical marijuana States as is currently done for the survivors of the old Compassionate Care Program.  The resolution also states that the Government should act post haste to provide this safe and effective medicine for the care of our Veterans.

Justification supporting the resolution sited the following points:

Thousands of our Comrade Veterans use this medicine everyday and they report that it works wonders in treating Post Traumatic Stress, chronic pain, phantom pain from loss of a limb and a number of related conditions.

The Doctors treating these Veterans agree that marijuana is effective in treating these conditions and that it should be made available to these Veterans..  The American Medical Association, The American College of Physicians, The American Nurses Association, The American Academy of Family Physicians and The Federation of American Scientists all recognize medical marijuana as legitimate medicine.  Even the Veterans Administration now recognizes Veteran use of medical marijuana.

The need for action on this issue is tantamount as for some of our Veterans access to this medicine can be a life or death issue.  It has been noted that states with medical marijuana laws in place are starting to experience lower rates of suicide which has been attributed to the availability of medical marijuana.

Since the proposal of this resolution one more state has passed legislation authorizing the use of medical marijuana and two states have legalized it’s use for recreational purposes.  Civilians can now use it for recreation but Veterans cannot access it for medical needs.  Something not right about that we think.

Lastly, we as Veterans are the leaders in our communities and in our nation as well.  As leaders we are the ones who can effect needed policy change and as Americans and especially as Veterans we have a duty to do so, in service to our country and in service to our wounded and disabled Veterans.

The resolution will be voted on at the Ninth District of Kentucky meeting  January 20, 2013.

 Msgt Tony Vance

R.I.P. Cash Hyde

I never met young Cash (Cashy) Hyde and now that he has passed on I wont get that chance at least not in this existence. Just four years old Cash was taken from us having fought cancer for most of his young life he finally fell victim to his disease.

He touched a lot of us in the cannabis community because his story was a story of hope for the future. His father tried, after doctors had given up hope of saving Cash's life, to save him. He would give Cash hemp oil in his feeding tube and for a while Cash's life was hopeful. However, as these diseases are want to do, it was false hope.

Until the day we rethink our prohibition on cannabis and restore it to it's rightful place, can we ever be certain  that hemp didn't help Cashy, even if it made the few years he had on this earth more enjoyable, isn't it worth the try? When you look into this young mans eyes tell me his life wasn't worth the risk.

Great strides are being made in cancer research all over the world. Everywhere, it would seem, except here. Spain, Portugal, Israel all have aggressive cannabis research projects studying cannabis's effect on cancer cells and other ailments but here in the US we still regard it as addictive and with no medicinal value. We know better now!

We'll probably never know if Cashy could have been saved by the hemp oil but we do know that the quality of his life was made better and the few short years that he had with us were more enjoyable because of it. Rest In Peace little soldier you've done your part.

MedicalMarijuanaRadio.com

Showing some love to the Cannabis Warriors working the front lines in this War On Cannabis. One day we will have justice!
Click the link below...
MedicalMarijuanaRadio.com

Lets walk this back!

In the 1930's things were a bit different than today. Public education has improved markedly and we now can get news in an instant where they would sometimes have to wait days for news to travel. This would allow for all sorts of manipulation of the facts and back then people were lucky to ever get the facts. People would get their news from what they saw on the Newsreels at the local theater and facts were for the most part embellished or even fabricated to fit the mood they wanted the country in. So it's no wonder a movie such as "Reefer Madness" would scare people half to death. The cinema coupled with the Hearts "yellow journalism" campaign against marijuana was enough to brain wash a generation and we have over 70 years of prohibition propaganda to straighten out the lies.

It's frustrating to know what something does and be unable to refute it I remember all the negative propaganda of the early 60's when cannabis was first becoming popular I first smoked cannabis while in Thailand with some friends of mine I wasn't prepared for the effects and needless to say I was taken back by what I experienced. It was some very good quality herb and I wasn't for sure just what to expect from it so my first time was not all that pleasurable. After that however, I learned to enjoy the experience. It amazes me now at how many people could be brain washed  into believe all the lies.

What bothers me most are how organizations such as the Kentucky State Police and the Family Foundation along with other anti-cannabis organizations can still get by with using out dated erroneous information to defend their positions and they are never questioned The media just allows them to question what legalization would do to the children without ever considering what the current prohibition is doing to them now They fear having to answer those uncomfortable questions about something they have ignored for so long "Daddy how come you always told me that pot was bad but now they say it cures cancer?" "Daddy who's lying?". They use "the children" like terrorist use women and children as human shields. Let me say this the figures haven't changed since Nixon threw the Shaffer report in the trash and started the war on cannabis. The only change is now we have synthetic cannabis that municipalities are scrambling to make illegal and when they do there will be something else. Of course with cannabis illegal there is money to be made by our "Prison Industrial Complex" and those folks who make money off counselling people.

