UPDATED: the use of medicinal cannabis

[dee-luded 2,959]

Hi ! I just signed the petition to, "Jillian Skinner: Decriminalise the use of medicinal cannabis for people with terminal cancer like my son." on Change.org.

This is important. Will you sign it too?

Here's the link:
http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/jillian-skinner-decriminalise-the-use-of-medicinal-cannabis-for-people-with-terminal-cancer-like-my-son?recruiter=9778099&utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition

Thanks!

dee-luded

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Edited October 15, 2015 by dee-luded

[jane02 3,749]

Thanks for the link. I have just signed as well.

[dee-luded 2,959]

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/15/we-didnt-see-ourselves-as-drug-dealers-we-were-doing-the-best-for-our-son?utm_source=change_org&utm_medium=petition We didn't see ourselves as dope dealers. We were doing the best for our son

My husband and I lost our son to cancer earlier this year. The only thing that eased his nausea was cannabis. Legalisation for medical use is well overdue in Australia.

‘We didn’t see ourselves as dealers. We saw ourselves as loving parents doing the very best for their child, who was suffering.’ Photograph: Nsw Police/PR IMAGE

Being sympathetic to a cause sounds lovely, but it’s not enough. When that cause is decriminalising medicinal cannabis, we’ve heard enough sympathy. It begins to sound like apathy. It is a delaying tactic. An excuse for further procrastination. Meanwhile, horrifically sick people – including those with terminal illness and life threatening conditions – continue to suffer unnecessarily when cannabis could afford them relief.

I certainly know what sympathy sounds like. I was a nurse for 25 years in Tamworth NSW, my husband was a police officer for 35 years and we both acted as suppliers of cannabis to our late son, Dan.

...... We lost him to bowel cancer in February this year. He was just 25.

I watched chemotherapy destroy his quality of life for three years. It caused him to suffer from uncontrolled nausea and vomiting after every chemotherapy session. We were desperate to ease his suffering.

It wasn’t until a fellow cancer sufferer suggested he try cannabis that his life with cancer became a little more tolerable. A sick young man reluctantly tried a joint and just like that, he felt so much better. He gained an appetite, had his nausea and vomiting addressed and was able to maintain his weight through his ongoing treatment.

We leant more about the effects cannabis and how new research around the world is verifying thousands of personal accounts about the benefits of cannabis for people with serious health issues.

Dan’s last months with us were made more comfortable because of this.

We didn’t see ourselves as dealers. We saw ourselves as loving parents doing the very best for their child, who was suffering. We didn’t see Dan as a criminal but he certainly felt burdened by the knowledge that in the face of current laws he was one.

A whole swathe of people are criminalised who shouldn’t be, simply for doing what we did.

A cross-party bill to allow medicinal cannabis under the strict control of an independent regulator is soon to be put before the parliament. This is in addition to recent announcements that Victoria is moving towards legalising medicinal cannabis in a move that premier Daniel Andrews said, was one of his “proudest days in politics”.

However, both this move and the federal cross-party push require Malcolm Turnbull’s support. The new bill is a step forward, certainly, but the pace of change isn’t matching the urgency the issue requires.

The uncomplicated fact is that cannabis improves the lives of thousands of very sick and suffering Australians. This is significant because “approved” medications often fail or are commonly responsible for causing side effects which render them intolerable for the individual patient.

Over decades we’ve had numerous state and federal senate enquiries about the merits and risks of medicinal cannabis. We now have unanimous cross-party support and overwhelming public support. I started a petition on the people-power platform Change.org asking for this change.

....... It was Dan’s wish – that others can experience the unique qualities of cannabis when they are suffering as he did.

At the time of writing, this petition has over 245,000 signatures.

It’s the third biggest petition ever in Change.org Australia’s history, and still growing. Reading the comments below the petition has been overwhelming for me. If Malcolm Turnbull really is the tech-savvy man-of-the-people, perhaps he’ll read some of those comments and prioritise this change.

It’s so urgent, I’ve been participating in the setting up of a compassionate access scheme with the NSW government to try and hurry this along (it has been compared to the Dallas Buyers Club). I’m just trying to help people and fulfil my promise to Dan. It’s not just cancer sufferers that cannabis helps; multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, epilepsy and chronic pain are all eased by it.

All over the world medicinal cannabis is being seen in a new light, less encumbered by mistruths and more focused on emerging science.

Countries who’ve approved cannabis for medical use, including Spain, Italy, Germany, Canada, Austria, Argentina, Israel and 20 American states.

In Australia the time for stalling, political grandstanding and misinformed rhetoric is over.

.......... Frustratingly, a new phase of Australian clinical trials seems to be emerging as the government’s preferred solution. But trying to make a natural botanical plant more in keeping with our perceived preference for man-made pharmaceuticals does not represent progressive and well-informed government.

It represents a political arrogance being directed by a scientific knowledge vacuum. Continued lobbying by the Therapeutic Goods Administration demonstrates a conflict of interest.

The government needs to advocate for the people and not protect corporate interests inspired by profit.

The federal regulator of medicinal cannabis bill has done the work; we now have a strategy to remove this incredible burden from our sick loved ones.

As a representative of patients and carers grappling with the illegality of medicinal cannabis, I urge the health minister and the new prime minister to show the compassion we’re being criminalised for showing ourselves.

Being sympathetic is not sufficient; it makes no meaningful difference to the sick.

