Medical Marijuana in West Michigan - The Will of The People VS A Massive Checkbook
Here are some facts about medical marijuana and marijuana in general when it comes to Michigan in general and Grand Rapids/Kent County specifically.
FACT 1: In 2008 the VOTERS in Michigan voted in favor of allowing people to seek treatment for a variety of ills using medical marijuana. An interesting side not on this for me personally was that my father voted with the majority. My dad spent most of his life equating those who used pot as "hop heads" - what he called the heroin addicts he saw as a kid growing up around Detroit.
His thoughts on pot changed when my step mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer - which took her life. This was before such cancer was being treated with any success and they sought all manner of relief from the symptoms and pain - including getting some pot from a friend of a friend. Seeing the positive use of weed turned my dad around on the subject. In fact, when he was alive he was an advocate for legalizing it in the same manner as alcohol.
FACT 2: In 2013 voters in the City of Grand Rapids voted to de-criminalize small amounts of pot for personal use. (You can read the law HERE.) It is worth noting that Ann Arbor did the very same thing waaaay back in 1974 - when I was in High School. Outside of rabid MSU fans, I think most of us will agree that the City of Ann Arbor is a pretty great place in many ways. (The pot matter does NOT apply on the U of M campus.)
Anyway, the above is groundwork for the real point of my post here. A long time friend of my wife was diagnosed and is currently being treated for a rare form of brain cancer. She had a tumor removed and is now facing chemo and radiation. (Something with which I am familiar.)
Her brain cancer team at Spectrum told her all about the efficacy of medical marijuana - not just as a pain killer, nausea inhibitor, and appetite stimulant (my department), but also how the CBD oils in cannabis are being found effective in treating tumors and other ways. NOTE: Many, many of the applications of MEDICAL marijuana have nothing what so ever to do with getting high or stoned. I used it to lessen my post treatment anxiety - I was given edibles that just took the edge off for me, I was eating them at work in my small store - I was not STONED.
One the plus side, I was thrilled to learn that cancer treatment people were actually recommending medical pot. My team stayed far, far away - in fact one of my favorite nurses gave me a hard time when I continued to use it for anxiety and trouble sleeping after my treatment. I guess she would have preferred that I take opioids and/or some of the more addictive mood altering drugs. NO THANKS. I quit using medical pot with no trouble - when my two year card expired, I decided I no longer needed the help.
Anyway, this lady fighting cancer - who has a prescription and/or recommendation for medical marijuana from her cancer team will have to drive for a couple of hours to explore her options in that regard, because in SPITE of the will of the VOTERS in the entire state to legalize medical marijuana and the VOTERS in Grand Rapids (where she lives) to decriminalize small amounts of it, there are NO dispensaries operating in Grand Rapids or Kent County.
This is bullshit. Why should this lady and her husband have to drive to Lansing or Ann Arbor to get medicine? FWIW - Ann Arbor is where I went, they have 3 dispensaries withing blocks of each other and a couple of others in the area.
It is my OPINION (and if I am wrong on this, please direct me to the proper information) that the reason that the will of the people, expressed by their VOTES, is being ignored around here is because of the big checkbooks of the ultra-conservative DeVos families. Why else would the Grand Rapids police department and or the KCSD, which by all accounts has more than a plate full of other crimes to fight, spend all the time they have to close down dispensaries? We pay a lot of lip service to the power of voters - well, the Royal Family in Michigan does not seem to pay any attention.
This Is Wrong. And for all those people with the knee jerk response - "Oh people pretend to have a back-ache so they can get pot." I have this response.
Yup, you are correct. It can get abused. However, having had more than one member of my extended family engage in the exact same behaviors to get much harder and more dangerous substances than medical marijuana I would say we cannot throw out the baby with the bathwater. We do not close down every Rite-Aid or Walgreens because of the thousands (millions?) who abuse the legal drugs they sell, do we?
