Medical Marijuana may have a future in Texas!

[Nikaido]

So, I found out that in Texas (the state I currently reside) the democrat representatives have decided to push for all legislatures to vote for the legalization for medical marijuana.

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It’s been another big year for medical marijuana in 2010. New Jersey and Washington, D.C., joined the growing list of jurisdictions where patients can legally obtain medical marijuana, with South Dakota, Oregon, and Arizona slated to vote on medical marijuana initiatives in November. Perhaps most shocking, though, was the introduction and success of medical marijuana bills in the legislatures of states where one might not expect a lot of support for medical marijuana. Kansas, Virginia, and North Carolina considered medical marijuana bills, and bills in Tennessee and Alabama were actually approved by one or more legislative committees. Now Texas joins the list of conservative states that may be considering medical marijuana.

Late last month the Texas Democratic Party held their statewide convention, at which the party decides what issues are important enough to be made a part of their campaign platform. In addition to resolutions calling for improving public education, promoting green jobs, and calling for development of renewable energy resources, delegates at the convention voted in favor of adopting a resolution calling on legislators in Austin to pass medical marijuana in the Lone Star State. The resolution noted that medical marijuana has the capacity to ease the symptoms associated with certain medical conditions and treatments, and correctly pointed out that revenue from taxation would help raise revenue toward state budget shortfalls.

The revenue point is a salient one, all too often ignored in the debate. It’s worth pointing out that California officials estimate their state receives over $100 million in tax receipts on medical marijuana. And taxes aren’t the only source of revenue. The Denver Daily News reported earlier this week that Colorado collected $7.43 million in application fees alone from those wishing to become licensed growers or operate medical marijuana-related businesses. And of course all this is to say nothing of the fact that passing a medical marijuana law would end the cruel practice of arresting seriously ill people just for seeking to alleviate their suffering by using the medicine that works best for them.

This is good news for me, since I said in the "Do You Smoke" topic that I regularly use marijuana for medical use. Hopefully soon, I will no longer have to be afraid of being arrested for using a medication that actually works for my Crohn's Disease.

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I smoke marijuana, not only because of the high, but because it's a painkiller, has anti-inflammatory properties, is an immune system stabilizer, and promotes appetite & digestion. Crohn's Disease is caused by your immune system going overboard which starts attacking your intestines causing inflammation of the small & large intestine (very very painful), appetite loss (sometimes I'll go days without eating), and hindered digestion (I'm potassium, iron, & calcium deficient). Although, it does cause a build up of tar in your lungs, it does not cause cancer because there are no carcinogens. That is why if I were living in California, Colorado, or any other state that has legalized it for medical use I could get it prescribed.

Uh oh, I think I should have posted this in the Politics sub-forum.

[morrefule]

Yes this should be moved to politics, I'm sure a mod will come alone hopefully and move it.

But honestly, as conservative as i am, I don't give a crap about weed.  Personally i don't see it any worse that cigerettes or liquor.  You can abuse any substance and make it bad, but I know many people who use it responsibly and it has no effect on thier daily lives.

I say legalize it, tax it, and be done with it.

[jaybug]

DUDE! lol

WE have it here in Oregon. It doesn't seem to be doing much one way or the other as far as anything newsworthy. I had a neighbor who just moved away, was a legal grower. He had a lot of other problems, and warrants for his arrest, etc. But at least the family seemed to have gotten off of meth!

Did you read about the grow operation the city of Oakland, California is trying to build? Check that out. Factory medical marijuana. Local growers are up in arms about it though. Gonna Wal-Mart pot they say.

[Nikaido]

Well if you ask me, it needs to be regulated by the FDA like any other pharmaceutical. Although I do think you should be allowed to grow it yourself if you have the proper permits.

Well I wrote a letter to my district representative tonight who is democrat. I posted the full thing.

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Hi, I'm a 24 year old Crohn's Disease patient living in your district. I heard that in last month's democratic convention that the democratic representatives have adopted a resolution for the approval of medical marijuana use. I want to tell you the reason why I would need this medication.

Crohn's Disease is caused by your immune system going out of control and starts to attack your digestive system. It causes ulcers to form in your colon that can hemorrhage and a patient can die from this.

As a matter of fact, in March 2008 I went to the hospital because I was riddled with ulcers from the tip of my tongue down to my anus. Well one of the ulcers perforated and I started to have bloody diarrhea. I was losing so much blood that they had to transfer me to the I.C.U., put me in a diaper, and give me blood transfusions. After 13 hours and 6 blood transfusions they decided to do emergency surgery to take out a foot of my colon. Now because of all the bleeding they couldn't do a colonoscopy to see which part of the colon was affected, so they had to go in blindly. They informed me that if they didn't get the part of the colon that was being affected that I was most likely going to die. Luckily they did get the right part of the colon, and they sent it to a pathology lab in San Antonio to be tested on. Seven days after the surgery the doctors finally got the results which stated that it was Crohn's Disease.

I am on several different medications that are meant to combat the symptoms of the disease. The medications I am currently taking are Prednisone (corticosteroid), Dicyclomine (abdominal muscle relaxant), Lialda (anti-inflammatory), & Imuran (imunisuppressant). Even with all these medications I still seem to have flare ups that cause constant diarrhea (15-20 times a day), bloody stool, vomiting, joint pain, severe abdominal pain, back pain, malnutrition (since my body can't digest foods that well), appetite loss, weight loss, and depression. These symptoms most of the time take months to go away, and they come back within a month or two.

