Welcome to Sensible Missouri
Missouri Medical Cannabis Patient Organization
Sensible
Missouri Newsletter
July 2010
- "Veterans Health Administration Tolerates Veterans Use of Medicinal Cannabis
- September 25th Joplin Cannabis Revival endorsed by Sensible Missouri
- PayPal's error hampers contributions. Springfield Patient Conference canceled due to lack of funds.
- Sensible Missouri holds Patient Conferences throughout Missouri
- Staying busy on the east side of the state
I encourage patients and their caregivers to consider attending any of the events mentioned here for information on alternative treatments for chronic illness and to show support for the educational and legislative efforts currently underway regarding the efficacy of medical cannabis.
Veterans
Health Administration Tolerates Veterans' Use of Medicinal Cannabis
as Adjunct Therapy to VA Hospital Supplied Opioids.
In a July 6, 2010 letter addressed to the Executive Director of Veterans
for Medical Cannabis Access (VMMA), Robert A. Petzel, MD, Under Secretary
for Health of the Department of Veterans Affairs wrote, “If a Veteran obtains and uses
medical marijuana in a manner consistent with state law, testing positive for
marijuana would not preclude the Veteran from receiving opioids for pain
management in a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facility.”
Follow the link to the story
This is vitally important for Veterans who use
medical cannabis to treat their chronic or terminal illness. For years they have lived in fear of losing
their prescription pain medications if drug tests revealed their use of
cannabis as an adjunct.
Further, this ruling touches ALL of our country's chronic pain sufferers by
being yet another Federal office to recognize the medical efficacy of cannabis.
I urge all of Missouri's chronic pain suffers to print and add this decision
paper to their arsenal. Take it with you
to your doctor and keep it handy in the event that you find your medical
cannabis use threatened by drug testing.
Our hope is that this will increase the number of Missouri's physicians who
will recognize cannabis as an essential part of their treatment and make the
brave step to treat the cannabis patient with the same dignity as any person
receiving conventional care. mark-sm
Joplin Cannabis Revival endorsed by Sensible Missouri
On Saturday September 25th, Joplin NORML will be hosting their 11th annual Cannabis Revival.
The Cannabis Revival is a one day music and cannabis information event featuring musical entertainment, nationally recognized speakers, arts and crafts, various cannabis information booths, and delicious food.
Since Sensible Missouri has been graciously included and Joplin NORML has demonstrated a history of support for Missouri's medical cannabis patients, I am asking Missouri patients to consider this a Sensible Missouri endorsed event. I encourage all of Missouri's chronically and terminally ill to attend.
Cannabis Patient Network will be collecting video interviews of chronically and terminally ill patients. Likewise, Sensible Missouri will have a booth with information, DVD's and t-shirts.
For more information, please see our Event Page.
PayPal's error hampers contributions
Recently it came to my
attention that PayPal was rejecting contributions for both Sensible
Missouri and Cannabis Patient Network. SSDP's Amber Langston brought this
to my attention following her attempt to contribute to CPN's efforts in
Nebraska.
After hours on the phone with their support staff, it became apparent that the
cause for this was a filing error on the part of PayPal's clerical staff.
If in recent months you have attempted to make a contribution to one of these organizations, please try it again. Donation buttons are up on both the Sensible Missouri and the Cannabis Patient Network Blog.
I was forced to cancel my trip to Lincoln to speak to the Nebraska Pharmaceutical Board. Likewise, I was forced to cancel the July Springfield Sensible Missouri Patient Conference. Without the funds or local support...well, I have to pick my battles. Right now, I'm doing what I can from home.
Sensible Missouri holds Patient Conferences throughout the state
Sensible Missouri held
their Columbia Patient Conference on March 27th. The Daniel Boone Public Library proved to be
an excellent location.
Special thanks to Michael Cooley, Columbia resident and patient, who was our
local contact for the event.
In April, I was given the opportunity to speak at the Spring Statewide NORML Conference in St. Louis. During our segment, we shared the mini patient documentary, "What is Sensible for Missouri?". There were also testimonials from our patient panel.
The following week, I
was in Providence, Rhode Island for the 2010 National Patients Out of Time
Conference.
I cannot begin to tell you the tremendous sense of freedom I experienced to
once again be a legal patient.
As you may know, Rhode Island enacted a
medical cannabis program in January of 2006.
It was a rare honor to be asked to assist Patients Out of Time's video staff. Later I learned that I had been appointed to
their Advisory Board. This will benefit
us back in Missouri, I assure you.
During the conference, we heard from such distinguished physicians and
scientists as Donald Abrams, David Bearman, Melanie Dreher, Michael Krawitz,
Raphael Mechoulam, and Robert Melamede - to name only a few.
Not only did I get to meet and interview on camera Elvie Musika and Irvin
Rosenfeld, two of the remaining Federal legal patients, I got to spend a
considerable amount of time getting to know them, (I interviewed the other two
surviving members of the Investigational New Drug Program in their Iowa homes
back in 2008).
There, in that gathering of the most brilliant minds regarding endocannabinoid
science, there was no question as to whether or not cannabis had medical
efficacy, but rather what other diseases and illnesses could be treated with
this amazing natural herb.
