117
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
In the course of doing that survey, of
which I got almost 900 responses, I learned that
many of them were using it as medicine, so that was
back in '85 when I first started hearing about its
therapeutic effects. Actually a little earlier,
but this is where it really woke up to uses other
than nausea and vomiting and other than appetite
stimulation. I found out people were using it for
spinal cord injuries, for digestive, for migraine
headaches, and for countless other issues, so I've
been studying that ever since.
And then by 1989, I was working in
Virginia teaching nursing and kind of made a switch
in professions, went back into nursing and in the
field of addiction. I have worked in substance
abuse and addiction ever since, so I'm -- in terms
of me asking you to consider the source, my
background is nursing, you know, med surg and had a
lot of experience with medications.
And now with addiction nursing, it's
many, many years of seeing people with bad drug
problems, and over those years, marijuana was not
the reason they came and sought help for treatment.
And even if it was, that still wouldn't negate me
thinking it could be a medicine because I clearly
118
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
see patients who have opiate problems, yet I still
understand the need of it for a medicine.
So anyway, when I first -- again,
going back to the '80s, in the 1980s, I was looking
at cannabis and thought, gee, this is a good
medicine for nausea and vomiting, as an appetite
stimulant, and to help people with glaucoma. I
started reading more, started learning more.
By the 1990s I -- I really opened up
my eyes, I guess, to -- to its wide range of events
thinking, you know, it was so helpful for multiple
sclerosis patients, for spinal injury patients, for
chronic pain patients. You know, the list is --
it's just very long.
And by that time my message to my
colleagues was I don't understand why this isn't
available to patients. It really is a no brainer.
And that sounds like a silly thing to say, but this
is really basic information in terms of when you
look at the risks -- the risks of the medicine and
the potential benefits, the weight is so heavy on
the benefits compared to the risks that it clearly
should be there, and it's only politics.
And one thing you might want to ask
is, why is it illegal? Why was it illegal? And
119
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
when you go back to the hlstory, there was no
medical reason for it being taken out of the
pharmacopeia, and of course that's why we have the
marijuana madness, so to speak, the Reefer Madness
that comes from the marijuana. They had to make up
the name because it was a good medicine that was
being used as cannabis, which is why we should
continue to call it cannabis to remind pecple that
it was an old medicine. It never should have been
taken out of the pharmacopeia, and had it been
there, we would have had all of the research, more
of the research. We would have had numerous other
applications.
We never would have -- I was almost
going to say we never would have had smokes, but
that would be untrue because that's when it was
allowed, we did have asthma cigarettes -- asthma
cigarettes, Cannadonna, asthma cigarettes, both of
which contained cannabis because they knew back
then it helps dilate the airways, and that was the
form of delivery.
But had it been stayed in the
pharmacopeia now, we would be using it as more of
the nebulizer, the vaporizer, some type of method
to introduce it into the lungs without having
120
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
smoking added. So the smoking is only the result
of the prohibition but has nothing to do with
its -- its therapeutic use.
So I lived through the '90s, again,
thinking this is just so basic. It's so clear that
this is medicine, and now here we are in the 21st
century, and I believe you heard from Raphael
Mechoulam earlier today. I consider him, you know,
the father of modern cannabis research. This man
is tied to almost all the research that's been done
around the world because of his early work starting
back in the 1960s.
Their work now, as it's gone on, to
find out that we have an endocannabinoid system to
me has gone from this is a medicine that can be
helpful for, you know, a set of patients to now
thinking this is a medicine that is really going to
be very important for us now and in the future.
The other cannabinoid system is vital
for us and basically maintaining the homeostasis
and balance in our life, and in today's climate
with more and more pollutants, with more and more
processed foods, we're having more and more
autoimmune diseases show up. People are having
more cancers, more problems with the body trying to
121
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
stay healthy, and here is cannabis, the only plant
with the endocannabinoid licensed substances, other
cannabinoids.
Here's this plant that's basically
there for -- you know, and my understandlng would
be it was put on earth basically to be used as a
medicine for us and as a food product. This is
going to be to an extent simple medicine and I
think more and more important as time goes on. It
doesn't fit into the classic, you know, single
chemical medicine or anything. It fits more into
the herbal medicine, and yet as this -- as more and
more research happens, I'm sure numerous
pharmaceutical companies will be looking to make
medications just like GW Pharmaceuticals in England
has made Sativex, the oromucosal spray from a
cannabis extract.
Down in Jamaica they have Canasol eye
drops which are eye drops for glaucoma patients
that have cannabis. There's another formula they
have down there that's a combination of cannabis
and Timolol for glaucoma.
