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.