It's really hard to have this disease since I got fired from my job in October 2009 because I was put in the hospital and went over my sick days. I'm also having problems in college because I was put in the hospital at the beginning of May 2010 which was the week of finals, so I failed one class and am now on Financial Aid Probation because of it. I am currently trying to get on Social Security Disability and will most likely have to appeal it with the help of a lawyer.

Medical marijuana has been proven to help many Crohn's Disease patients with their symptoms. Through research it is known to have properties that all my current medications have. Not only is it a pain killer, but it's also an anti-inflammatory, an immune system stabilizer, promotes healthy digestion, is a muscle relaxant, and brings your appetite back. Many have been able to get off the dangerous prescription drugs and rely on that alone, and a lot have not had a flare up in years because of it.

Now my mother is a breast cancer survivor and when I was in high school would have to miss classes to drive her to get her chemotherapy. After the chemotherapy her appetite would be shot, she would start vomiting, and be in a surmountable amount of pain. I really think that medical marijuana would have helped her through that painful treatment.

So please know that you represent people that are in need of this medication. And I want personally thank you and your colleagues for adopting this resolution.

[jaybug]

I'm sorry you have to go through so much.

I only wonder if your very graphic description will be a help, or not.

I had a roommate who had become partly "allergic" to himself. He lost all his body hair. It took a while to get used to seeing a man with no eye brows.

[vicious796]

I've long been in favor of legalizing pot and prostitution and taxing the ever loving shit out of it. Deficit? What deficit?

[1000mAh]

darn, I would love it if they would allow that stuff in Finland...  :'(
Be happy...

[Semnae]

Just in case you forgot, Texas is a Republican state.  There's no way in hell anything the Dems support will pass.

Just to put in my two cents, I'm all for legalizing marijuana... then taxing it heavily.  The government should promote healthy behaviors in people, but not make the choices for them.

[AceHigh]

Just to put in my two cents, I'm all for legalizing marijuana... then taxing it heavily.  The government should promote healthy behaviors in people, but not make the choices for them.

Wait what? You are saying it is wrong for the government to take away individual choice, but social engineering is ok?

If anything I will never ever support taxes that are based on social engineering. If you want to tax the stuff, tax it as a commodity, not to promote some behaviour.

Everyone pays taxes to maintain the infrastructure of a society, taxes that are based on social engineering are just fines because you dare to take your own decisions and not be a grey mass of the population like the government wants you to be.

[relic2279]

taxes that are based on social engineering are just fines because you dare to take your own decisions and not be a grey mass of the population like the government wants you to be.

All of our vices in America are heavily taxed. Cigarettes are near $10 a pack in NYC and they cost roughly .25c a pack to make. It's almost a 10,000% markup and it's nearly all tax. Same with alcohol. Though, it's not taxed as much as cigarettes. But it's still heavily taxed. Gambling is also heavily taxed. If you win the lottery jackpot of $100 million, you would take home less than half of that after taxes.

[Nikaido]

Just in case you forgot, Texas is a Republican state.  There's no way in hell anything the Dems support will pass.

There's republican officials here in Texas that are for it. Like Congressman Ron Paul (14th district). They'd be stupid not to go for it, since taxing it would make a shit load of money. Especially since school districts have fired up to 200+ teachers (per district) because of the lack of funds.

[Semnae]

Just to put in my two cents, I'm all for legalizing marijuana... then taxing it heavily.  The government should promote healthy behaviors in people, but not make the choices for them.

Wait what? You are saying it is wrong for the government to take away individual choice, but social engineering is ok?

If anything I will never ever support taxes that are based on social engineering. If you want to tax the stuff, tax it as a commodity, not to promote some behaviour.

Everyone pays taxes to maintain the infrastructure of a society, taxes that are based on social engineering are just fines because you dare to take your own decisions and not be a grey mass of the population like the government wants you to be.

I am surprised by your reaction.  How is sin taxing, or "social engineering" as you put it, worse than the government taking away individual choice?

[jaybug]

Hey Ace, don't think of some taxes as social engineering, think of them as incentives to do the right thing. Like tax deductions for home mortgages, or credits for giving to charity. I doubt I would give anywhere near as much to charity, or maybe even buy a home, were it not for the social engineering taxes. I certainly wouldn't be donating all my old stuff to charity. It would be thrown away.

But there are many examples of it not going right. Like the big tax write-off for buying a big honkin' SUV. Or buying a "hobby farm" and not doing any farming, but still getting the deduction.

But this is for the US only. I can't speak to foreign nations. Especially those that seem to have more taxes than we do.

[Louise]

Can we all agree on something, the government is trying to find ways to make money out of everything. from trying to pass the legalization of online gambling, making stupid collectors coins, etc. I'm all for Medical Marijuana if its helpful honestly.

[1000mAh]

Can we all agree on something, the government is trying to find ways to make money out of everything. from trying to pass the legalization of online gambling, making stupid collectors coins, etc. I'm all for Medical Marijuana if its helpful honestly.

watch Pen & Teller Bullshit - 2-04 - War on Drugs and you will get your awnser.

[jaybug]

I just got the discs from Netflix, and have started watching. Haven't gotten to War on Drugs yet. Just PETA, and Safety Hysteria so far. I feel relic's obsession with regulation would fall under Safety Hysteria. You can never be too safe, or too regulated.

You can never be too thin or too rich either.

[Soryon]

sorry, TL:DR the other posts, but I wanted to say, Madison, WI recently decriminalized pot to the point where its like j-walking.
I wish they woulda done that while I was going to college out there.

[jaybug]

Welcome to Oregon of the 1970s, ya cheesehead dude.

WE've got another ballot measure over medical pot this November. I haven't seen the measure yet, so I don't have an opinion.