Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Tallahassee – A stark divide between the public and Tallahassee bureaucrats was on full display late Thursday as patients, caregivers and doctors hammered state medical marijuana regulators for standing in the way of access to medicine.
Several patients told regulators that cannabis has provided a far healthier alternative to the cocktails of relatively ineffective pharmaceuticals they may otherwise have to take, and that the rule the department is proposing is just more red tape blocking their access.
"You are the Office of Compassionate Use. We are the 71.3 percent. Hear us roar," said mental health therapist Josephine Cannella-Krehl, referring to the percentage of state voters who overwhelmingly supported the constitutional amendment, known as Amendment 2, mandating broader access to medical marijuana for Floridians.
Cannella-Krehl was just one voice of many that drew rousing applause during the Florida Department of Health's public workshop, one of several being held around the state to draw up medical marijuana rules. This week, in packed meetings in Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville, speakers demanded regulators promote greater availability of the plant for needy patients.
The consensus was clear: the public wants greater access, and that means more choices.
In contrast, there were few – if any – who praised the current system.
Far from the stoner stereotype of dread-headed hippies, the speakers tended to be professionals. And in many cases, represented groups that Republicans often speak about.
Take, for example, disabled U.S. Marine Bill Cody, who has PTSD, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He was a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan who broke his back in a helicopter crash in 2002.
"That wasn't the worst part," he said. "The worst part was coming back and being stuck in the VA system and being overmedicated on psychotropic medication and a high level of opiates, including fentanyl, for 10 years. I've been pharmaceutical free for three and a half years."
He notes that Florida is home to more than 1 million veterans, the nation's third-largest population, but says the state isn't doing enough to help the many veterans suffering with PTSD.
"Your vertical integration model harms veterans by limiting choice, limiting supply, and creating outrageous prices," he said. "I hear all the time, 'thank you for your service, thank you for your service.' If you truly want to thank veterans in this state, then get out of our way and produce a medical cannabis program that works for sick Floridians and disabled veterans, and that doesn't [prioritize] the financial interest of the pharmaceutical industry and a vocal minority of ignorant, narrow-minded prohibitionists who refuse to accept logic and science."
Cody and many others also offered their opinion on legislation in the Florida Senate. He slammed a bill sponsored by state Sen. Rob Bradley, a Republican from Fleming Island, that builds upon the current regulatory system he helped design was little more than "status -quo plus."
Meanwhile, numerous speakers, including Cody, praised state Sen. Jeff Brandes for his medical marijuana, which breaks down what the St. Petersburg Republican and others have called a state-sanctioned "cartel."
But speakers also took aim at the health department for their proposed rule that gives the Board of Medicine power to determine the list of qualifying medical conditions not enumerated in the constitutional amendment.
That, they argued, is contrary to the language of the amendment that ultimately leaves the question of what a debilitating condition is up to doctors. It's a move, they say, unnecessarily interferes with the doctor-patient relationship.
Instead, suggests Tallahassee physician Mark Moore, the department should work to "empower doctors to take care of their patients. They can decide what patients need and when they need it."
Asked what changes to the proposed rule regulators may make based on the public comments, Office of Compassionate Use director Christian Bax told reporters, "that's going to be a department-wide decision. I'm going to take back all of our public comment, both oral and written, and we'll make a determination as to any changes we need to make to the rule."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Patients To Health Officials On Medical Cannabis - We Are The 71 Percent
Author: Daniel Ducassi
Contact: 703.647.7999
Photo Credit: Drew Angerer
Website: Politico
Several patients told regulators that cannabis has provided a far healthier alternative to the cocktails of relatively ineffective pharmaceuticals they may otherwise have to take, and that the rule the department is proposing is just more red tape blocking their access.
"You are the Office of Compassionate Use. We are the 71.3 percent. Hear us roar," said mental health therapist Josephine Cannella-Krehl, referring to the percentage of state voters who overwhelmingly supported the constitutional amendment, known as Amendment 2, mandating broader access to medical marijuana for Floridians.
Cannella-Krehl was just one voice of many that drew rousing applause during the Florida Department of Health's public workshop, one of several being held around the state to draw up medical marijuana rules. This week, in packed meetings in Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville, speakers demanded regulators promote greater availability of the plant for needy patients.
The consensus was clear: the public wants greater access, and that means more choices.
In contrast, there were few – if any – who praised the current system.
Far from the stoner stereotype of dread-headed hippies, the speakers tended to be professionals. And in many cases, represented groups that Republicans often speak about.
Take, for example, disabled U.S. Marine Bill Cody, who has PTSD, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He was a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan who broke his back in a helicopter crash in 2002.
"That wasn't the worst part," he said. "The worst part was coming back and being stuck in the VA system and being overmedicated on psychotropic medication and a high level of opiates, including fentanyl, for 10 years. I've been pharmaceutical free for three and a half years."
He notes that Florida is home to more than 1 million veterans, the nation's third-largest population, but says the state isn't doing enough to help the many veterans suffering with PTSD.
"Your vertical integration model harms veterans by limiting choice, limiting supply, and creating outrageous prices," he said. "I hear all the time, 'thank you for your service, thank you for your service.' If you truly want to thank veterans in this state, then get out of our way and produce a medical cannabis program that works for sick Floridians and disabled veterans, and that doesn't [prioritize] the financial interest of the pharmaceutical industry and a vocal minority of ignorant, narrow-minded prohibitionists who refuse to accept logic and science."
Cody and many others also offered their opinion on legislation in the Florida Senate. He slammed a bill sponsored by state Sen. Rob Bradley, a Republican from Fleming Island, that builds upon the current regulatory system he helped design was little more than "status -quo plus."
Meanwhile, numerous speakers, including Cody, praised state Sen. Jeff Brandes for his medical marijuana, which breaks down what the St. Petersburg Republican and others have called a state-sanctioned "cartel."
But speakers also took aim at the health department for their proposed rule that gives the Board of Medicine power to determine the list of qualifying medical conditions not enumerated in the constitutional amendment.
That, they argued, is contrary to the language of the amendment that ultimately leaves the question of what a debilitating condition is up to doctors. It's a move, they say, unnecessarily interferes with the doctor-patient relationship.
Instead, suggests Tallahassee physician Mark Moore, the department should work to "empower doctors to take care of their patients. They can decide what patients need and when they need it."
Asked what changes to the proposed rule regulators may make based on the public comments, Office of Compassionate Use director Christian Bax told reporters, "that's going to be a department-wide decision. I'm going to take back all of our public comment, both oral and written, and we'll make a determination as to any changes we need to make to the rule."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Patients To Health Officials On Medical Cannabis - We Are The 71 Percent
Author: Daniel Ducassi
Contact: 703.647.7999
Photo Credit: Drew Angerer
Website: Politico
