(I'm promoting this late, because this week a federal amendment came up, to block funding for the DEA to prosecute med-marijuana crimes in states where it was legal. The bill failed, but I wanted to note that all four Democratic Congresspeople from Oregon voted for it. Republican Greg Walden? Hah. Nice going, Dems of Oregon. - promoted by torridjoe)
Kevin Mannix has filed an initiative to "replace" the current OMMA (oregon medical marijuana act) that was voted in by the people for the sick, ill, hurting and dying in 1998.
His initiative will replace naturally grown cannabis with pharmaceutical synthetics such as marinol and cesamet. the burden to provide these prescription drugs to those who have qualifying conditions will fall on YOU, the tax-payer. This WILL increase tax-payers burden by approx. $1000.00 per month per patient X's 15,000-20,000 . This will be an expenditure EVERY MONTH/every YEAR. Can you afford this? Can Oregon afford this?
The health care in this state is an abomination already and Mannix is driven to INCREASE the burden and worsen the problem.
As near as I can tell, the cannabis prohibition debt for EVERY single Oregon resident is approximately $25,000.00 and growing. This debt will be inherited by your children and grand-children.
it seems fairly clear to me who has the bucks behind this. pharmaceutical companies do know cannabis works and are but one group with a lot of money that will not stand by while a lowly plant replace profits. i know, personally 2 OMMA participants that were able to drop 300 pain pills between the 2 of them and they not only are more alert but they feel better, NOT stupified.
Cannabis prohibition hurts the already sick and injured people. Cannabis prohibition hurts the tax-payer a lot and to the tune of several BILLION every year without consideration of housing prisoners for simple, non-violent cannabis convictions.
The medical cannabis community urges folks to educate themselves about this most cost effective, efficacious herbal medical therapy. Being allowed to produce ones own medicine actually REDUCES tax-payer burdens and indeed the program is “self-funding” taking no money from the general fund. In fact, in 2005 the state legislature raided the OMMP (Oregon medical marijuana program) of its excess monies to the tune of nearly 1MILLION dollars that was designated to be used for the program to improve its functionality.
(side note: if cannabis were legalized, taxed and regulated the state of Oregon coffers WOULD realize MILLIONS in REVENUE instead of expenditures on a failed cannabis prohibition)
However, we need, once again, your help to preserve this program for Oregon’s most ill, most poor and least capable of fighting this kind of political attack. Every year the opposition who are pandered by pharmaceutical companies, law enforcement, beer/wine industries, drug testing manufacturers, drug and alcohol rehab facilities and more, use fear (good old fashioned reefer madness) to keep the public, you and me afraid of this herb.
Every legislative session there are very harmful bills introduced to chip away at an otherwise most successful program.
Cannabis activists are most often times told by others “well, what’s your problem, isn’t it already legal?” The answer, of course, is “yes”. What the public does not understand is the constant battle to keep it alive. You know when law-makers don’t like the “peoples will” they hack away at the laws we pass in legislative session, changing the laws to what they wanted to begin with. This is precisely what has happened to OMMA.
The people who need and use the OMMA are too sick and in too many cases terminal and are essentially defenseless. How proud the opponents of this medicinal therapy must be to put sick people on the defense as if they had no other worries and the physical abilities and energy to fight them.
How long will we allow and tolerate this cruel, apathetic treatment of the defenseless? This is not about drug use and abuse it’s about health care, prevention and doing what is right and fighting against what’s wrong, right here in Oregon |
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