So there will be more specific
medicines available to patients, but the bottom
line is, this basic plant is safe. It is an herbal
122
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
medicine. Many people would choose to use the
herbal medicine finding out -- finding that it's
safer in many ways than that single bullet-type
thing which often comes with more side effects. I
think we've seen it today.
THC is available, and yet its
psychoactive element is cannabis. It gets people
high. The cannabis as a whole plant, you get more
of a balance, and patients in -- in places such as
California and Canada where they have access to
suppliers that offer an array of strains of
cannabis, and they've been keeping track of this,
they're learning that certain strains with the
different combinations are more beneficial for
certain illnesses.
It's going to be better for someone
with chronic pain whereas maybe they need a sativa
strain for someone with depression, but these are
the combinations of those chemicals in there, and
down the road if there are pharmaceuticals,
wonderful, but in the meantime, you know, your job
right now is looking at marijuana, at cannabis.
Does it fit in Schedule I?
There's never been any scientific look
at this to say that "Yes, it does belong in
123
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Schedule I." Anytime someone questioned it and
looked at it, they said it needs to be out of
there, but for policical reasons, it stays in
Schedule I.
So to an extent you've got a great
opportunity now, and I know with Lloyd's
determination, I really appreciate the fact that
you've had board hearings heard around the state
asking people to come in and, you know, say yea or
nay on what they -- they think about this.
And you know, I kind of want to end
again going back to consider the source, looking at
the -- the wealth of scientific articles that
really are out there. There is truly a lot of
research and the fact that we can't do it in the
United States because of our prohibition --
MARY LYNNE MATHRE: Oh, I
sure can.
Bottom line would be, as I said, consider the
source, and I thank you very, very much for
allowing us this opportunity.
124
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
(Off-the-record discussion.)
RALPH SMITH: I'm suspicioning that
Dr. Dreher is not going to be able to make her
phone call. I've talked with her secretary earlier
today. She's this week attending three separate
seminars and the one that she was -- she was
supposed to be able to talk, but she can't.
MARK PEDERSEN: Here's my card,
and
this is a collection of 12 of my interviews that I
have done.
MARK PEDERSEN: Yes My name is
Mark
Pedersen. My organization is Cannabis Patient
Network. I was born and raised in Herculaneum,
Missouri. The primary industry there was lead
125
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
smelting. It was there in Herculaneum that I was
exposed to heav metals, the by-products of this
industry. And it was this exposure that caused my
chronic illness.
After countless doctor visits and
hospitalization, after tens of thousands of dollars
and a myriad of prescription drugs, I was diagnosed
with fibromyalgia with severe migraines. Quite
often, my -- I would experience two to three
moderate to severe migraines per week. Each
migraine was like a mini-seizure with a little more
of my shortened long-term memory dlsappearing with
each episode.
Pharmaceuticals did little to control
the headaches. Consequently my migraine specialist
quite often would inject me with experimental
medications, often with horrific results. My
stomach was constantly upset from the illness and
the continually changing regimens of prescription
drugs. The pain, weakness, and confusion made it
impossible for me to work. I had to leave my
certified welder and pipefitter position at our
local electric utility. I also had to leave my
computer consulting business and close my ministry
which provided a much needed food pantry to our
126
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
county poor.
My exposure to lead and it's
by-products caused me my career, my home, my cars,
and my marriage. In 2001 my eldest daughter passed
away unexpectedly from an illness that has affected
my whole family, including my two surviving
children, my now ex-wife, and just about everyone
we knew there in our hometown.
For the last 14 years, I have treated
my illness virtually entirely with one holistic
medicine, cannabis. Apart from a brief time in
Colorado where I was a legal patient, I've been
forced to exist as a criminal.
The fact that cannabis took away the
pain of fibromyalgia, the fact that cannabis
alleviated my migraines and seizures entirely and
restored my long-term memory completely and the
fact that cannabis even eased the intense pain of
degenerative joint disease in my shoulders and
lower back didn't matter to law enforcement. It is
for that reason that I began the work that has got
me called Cannabis Patient Network.
Cannabis Patient Network was founded
with a solitary mission that persists to this day.
We are dedicated to the purpose of giving a voice
127
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
to the chronically and terminally ill. CPN is not
a membership organization. There is no voting
body. Only me and those who volunteer to assist
me.