I have honestly heard the "Gateway Theory" mentioned recently. That was debunked 20 years ago and they still bring it up and no one calls them on it. A "Gateway Theory" is a convenient store offering   any size carbonated beverage for 99 cents. It's easy for people who have never been there, never gone out into the night and purchased a "bag of weed" to imagine anything goes on in such a transaction but that is just showing their ignorance. The first law on the street is your money talks your age, sex, religion nothing else matters and the street isn't like 7/11 you may go searching for one thing and all you find is something entirely different because everyone is out of weed So you've got money and you buy what is available. Cannabis is the Gateway only because that's what you went to get in the first place. But we let them get by with it. We let them call it a gateway drug only because we can't jump up and say your wrong without branding ourselves as pot smokers and as susceptible to ridicule.. We need to stand up to these lies.

The most offensive defense of prohibition comes from the Kentucky State police who insist that if cannabis were made legal, speaking of Industrial hemp, they wouldn't be able to tell whether someone is growing medicinal cannabis in the field illegally. I cannot believe that our State Police are that misinformed about cannabis. Cannabis is a plant that has two sexes. It's existence depends on the male pollinating the female at the right time in order to produce the seeds. The male produces the pollen and the female produces THC ( a sticky substance on the buds) to attract the pollen and produce seeds. Industrial hemp fields will contain both male and female plants and they will grow much taller and woody than a plants grown for medicinal purposes... Here's the key to this equation; to get the best medicinal cannabis buds the plants must be female and they must be unpolluted. If the buds get pollinated even the slightest bit they will go to seed and your smoking material wont have the same effect as if the plant were isolated and allowed to produce as much THC as possible In short only a fool would plant anything in a field of Hemp But they say these things and get by with it...

I guess I'm just tired of being 63, 64 next month and know what I know and still have to find someone who knows someone, who has a buddy, whose cousin scored a quarter pound last week and he'll sell you a bag as big as your pinky for a 100 bucks. It's insanity. There is no logical reason that I shouldn't be able to walk any father than I would have to to get a pack of cigarettes or six pack of beer and pick up something for the evening to smoke on, come back and watch the game, invite over some friends, work in your shop,  do whatever you want to do but do it the way you want to. They shouldn't be allowed to lie like they have been and not be called on it. We need to start standing up and let them know we know they are lying.

For All to See

For All to See

As the procession moved down the street, one of the children pointed and shouted, “He has no clothes on!”, and suddenly the spell was broken. There stood the real Mitt Romney naked before the Electorate!

Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney, in a glaringly honest bit of speechifying, bared his soul and revealed his true self and that of his wealthy supporters. The opinion Mr. Romney and his supporters hold of their fellow citizens is one of resentment and indignation that those on the low end of the financial spectrum should get the assistance of the Government to be successful or to just get by. That somehow wealth equals good people and poor equals bad, dependent and lazy people. Never mind the fact that almost all successful citizens have had the help of either their families or the Government in the creation of their success. There is even a video of Mr. Romney’s mother saying that Mitt’s father was grateful for the assistance he received from the Government when he first returned from Mexico.

Mr. Romney claimed that 47% of Americans pay no income tax, that these citizens are dependent on Government handouts, lazy and feel that things like food and housing are entitlements. Statistics show that of those in the 46.4% of the citizens Mr. Romney and his supporters disparage, 28.3% pay payroll taxes and of the 18.1% who pay no payroll taxes, 10.3% are elderly or Veterans and 6.9% are non-elderly but make less than 20,000 dollars a year. None of these citizens make enough money to pay income taxes. They do pay plenty in State, sales and local taxes but I guess these don’t count! As bad as all this is for the Romney Campaign and for the rest of America’s opinion of the wealthy there is a greater lesson to be learned for Americans living in the lower end of the financial pyramid.

The Republican Party in its current form is a wholly owned subsidiary of the wealthy elite and as such , the views of the leader of the Party are the views of the Party. Americans in the despised 47% who have traditionally voted Republican need to wake up and realize that this is not the Republican Party of Ronald Reagan anymore. This Republican Party could care less about you and yours, unless of course you make enough to pay Federal income taxes. All this Party wants is your vote. They will use any social issue they can to include religion to con you out of your vote. Mr. Romney’s utterances at his $50,000 a plate fundraiser are exactly how these wealthy people feel and are the same as that of the Republican Party. As much as one might feel traditional loyalty to the Republican Party the fact that remains is this; if you make less than $200,000 a year and vote Republican you are not only voting for people who don’t like you , but are voting against your own financial interests. The Party has abandoned you and will not represent you even if you vote for them. Why would you want to vote for them anyway?


Thomas Tony Vance