On May 1st, patient Rick
Boston and I were at William Woods University for the Fulton Sensible Missouri
Patient Conference. Cory
Harlan, President of William
Woods University NORML was our local contact.
This was my first opportunity to see the video "What is Sensible for
Missouri?" on a theater size screen.
It was quite impressive.
We hope to return for another patient conference after classes reconvene.
May 29th found me on the west side of the
state for the Kansas City Sensible Missouri Patient Conference. The generous and hard working members of KCNORML helped to make this possible.
The event was held in the beautiful and spacious All Souls Unitarian Church. If possible, please drop them a line and let
them know that you appreciate generosity in sharing their facility with us.
Following the event, I conducted interviews with Julie
Harris of St. Joseph and Eric
DeWolf of Kansas City.
The interviews continued across the border in Kansas at the home of Nic (Henry)
Brown, whom I also interviewed. Other
interviews that I conducted there included Heath
Poland of Raytown, Greg
Terry of Independence, and Chapin
Walton of Lee Summit.
Interviews with Henry Brown and Sahj Kaya of Kansas City are still in edit and will
be available shortly.
Staying busy on the east side of the state
Patient Melissa Vahlkamp opened her house to interviews on June 17th. Kathleen Wolf of St. Louis bravely told her story of how she has dealt with the debilitating effects of a traumatic brain injury and how cannabis has brought her both comfort and healing.
I drove to Dittmer on July 6th to interview Suzanne Jones. She has a rare form of cancer that only cannabis appears to adequately treat. Suzanne and her husband are great people. They both pledged to work with Sensible.
On July 22nd, I made a
day trip to Rolla to interview a patient with a ruptured gastric bypass. Steve
Stacy had spent six months in the hospital, undergone 30 surgeries, and almost
died four times. It's truly a miracle
that he is still alive.
During my interview with him, he lamented the vast quantity of prescription
drugs that he was forced to take. What
he really needed, to use his words, was "...God's medicine."
As soon as I am financially capable, I hope to journey to French Village to finish up my second interview with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and terminal melanoma survivor Brian Chitwood. He attributes his recovery to his self-administration of cannabis oil.
Currently, I am doing what I can to help a young family in Florissant where the wife is suffering from terminal brain cancer. In cases like this, fellow patients need to gather together and share whatever they can - their knowledge and their compassion. We must demonstrate to our communities that cannabis can provide comfort from pain, as well as stimulate healing, even when conventional medicine has fallen short.
My interviews with Kathleen Wolf, Suzanne Jones, Steve Stacy and Brian Chitwood will be available on my Facebook page, the Sensible Website and my youtube channel in the coming weeks. As with all my interviews, these are tools for demonstrating the medicinal efficacy of cannabis. Share them with your friends and physicians.
I was featured in two California magazines this month, The Medical Cannabis Journal and The 420 Times. Further, a video interview by MedicalMarijuana411.com was published on their webpage and on Causecast.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As you can see, there is
a great deal happening here in Missouri, as well as across the country, but we
could do more. Much more. But we need your help. Contributions to Cannabis Patient Network
and Sensible Missouri pay for
my travels, video, DVD and brochure production costs.
Through your donations and your participation, we will bring cannabis education
to every part of Missouri and insure that not only will our medicine be legal
one day, but will also be safe and affordable.
Together, we will bring God's medicine back to his people.
Please be sure and check our event
calendar
for upcoming events across the state.
Spread the word. The time has come for action, "To Free the
Medicine, and Ease the Pain."
Mark Pedersen
Sensible Missouri
CPN Interviews Suzanne Jones of Missouri
Suzanne's misdiagnosis almost claimed her life. The seemingly endless flow of pharmaceuticals only exacerbated her fragile condition. Her form of cancer, Systemic Mastocytosis, seemed hopeless to treat until she discovered cannabis.
CPN Interviews Kathleen Wolff of Missouri
In July of 1993, Kathleen's life changed forever when her car was struck from behind. Suffering a traumatic brain injury (TBI), Kathleen seemed trapped between her debilitating condition and the pharmaceuticals that sapped her humanity in exchange for temporary relief. She began her road toward recovery when she rediscovered cannabis.
CPN Interviews Heath Poland of Missouri
Heath suffers from ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and Bipolar Disorder. Like so many who suffer from mental illness, he spent much of his life mis-diagnosed and improperly and/or over-medicated. Medicating with cannabis calms the symptoms of his disorders and makes the side effects from the pharmaceuticals more tolerable.
CPN Interviews Greg Terry of Missouri
Ever since Greg was 17, he has battled Crohn's Disease, Though he has run the gamut of of surgeries and pharmaceutical meds to treat this debilitating disease, only one holistic treatment has given him lasting relief from his symptoms. So, for 34 years, Cannabis has been his medicine of choice.
CPN Interviews Cory Harlan of Missouri
Cory has suffered greatly in his 29 years. Because of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) as an infant, he developed a condition called Mesial Temporal Sclerosis. He has been in and out of hospitals and institutions ever since. Cannabis relieves his pain and seizures and has helped him return to college.
CPN Interviews Brian Chitwood of Missouri
I first met Brian at the 2009 Joplin Cannabis Revival. Brian is a Hodgkin's Lymphoma survivor. He attributes his recovery to his use of cannabis as an adjunct to the chemotherapy he received.
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