By supporting this bill (or signing the Change.org petition to help speed up the legislative change)

you’ll be supporting sick people who are currently treated as criminals.

You’ll pave the way for provision of a safe and regulated medicinal cannabis supply.

You’ll encourage much-needed research.

You’ll be helping me keep my promise to my beautiful son.

...... But most of all, you’ll be upholding basic human rights, which should be a high priority for any democratic, responsible, forward-thinking and compassionate government....

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/15/we-didnt-see-ourselves-as-drug-dealers-we-were-doing-the-best-for-our-son?utm_source=change_org&utm_medium=petition

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[whatwhat say what 22,948]

What a ridiculous state of affairs.

[dee-luded 2,959]

What a ridiculous state of affairs.

I agree, i you mean what i think, that people are being made to face criminal charges, for giving aid to their suffering loved ones.

[Wrecker45 3,378]

My thoughts on cannabis are exactly the same as nuclear power. If it the best available technology let's use it and get politics out of the way.

[nutbean 8,838]

I was going to sign the petition but I was too busy eating 3 packets of tim tams.

[dee-luded 2,959]

http://www.theguardian.com/profile/margaret-storey

Margaret Storey

Margaret Storey is an Associate Professor of History at DePaul University in Chicago and a parent advocate for children with medical complexity and disability. She lives in Evanston, Illinois with her husband and daughter, who has Aicardi Syndrome. She is currently a Public Voices Faculty Fellow with the OpEd Project. Follow her on Twitter: @MargaretStorey3

--------------------------------------------

Medical marijuana could save my daughter's life Margaret Storey

A medical marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles displays various types of marijuana available to patients. Photograph: David Mcnew/Getty Images

My 10-year-old daughter has big blue eyes and is a serious fan of the Chicago Blackhawks.   She loves music,  fairy tales,  and driving under city streetlights at night.   She also cannot walk, talk or feed herself,  thanks to the uncontrolled seizures that have resisted all attempts at treatment since she was three months old. Every day, she is at risk of SUDEP, or Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy.

Just in the last year,  something truly promising has appeared on the horizon for her and other children with severe and debilitating seizure disorders:  a unique strain of marijuana that has been found to dramatically reduce life-threatening symptoms that often include hundreds of violent seizures a day.   But because of irrationally rigid state and federal laws,  it is currently only available in Colorado,  where it is grown.

This needs to change.

read more > http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/25/medical-marijuana-could-save-my-child

[Wrecker45 3,378]

The trial isn't going very well.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/french-volunteer-dies-in-cannabis-inspired-drug-trial/

 

 

 

[dee-luded 2,959]

 

The trial isn't going very well.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/french-volunteer-dies-in-cannabis-inspired-drug-trial/

 

 

 

my understanding is this is not an organic cannabis trial,  but rather a laboratory made synthetic substitute.  anyhow continue your narrow views .

[Wrecker45 3,378]

33 minutes ago, dee-luded said:

my understanding is this is not an organic cannabis trial,  but rather a laboratory made synthetic substitute.  anyhow continue your narrow views .

How are my views narrow? I said I am all for medical marijuana if it is the best available technology. Then I linked to a trial where a person died by just ingesting a pill of it. If anyone has narrow views it is the person that believes medical marijuana is great no-matter the evidence.

 

 

[dee-luded 2,959]

6 minutes ago, Wrecker45 said:

How are my views narrow? I said I am all for medical marijuana if it is the best available technology. Then I linked to a trial where a person died by just ingesting a pill of it. If anyone has narrow views it is the person that believes medical marijuana is great no-matter the evidence.

 

 

I guess I've painted you into that spot from past experience. 

 

if you are pro for Cannibals trials as medicine, than I'll retract on this occasion.

[Wrecker45 3,378]

22 minutes ago, dee-luded said:

I guess I've painted you into that spot from past experience. 

 

if you are pro for Cannibals trials as medicine, than I'll retract on this occasion.

I'm open minded and pro anything that is for the greater good of humanity or nature. 

If your selection criteria is based around your pre-conceived ideas on cannabis then perhaps you should take a look at yourself. 

[dee-luded 2,959]

1 hour ago, Wrecker45 said:

I'm open minded and pro anything that is for the greater good of humanity or nature. 

If your selection criteria is based around your pre-conceived ideas on cannabis then perhaps you should take a look at yourself. 

I don't know that you have done any study at all about medicinal cannibas,  or spoken to climate experts,  but I've done both.  so you go back to your right wing pedestal & just carry on .

[Wrecker45 3,378]

22 hours ago, dee-luded said:

I don't know that you have done any study at all about medicinal cannibas,  or spoken to climate experts,  but I've done both.  so you go back to your right wing pedestal & just carry on .

Does smoking dope count as study?

I

[nutbean 8,838]

15 hours ago, Wrecker45 said:

Does smoking dope count as study?

I

If so I better revise my standard response of " I never did a days study in my life"

[dee-luded 2,959]

On 19/1/2016 at 3:38 PM, Wrecker45 said:

Does smoking dope count as study?

I

I don't know wrecka,  does it... as a non user, mostly  I couldn't tell you.. have you ever studied wrecka?   perhaps you studied,  but didn't draw back?

 I guess you would say, 'that lad hasn't studied for at least a couple of years',  since last study-ship.

 

not to sure if smoking dope counts as study wrecka, but being one sure would hinder your  'cog'-nightive  abilities, that's for certain, wrecka.

Edited January 23, 2016 by dee-luded