Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Gov. Tom Wolf met with medical marijuana advocates Tuesday at the Capitol, marking a significant shift in policy from his predecessor.
"I feel there's a lot more compassion as I walk through these halls," said Dana Ulrich, whose 7-year-old daughter Lorelei suffers from intractable epilepsy.
Ulrich, a mother of three, has become an outspoken advocate for medical marijuana. Her exchange with the governor stood in stark contrast to her one encounter with former Gov. Tom Corbett.
"I met him at a campaign stop at a Dairy Queen in Shillington, but it didn't go well," she said. "I pleaded for my daughter's life and he just nodded and moved me along."
For his part, Wolf said he campaigned for decriminalizing recreational marijuana use, so he naturally supports medical uses.
"I want to give doctors the ability to prescribe medicine as they see fit," he said.
"It pains me that anybody, any citizen of Pennsylvania, is not getting the treatment he or she needs because of some legal impediment," he added.
The meeting came after a press conference led by Sens. Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon County, and Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery County.
Leach said the meeting, which he learned about Tuesday morning, was a "breath of fresh air" after the resistance to the bill last year. Both he and Folmer had previously met Corbett to make their case for the bill, he said, but they were not warmly received.
"We talked about this for about an hour and Gov. Corbett was just silent," he said. "At the end of it, he said 'it's a gateway drug,' and that was the end of the meeting."
But new support for medical marijuana has not only come from the governor's office.
During last September's Senate vote, current Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, and Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, both voted for the bill. Meanwhile, new House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, has indicated that he's open to medical marijuana.
"We've got too many kids and too many citizens in general that could potentially benefit from the use of medical marijuana," he said, at the Pa. Press Club Monday. "We just need to make sure it's regulated in the most appropriate fashion possible and that we're not creating a lot of unintended consequences."
Folmer said Tuesday that he believes there's a lot of support in both chambers of the General Assembly for medical marijuana.
"This is not a red issue and this is not a blue issue," he said.
Ulrich said she didn't bring Lorelei to Harrisburg because her conditions keep her out of school enough as it is and she probably couldn't handle the lights and sounds of the press conference.
"She'd be on sensory overload right now," she said.
After so much time spent in the spotlight, Ulrich said she's hopeful that the bill will pass and she'll be able to take a break and just care for her daughter.
"I just really want to be able to spend some time with her," she said.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Gov. Tom Wolf meets with medical marijuana advocates, families | PennLive.com
Author: Wallace McKelvey
Contact: WMckelvey@pennlive.com
Photo Credit: Wallace McKelvey
Website: Central PA Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - PennLive.com
"I feel there's a lot more compassion as I walk through these halls," said Dana Ulrich, whose 7-year-old daughter Lorelei suffers from intractable epilepsy.
Ulrich, a mother of three, has become an outspoken advocate for medical marijuana. Her exchange with the governor stood in stark contrast to her one encounter with former Gov. Tom Corbett.
"I met him at a campaign stop at a Dairy Queen in Shillington, but it didn't go well," she said. "I pleaded for my daughter's life and he just nodded and moved me along."
For his part, Wolf said he campaigned for decriminalizing recreational marijuana use, so he naturally supports medical uses.
"I want to give doctors the ability to prescribe medicine as they see fit," he said.
"It pains me that anybody, any citizen of Pennsylvania, is not getting the treatment he or she needs because of some legal impediment," he added.
The meeting came after a press conference led by Sens. Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon County, and Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery County.
Leach said the meeting, which he learned about Tuesday morning, was a "breath of fresh air" after the resistance to the bill last year. Both he and Folmer had previously met Corbett to make their case for the bill, he said, but they were not warmly received.
"We talked about this for about an hour and Gov. Corbett was just silent," he said. "At the end of it, he said 'it's a gateway drug,' and that was the end of the meeting."
But new support for medical marijuana has not only come from the governor's office.
During last September's Senate vote, current Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, and Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, both voted for the bill. Meanwhile, new House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, has indicated that he's open to medical marijuana.
"We've got too many kids and too many citizens in general that could potentially benefit from the use of medical marijuana," he said, at the Pa. Press Club Monday. "We just need to make sure it's regulated in the most appropriate fashion possible and that we're not creating a lot of unintended consequences."
Folmer said Tuesday that he believes there's a lot of support in both chambers of the General Assembly for medical marijuana.
"This is not a red issue and this is not a blue issue," he said.
Ulrich said she didn't bring Lorelei to Harrisburg because her conditions keep her out of school enough as it is and she probably couldn't handle the lights and sounds of the press conference.
"She'd be on sensory overload right now," she said.
After so much time spent in the spotlight, Ulrich said she's hopeful that the bill will pass and she'll be able to take a break and just care for her daughter.
"I just really want to be able to spend some time with her," she said.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Gov. Tom Wolf meets with medical marijuana advocates, families | PennLive.com
Author: Wallace McKelvey
Contact: WMckelvey@pennlive.com
Photo Credit: Wallace McKelvey
Website: Central PA Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - PennLive.com