I have interviewed patients with
multiple sclerosis, muscular dystropy,
fibromyalgia, ethers danlos syndrome, chronic pain,
migraines, breast cancer, lung cancer, testicular
cancer, acoustic neuroma, lymphoma, skin cancer,
brain aneurysms, stuttering, PTSD, Crohn's, lupus,
chronic depression, anxiety, other mental issues,
chronic debilitating pain such as neuropathy of the
feet and neurological pain to paralysis and many
more.
Funded by whatever part-time work I
can get and the occasional donation from patients
and advocates, I travel the country interviewing
the chronically and terminally ill who, like me,
have found relief from debilitating illness with
cannabis.
I have currently interviewed somewhere
in the neighborhood of 150 people on camera. But
for each testimony that I have recorded, there has
been literally 100 more patients that have told me
their personal story but were too fearful to be
128
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
seen on video, too fearful to risk their disability
or veterans benefits, unwilling to risk their
government-funded housing or jobs.
Twelve of my interviews were selected
to be presented to you today. If these testimonies
or the many you have heard from every part of your
state are not enough to convince you concerning the
efficacy of cannabis as medicine, I have more, many
more. Please visit my website at
cannabispatientnetwork.com or
my YouTube channel.
I have at least ten currently in edit. I'll record
another ten or so this weekend. I'll have many
more throughout the Midwest that have been waiting
for quite some time for me to get to them.
The vast majority of our country's
chronically ill don't know that cannabis is real
medicine and that this God-given plant could give
them a better quality of life. It's such a
terrible, terrible shame that anyone should have to
live out their life in needless pain and suffering.
What's more, as I have witnessed the
halt and even reversal of autoimmune disease can be
possible but not for those who are denied the
knowledge of this often-lifesaving medicine. If it
only makes one person -- one person!s life more
129
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
tolerable, why prolong his suffering?
The truth is in the telling. We, the
chronically and terminally ill, are real people.
We are a portion of the middle class that affects
100 percent of America because every family in
America has at least one member who is chronically
ill. You can be certain of one thing. Chronic
illness comes to us all at some point in our lives.
I urge you, beg you, to open your
minds and your hearts to the truth. Iowa and our
nation deserves a safe, holistic alternative for
the treatment of chronic and terminal illness.
Stop the persecution of your state's most
vulnerable. Free the medicine. Ease the pain.
Thank you.
RALPH SMITH: Members of the Board
of
Pharmacy, my name is Ralph Smith. I'm an attorney,
somewhat retired. I have been, however, working on
cannabis issues since 1969. I live in your sister
state, Nebraska.
130
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
I'm a board member, along with Mary
Lynne Mathre who you've heard from; Melanie Dreher
who was the dean of nursing at University of Iowa
for nine years. Now she's in Chicago. And George
McMahon who's in our audience here who you all know
along with Barbara Douglass who are also members of
your state of Iowa.
I work with Patients Out of Time.
It's a patient advocacy organization. And we have
a universal constituency. We support the rights of
patients to have legal and safe access to the
therapeutic use of cannabis.
I have gathered, and with Patients Out
of Time, we're now going to present to you science
and patient testimony, and I will give you this --
this book now, and you can start looking through,
if you'd like, along with 27 DVDs which Mark and
some of our other videographers have put together
over a period of ten years now.
Our first clinical conference was done
here in Iowa in 2000. Melanie Dreher, University
of Iowa Medical School and Nursing College, hosted
that. Our presentations and the experts that we
have gathered including Raphael Mechoulam, who was
your first call-in, span 27 different DVDs. And on
131
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
those DVDs we have listed each individual and the
topic that they've spoke on as well as where you
can find them in the DVDs, and then listed
separately, if you want to know about a particular
malady that it treats, it's also cross-referenced
in there.
Also, you will find here amongst the
materials are the endorsements of hundreds of
organizations that deal with medical use of
cannabis. They're all listed and literally
thousands of scientific studies that have been
done, and I'll tell you the scientific studies will
continue to grow. There seems like there's one
that comes out almost every day somewhere in the
world.
So you are right on the cusp of being
able to do something that is coming. The 13 states
that have now legalized it for medicine will double
probably within the next few years, and I think
Iowa ought to try to take a forefront, a place in
the forefront of that -- of that legislation.
You will also find in this package a
CD that has pdfs of what we consider to be the
selected 100 or 150 studies as well as testimony as
part of a lawsuit of 150 patients who use cannabis
132
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
for various problems that they have.
It's not a question of whether or not
cannabis is medicine or works medicinally or helps
people for this or for that or for the other.
It's, I think, more of a question tbat it is a
food, and it is an essential thing that humans have
always used to assist themselves.
It's not a drug. I don't think it's
appropriate to compare it to alcohol and tobacco.