VOTERS in Michigan are getting screwed on this and other issues by the giant check book wielded by the Royal Family of Michigan. Hmmm, I thought we did away with the power of Royalty in 1776.
FACT 1: In 2008 the VOTERS in Michigan voted in favor of allowing people to seek treatment for a variety of ills using medical marijuana. An interesting side not on this for me personally was that my father voted with the majority. My dad spent most of his life equating those who used pot as "hop heads" - what he called the heroin addicts he saw as a kid growing up around Detroit.
His thoughts on pot changed when my step mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer - which took her life. This was before such cancer was being treated with any success and they sought all manner of relief from the symptoms and pain - including getting some pot from a friend of a friend. Seeing the positive use of weed turned my dad around on the subject. In fact, when he was alive he was an advocate for legalizing it in the same manner as alcohol.
FACT 2: In 2013 voters in the City of Grand Rapids voted to de-criminalize small amounts of pot for personal use. (You can read the law HERE.) It is worth noting that Ann Arbor did the very same thing waaaay back in 1974 - when I was in High School. Outside of rabid MSU fans, I think most of us will agree that the City of Ann Arbor is a pretty great place in many ways. (The pot matter does NOT apply on the U of M campus.)
Anyway, the above is groundwork for the real point of my post here. A long time friend of my wife was diagnosed and is currently being treated for a rare form of brain cancer. She had a tumor removed and is now facing chemo and radiation. (Something with which I am familiar.)
Her brain cancer team at Spectrum told her all about the efficacy of medical marijuana - not just as a pain killer, nausea inhibitor, and appetite stimulant (my department), but also how the CBD oils in cannabis are being found effective in treating tumors and other ways. NOTE: Many, many of the applications of MEDICAL marijuana have nothing what so ever to do with getting high or stoned. I used it to lessen my post treatment anxiety - I was given edibles that just took the edge off for me, I was eating them at work in my small store - I was not STONED.
One the plus side, I was thrilled to learn that cancer treatment people were actually recommending medical pot. My team stayed far, far away - in fact one of my favorite nurses gave me a hard time when I continued to use it for anxiety and trouble sleeping after my treatment. I guess she would have preferred that I take opioids and/or some of the more addictive mood altering drugs. NO THANKS. I quit using medical pot with no trouble - when my two year card expired, I decided I no longer needed the help.
Anyway, this lady fighting cancer - who has a prescription and/or recommendation for medical marijuana from her cancer team will have to drive for a couple of hours to explore her options in that regard, because in SPITE of the will of the VOTERS in the entire state to legalize medical marijuana and the VOTERS in Grand Rapids (where she lives) to decriminalize small amounts of it, there are NO dispensaries operating in Grand Rapids or Kent County.
This is bullshit. Why should this lady and her husband have to drive to Lansing or Ann Arbor to get medicine? FWIW - Ann Arbor is where I went, they have 3 dispensaries withing blocks of each other and a couple of others in the area.
It is my OPINION (and if I am wrong on this, please direct me to the proper information) that the reason that the will of the people, expressed by their VOTES, is being ignored around here is because of the big checkbooks of the ultra-conservative DeVos families. Why else would the Grand Rapids police department and or the KCSD, which by all accounts has more than a plate full of other crimes to fight, spend all the time they have to close down dispensaries? We pay a lot of lip service to the power of voters - well, the Royal Family in Michigan does not seem to pay any attention.
This Is Wrong. And for all those people with the knee jerk response - "Oh people pretend to have a back-ache so they can get pot." I have this response.
Yup, you are correct. It can get abused. However, having had more than one member of my extended family engage in the exact same behaviors to get much harder and more dangerous substances than medical marijuana I would say we cannot throw out the baby with the bathwater. We do not close down every Rite-Aid or Walgreens because of the thousands (millions?) who abuse the legal drugs they sell, do we?
VOTERS in Michigan are getting screwed on this and other issues by the giant check book wielded by the Royal Family of Michigan. Hmmm, I thought we did away with the power of Royalty in 1776.
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