You can compare it to other kinds of things that
are illegal that will hurt you, but it isn't even
in that category.
I'm sitting here today and I'm looking
now. This is the second one of your hearings that
I've attended, and I'm just shocked at the fact
that there are not people lined up down the street
and around the corner to try to get in here. It's
only because they don't know that this is medicine
or they are afraid to come.
I've had one of my clients and friends
and also an advocate who's desperately afraid of
her circumstance of being found out who's asked me
to -- to give her testimony today, and I can assure
you that she is real, and I can assure you that I
haven't changed anything, so I'd like to read some
133
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
of that to you. It's testimony from Samantha. And
that's not her real name.
She says "I suffered from a traumatic
accident l2 years ago and as a result had a spinal
cord injury. I took a ten story fall and waited
two days to be rescued. I died five times during
my rescue mission, so they say.
"Since then I've been paralyzed from
my diaphragm on down. I've been dependent on a
wheelchair, incontinent. Due to years in a chair
have developed arthritis in my hips and chronic
pain in much of my body. Years after the accident
I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder
and an anxiety disorder, complete with panic
attacks.
"Prior to the accident I was a very
healthy, athletic person whom most would call a
health nut. I worked in a health food store and
had been living witbout harmful, unnatural
chemicals in my food and cleaning products since
the age of 16. I was never one to take pills, not
even aspirin.
"After the accident at age 33, I was
confronted for the first time with the need for
medications. I tried most of what the doctors have
134
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
suggested for my ailments: depression, spastic
bladder, muscle spasms, arthritis pain, anxiety.
All of the pills had side effects that lowered my
quality of life and to the point that they weren't
worth taking, dry mouth, suicidal thoughts, sharp
pains in my brain, or feeling like I couldn't wake
up.
"I am living on disability and have
Medicare and Medicaid to take care of my needs.
However, this system is not set up to support
patients like me who prefer to use herbs and
natural supplements. They aren't covered.
"In the case of cannabis, my choice to
use an herbal medicine that works for me without
unpleasant side effects and that it is keeping with
the natural life-style I've chosen could land me in
jail. If I appeared before you today, I'd stand a
chance of losing my housing and government aid
depending upon who heard my testimony.
"Illicit drugs are a deal breaker with
my landlord. The result would be becoming
ineligible for government and subsidized housing.
The fact that I'm a criminal has done a number on
my anxiety level over the years. I see the same
thing happen with other friends who are treating
135
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
anxiety with cannabis but who are professionals and
would lose their entire career if caught.
"To get my medicine, I'm forced to
deal with the black market. This is highly
problematic. There is an immense and nearly
constant fear of being caught. It's very difficult
to find unless you are in high school and college,
and finally, the cost is prohibitive to someoce on
fixed income like myself.
"However, if my medicine were
relegalized, could grow it myself for a very
small cost. I can only afford a small dose of
cannabis each day. I've had experience with using
low dosage as well as very strong dosage. My
testimony will include experiences on both dosages.
"The strong dose is made by baking the
cannabis flowers to release their chemical
compounds called cannabinoids, THC being the most
well known. The roasted flowers are then infused
into butter and mixed with chocolate. My daily
dose consists of two to five puffs of cannabis
throughout the day as well as cannabis tincture
made of similar fashion to a strong dose but
infused into alcohol rather than butter.
"From what I have observed, the liquid
136
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
goes straight to my muscles, relaxing them, whereas
the smoke gees to my head, relaxing my mind and
making my pain I may be dealing with tolerable.
"The post-traumatic stress disorder,
after the accident, the feeling that we have all
had it could never happen to me had vanished. Over
time since then, the flight-or-fight jumpiness has
become ever present and making it hard for me to be
around myself. I'm beyond uptight.
"Daily dose, low dosage cannabis
tincture, relieves the anxiety completely. I'm
able to get on with my day and get things done
without a worry. A very strong dose of cannabis,
this dose not only relieves the symptoms of the
PTSD but felt like it was actually healing it.
"A unifying warmth, a feeling of
safety comes over me when I take this dosage. I
see my life from a different viewpoint. I see that
it is not so scary. Meanwhile, my body is soft,
warm, calm, and pain-free.
"Coming to a change in the outlook of
the physical relief seems to be healing the PTSD as
its intensity is permanently lessened after each
dosage. I believe that I could heal most, if not
all, of my ailments if I could take this dosage
137
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
regularly.
"Panic attacks started getting worse
two years ago along with agoraphobia. They
prescribed Xanax for it, but it is addictive and
causes sharp pain in the front of my brain which
was scary. The DTCT has healing panic attacks like
agoraphobia. I have not needed to take the Xanax
since I began using the daily cannabis tincture,
though I keep it on hand just in case.
"Psychological. Depression, mood
swings, I have suffered from these all my life. I
tried antidepressants of all sorts since the age of
12, and I've become very suicidal from them. So
they're not an option for me.
"My depression and mood swings are
much regulated by cannabis. In no small part this
is due to the pain relief and relaxation of the
muscles. It makes one happy to be relieved of
pain. Also, I've observed that cannabis seems to
warm and soften the area around my heart. It
becomes easier to see the positive side and to be
forgiving and grateful, which make things much
brighter.
"When I take this dosage -- this is
the very strong dosage -- the healing is immense.
138
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
I have experienced anger and resentments that
literally vanish with no thought." Is that your
phone?
(Off -the-record discussion.)
RALPH SMITH: No problem.
"Panic
attacks. They started getting these two years ago
along with agoraphobia which was prescribed Xanax
for." I already went there. "For very strong
dosage" -- that's where I was -- "When I take this
dosage, the healing is immense. I have experienced
anger and resentments, and they literally vanish
with no thought, no effort, just a result of the
cannabis. I've gone from feeling down and out and
sorry for myself to peaceful and grateful within an
hour after taking this dosage.
"Muscle spasms. Due to paralysis, my
muscles have uncontrollable spasms. They come on
strong, fast, and often. They can be so strong, my
front wheels will come off the ground, which is
dangerous because I can fall out of the wheelchair.
"I was prescribed Baclofen for this.
I tried it for about a week while in rehab. It was
horrific. I felt as if I were viewing the world
139
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
through 3 feet of cotton. I could not feel awake,
no matter how much coffee I drank. And I felt only
a fifth alive.
"I'm able to reduce my spasms by
95 percent with the very streng dose of cannabis.
The one or two spasms I do get when on cannabis
come on slowly with enough time to brace myself,
and they are gentle.
"This effect was also observed with my
physical therapist. She helped stretch out my
legs. She came one day, and I'd forgotten to use
the cannabis, and I asked her the rate and level of
spasticity. Four, ten being the most intense. The
next time she came, I took my medications. She
rated my spasticity a two. That's a 50 percent
reduction.
"But over the course of the entire
day, my observation is the spasms were cut by
95 percent. This is not the very strong dosages.
This not only alleviates my spasms completely, but
it melts the tight places, my hips and low back, my
legs and my jaw, and this effect lasts for two and
a half days.
"Bladder incontinence. This is the
part of being paralyzed. It is perhaps the most
140
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
debilitating as it affects the ability to travel
about, and for me, it is to keep me from having
close relationships. It affects self-esteem
negatively. I was given some pills, but they made
my mouth unbearably dry, and I spent all day trying
unsuccessfully to quench my thirst.
"This dosage -- the lower dosage level
made my effective bladder spasticity about
20 percent. The very strong dosage level elevated
incontinence -- alleviated incontinence completely
for two days after dosage. In the time I would go
through three or four Depends, I just needed none.
The result of this cannot be underestimated. Just
imagine being an adult and needing to wear Depends.
Imagine waking up every day and every morning wet.
It makes one feel no longer like a sexual being.
It has tremendous negative impact on self-esteem.
And it can be kept -- and can keep a person quite
lonely.
"If I could use this dosage of
cannabis regularly, I would not have this problem,
and I'd be a much happier person were I not
incontinent.
"Arthritis pain. After five years in
a wheelchair, I developed thinning bones with
141
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
arthritis in my hips and taught me what people
meant by chronic pain. For this I was glven Vioxx
by my doctor. My intuition was strong against
taking pills and I didn't. A few months later it
was taken off the market after causing multiple
deaths.
"My pain was generally made -- made
tolerable by very strong dosages. One of the first
effects that was noticeable is that it feels like
my arthritis literally disappears. My hips not
only have no pain or stiffness, but I feel warm and
fluid. This effects lasts almost three days after
dosage.
"Paralysis. My body feels numb as if
it were being slightly electrocuted. My lower legs
and feet are always tingling. When I take a small
dose, it softens the tingling completely. When I
take a strong dose, it alleviates the tingling
completely and seems to open up the flow of feeling
and energy in my legs and lower body. I can feel
warmth in my body in a place where tingling is
feeling actually a sensation.
"There is some relation between
becoming very relaxed and my ability to feel where
I normally am paralyzed. There may be more to it,
142
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
but cannabis is definitely helplng me feel more.
"Appetite. As a result of the high
anxiety, my stomach is very uptight, and I couldn't
seem to digest food. I would get really painful
indigestion and finally was thrown down to eating
one meal a day, forcing down, and I became very
unhealthy from not eating enough nutrition, and my
skin would no longer heal when I got a cut or sore.
"My doctor said he'd recommend
marijuana for me if it were legal in my state for
this and other conditions due to a history of
intolerance for pharmaceutical drugs and his own
history with AIDS patients witnessing their story
of using marijuana to help them eat.
"So instead he gave me a prescription
for Marinol. It's 100 percent THC and is legal,
but I feel high and paranoid in public, tired and
out of control. The side effects aren't worth one
thing it helps. Also, the FDA's own website says
that Marinol can cause overdose, many side effects,
and even death.
"Cannabis has never in its 4,000-year
history, written history, caused one death. Smoked
cannabis helps me regain my hunger to relax my
stomach muscles enough to digest food. It works
143
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
within seconds. When I take a very strong dose, it
completely healed the condition. I have not had
bad indigestion and have regained my hunger health
and a bit of weight since taking this strong dose
over a four-day period.
"Further, my experience with ingesting
cannabis does not cause me to get high. Further,
when I use a very strong dose, I get better sleep
than ever, two to three, few hours sleep. I wake
up feeling perfectly clear, not craving coffee as I
usually do. It seems to almost reset my internal
clock towards what is healthy. I wake up craving
water and good food rather than foggy and craving
coffee. This is quite counterintuitive and
something which helps me sleep and is a muscle
relaxer tbat would not have drowsiness and
cloudiness as side effects, but it is my
experience -- but this is my experience with
cannabis.
"I do not seem to be developing a
dependence or tolerance of cannabis. The same
dosage works month after month, not needing to be
increased. I do not have to be reminded to take
it, which does not happen when -- when you use --
when you're addicted to a drug, Believe me, I
144
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
never forget to make a cup of coffee in the
morning.
"Science suggests my observations that
marijuana addictiveness is less than caffeine if it
exists at all. It's safer than alcohol and aspirin
and is much less intoxicating than beer.
"All of the statements save my own
personal testimocy can be verifled by doing a bit
of research. Visit Wikipedia page on medical
cannabis to start. There are hundreds of links to
studies proving what I said.
Marijuana classification as a
Schedule I narcotic is baffling. It means it's
highly addictive and dangerous and no medical
benefits. This classifies marijuana as more
dangerous and addictive than cocaine.
"Until the law is changed, my options
are to commit a crime by acquiring my medicine and
live in fear of being found out and to follow the
law and to take pills that don't work and have
unbearable side effects, to suffer without relief.
Thank you for considering removing the ban on my
medicine.
"This is a story that is told over and
over again by various people who have hundreds of
145
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
different maladies. It's not that marijuana is --
whether or not it's sa£e or not safe or it's
medicine or not a medicine or if it's good or if
it's bad. The stuff seems to be great for almost
everybody that uses it.
You say there's no studies. We have a
book full of studies here. The reason there are no
studies is because it probably would put a lot of
people out of business. Believe me, there is a
gigantic industry in America that depends on
marijuana continuing to be illegal. Your
recommendation to take it out of Schedule I will go
against some of those people who are here -- have
been here to testify and are out walking the
streets.
If people knew what I knew, they would
be here in this room. They would be clamoring for
you to make an appropriate recommendation. I do
appreciate your time. If you -- if you knew what I
knew and saw what I saw, I know it would be like
Mary Lynne called it, a no brainer.
I will wait around until after this
was over with and after the other speakers have
gone, and hopefully we'll be able to have a
dialogue about some questions that must stlll be
146
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
baffling to you. Thank you.
BOARD MEMBER FREY: I guess
I just
have one question on the information on the CD.
Are you comfortable with the board disseminating
that information between members?
RALPH SMITH: Absolutely.
As a matter
of fact, the 27 DVDs of all of the experts'
testimony, you are the only people in the world who
have this.
RALPH SMITH: You have the most
up-to-date science because it is up to date and I
think complete aggregation of science that's
been -- been prepared.
TERRY WITKOWSKI: We want to
thank all
of you that have been waiting around. We are not
quitting yet, but we are going to take a break,
partly for the sake of our court reporter so she
can rest her fingers.
We will be back in about 15 minutes,
and at that time we will start taking testimony
from those of you that have been waiting so
patiently that came in without reservations, so
147
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
we'll see you probably about -- about 3:15 back
here. Thank you.
(Short recess.)
BOARD MEMBER FREY: Okay.
Sorry. We
were waiting for a phone call, but that phone call
has not come in, so we're going to go ahead.
Speaker 5? Okay. Thank you. Is Speaker 5 here?
BOARD MEMBER FREY: And just
as a
housekeeping item, I will tell the speakers that
your timekeeper, Terry, has moved to the back of
the room, so if you will please watch her for your
timing, we would appreciate it.
(Off-the-record discussion.)
JASON: I am Jason. I'm a college
student. I was arrested for marijuana a year and a
half ago. I've been supporting following this
issue right here. I didn't really have anything to
say.
BOARD MEMBER FREY: Excuse
me, Jason,
just a moment. Can we keep the side conversations
down, please, as courtesy to our speaker? Thank
you.
JASON: I didn't really have anything
to say. I spoke at the Mason City hearing. I told
148
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
the board my story. I told them about my -- my
medical use and my persecution of this medical use
and how it was ridiculous and how I was taken out
of college for -- smoking marijuana in my dorm room
enabled me to go to class, so I don't need to
repeat that.
What I want to talk about today is I
want to say some thank yous. I want to thank -- I
want to thank whoever it is that wrote the law that
Carl Olsen discovered. I've always thought that
the law is out to get cannabis users, and that's
pretty much what it has been. That's what
politicians have been pushing. They really, like,
Gil Kerlikowske that was just in Iowa saying while
he wants to stay out of it, he definitely doesn't
support it. No one is supporting a debate. It's
all polltical rhetoric. It's not accomplishing
anything.
So I want to actually thank whoever
wrote this little statute in the law that says if
there is medicinal value in the United States that
it needs to be reviewed because that is protecting
the people. The law is protecting us and wants us
to use our common sense and wants us to follow with
what is best for the people and that I feel like
149
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
this law is helping us to voice our opinions and to
call attention to this issue.
I want to thank the board for
clarifying right after our lunch break that the
issue is not about legalization. A lot of
proponents think that because people like Keith
from NORML have been vocal that medical marijuana
is going to be the root to legalization. They say
that that's a bad thing. Well, they don't offer
what's going to be so bad about legalization, and
they don't compare it to what's actually happening
with alcohol, and they don't show that it's much
less harmful. That's a moot point.
We don't need to talk about
legalization. We need to talk about how to get
patients their medicine. There's people here in
wheelchairs. There's people here crying. George
McMahon would not be alive if not for this. We
need to talk about the medical issue. We need to
quit wasting time, political rhetoric.
I want to thank our lovely Senator
Grassley, and I'm a little biased against this
gentleman, but I want to thank him for this recent
amendment he put in in time for me to be able to
point it out at this hearing. He basically -- this
150
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
is an amendment he just put -- I don't recall
exactly what the name of the bill is. Carl would
probably be able to tell you that, but he just
introduced an amendment in the U.S. Senate making
it impossible for anyone to discuss legalization or
decriminalization as an option to the end of this
failed War on Drugs that has persecuted millions of
people and turned respectable college students like
myself into criminals to where I now work at Burger
King instead of a $30,000-a-year salary manager job
that I was offered based on my skills and my
knowledge in the landscaping field.
I was offered this job, but because of
my record, I can't do anything, so I'm flipping
burgers at Burger King. Twenty years old. I could
be doing a lot more with my life.
But Grassley doesn't want me to talk
about this. He doesn't want to listen to the
people that he is representing. This is another
great example of the political rhetoric, and it
just drives me crazy.
I want to point out that if we aren't
able to discuss this, then there's no point in
being called free. This is America. Schedule I, I
want to tell a story about someone on PCP.
151
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Happened two months ago. I can e-mail you the
article if you'd like it. I don't know if you guys
really need to hear this, but this is very graphic,
so this is what a Schedule I drug is deserving of.
A four-year-old boy was found two
months ago, one eyeball completely missing, the
other one hanging on by a thin thread crying
bleeding all over his floor. Neighbors found him
in there and asked what happened. All he could say
was "Daddy ate my eyeballs." This is a true story.
What happened was a man, a Mexican
gentleman who was a very upstanding father -- no
one can believe this happened -- he took PCP,
ripped out his son's eyeball, ate one of them,
tried to bite out the other one, and was found down
the street chained to a tree naked hacking at his
leg with an ax. How many cannabis users have done
this? It's a Schedule I narcotic. No, it doesn't
deserve to be in Schedule I. It's safe. I've
never seen anyone eat anybody's eyeball, and you
sure as heck are not hacking off your leg.
This is the reality of it. I can cut
through the political rhetoric. I'm only a
20-year-old kid, and I understand that I might
appear kind of emotional over this, and so my
152
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
thoughts are not always able to be brought forth
completely, but if I can speak in plain English to
you and you can speak in plain Engllsh to me and
avoid this political rhetoric, we can make a
difference. We can come to a consensus, and we can
move on with more important issues.
It's not fair what we're doing. We've
asked the board to recommend to the legislature to
remove it from state Schedule I. Obviously that's
what the law says should be done. I believe the
board will do this, and I want to thank them as
well. You guys put up with a lot. It's very
emotional for me to just be at two of these
hearings now to hear these people and the pain
they're going through. I can't imagine what it's
like to be actually reading it all and studying it
and having to have the weight on your shoulders of
making this recommendation. It's a big deal.
We're all watching. We're all paying attention.
So am I.
One other thing I'd like to mention is
as far as this political rhetoric, the lady who
spoke right before our lunch break, I was able to
approach her, and I asked her for her card. I said
"You and I have completely opposite views. This is
153
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
not the place for a forum. This is not the place
for a debate. Can you help me set up some kind of
a town hall meeting where we can have our
politicians simply come in, talk in plain English,
get rid of the rhetoric, and inform the citizens
what's going on, and then they can hear what we
have to say instead of this lovely amendment by our
amazing Senator Grassley."
She said, actually, "Yeah, would
love to do that." She listened to me. I listened
to her, and we were able to come to a partial
consensus as to what we can possibly do to further
this once you guys make your recommendation, and
I'd like to please ask you to help us in something
like that.
Once you make this recommendation, I
can understand that it's much easier to push it
off, say, okay. Let the legislature handle it like
what happened in New Mexico when the Board of
Pharmacy recommended to remove it from Schedule I.
But I think that citizens, think that now that
you have seen -- from what I understand, the
chairman of the board has said, by the way, that
they are going to recommend to remove it. This
isn't official. I'm not trying to put words in his
154
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
mouth, but he said -- he'd alluded that scientific
evidence is ripe. Okay. Obviously, we all have
done our research ahead of time, so we know this.
Now that they have seen it, that's what they have
alluded to saying they are going to do.
If you do that, please don't let it
stop. Please, I know that you don't necessarily
need to become activists, but you have children,
family members, friends, people who maybe in
30 years are going to have a terrible disease like
multiple sclerosis or fibromyalgia who need the
option of talking to their doctor about an
alternative medicine.
None of us here today are trying to
say "Legalize marijuana. Give it to everyone."
We're not trying to say this is going to save
everyone. There's opiates, the amphetamines. All
the Rx drugs, all the prescription drugs help
people. Marijuana is an extra option so in
individual situations you can assess whether or not
this is the best drug or this is the best drug.
There's no reason to say we should completely
ignore this. It potentiates opiates. It helps
with withdrawal symptoms from people who are
addicts on something like heroin. It helps in so
155
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
many ways.
We shouldn't ignore its medicinal
value. We should recommend to remove it from
Schedule I. It has tons of medicinal value.
Fourteen states are going to join us. I'm going to
have to go over the border to be able to have the
same rights as other people throughout the nation.
I'm an American citizen. Just because I'm in Iowa
doesn't mean I should be arrested, taken out of
college, lose my license, lose my scholarships,
lose my internship at Principal Financial that I
had set up a week after I had gotten arrested.
It's not right.
I didn't want to come in and talk
about my personal stuff. I just wanted to please
say stop the political rhetoric. Help us further
this debate, and let's make a difference and move
the heck off of it so we can get on with this. We
all have stuff to do, and I think this is a
distraction. We have health care. We have all
sorts of political issues that need to be
addressed. This one is easy. It's easy. You need
to help the patients. Let's just do it.
156
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
SARA PARKS: : And I'm Sara Parks,
and
we're here today to support the mediclnal marijuana
being moved from Schedule I and to take a stand for
marijuana legalization in general.
Judging from just the testimonies I've
seen today, I can't believe we are even debating
this. I can't believe we are letting these people
live as criminals when they are not harming anyone,
only bettering themselves. The basic views have
been apparent for years. Cannabis sativa extracts
have been used as medication for cough attacks,
asthma, exhaustion, migraines, cramps, and much
more. JFK even smoked regularly to relieve chronic
back pain, and Queen Victoria used marijuana for
her periods.
I know that medicinal marijuana can
help a great number of people, and it's heartless
to let them suffer without the natural medicine
they need.
KAITLYN DONOVAN: All right.
I'm
going to say that I think that they should
reclassify this to either no schedule or
Schedule IV. I'm not quite sure exactly the