Julie Michaels is the epitome of a mom on a mission.
What began as a cautious exploration into medical marijuana for the sake of her daughter’s health has turned into something much bigger.
It turned into the passage of Senate Bill 1182 – the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Act.
“I’m very excited, and I’m pleased,” she said. “It’s a big step for Pennsylvania. I did think it would make it to this point, but I didn’t think it would make it this fast, this year.
Michaels, of Connellsville, celebrated from the gallery above the Senate floor, along with several other moms Wednesday, after the state Senate passed the bill by a vote of 43-7.
“This gives patients one more arrow in their quiver to fight their diseases,” said Sen. Mike Folmer, the primary sponsor of the bill.
Julie’s 4-year-old daughter Sydney Michaels, who suffers from Dravet Syndrome, a rare and catastrophic form of intractable epilepsy that begins in infancy, has been the driving force in her fight for the legalization of the bill.
Michaels has worked in concert with a group of other moms – moms whose children also suffer from epilepsy — for the past year, rallying to get the bill passed.
During an address before his fellow senators, Sen. Daylin Leach, co-sponsor of the bill, referred to the moms as the most effective lobbying firm he has ever seen.
Michaels referred to Wednesday’s vote as an “early birthday present,” seeing as Sydney will turn 5 years old on Monday.
Under the bill, state residents will need an access card from the Health Department after proving they have a practitioner-patient relationship and written confirmation of a qualifying medical condition. A handful of drug delivery methods that do not involve smoking it would be permitted under the bill, including extracted oil, edible products, ointments and tinctures.
The effort to get the bill passed has been described as an uphill battle.
The bill that was passed Wednesday is an amended version of the original bill, and no longer includes vaporization of cannabis as a method of treatment delivery.
Dozens of conditions that would have been approved for use under the original bill were also eliminated under the amended version of the bill.
“You can’t have a perfect bill on a situation like this,” Leach said.
“You can’t let the fact that a bill is not perfect mean that you don’t do anything. This does an enormous amount of good for so many people. There are some conditions that should be on that.”
Leach said there is a protocol in the bill to add conditions in the future.
“This will only grow over time,” he said. “At the end of the day, we’re going to help as many people as we can, as quickly as we can, and we’ll fight to help more.”
Although Michaels referred to Wednesday as a big step for Pennsylvania, it’s not the end of the road.
The state House of Representatives must pass the bill before their current session ends in two weeks, otherwise, the process begins again come January.
This possibility, however, isn’t deterring Julie Michaels. She planned to visit the offices of state House members Wednesday afternoon in the attempt to change some minds.
She and her fellow moms believe that they have 160 House members committed to voting yes.
“We continue what we’ve been doing,” Folmer said. “There’s no big contract lobbyists helping us in this. These are all real people, and they’re going to continue what they’ve been doing. They’ll continue to educate, educate, educate — and that’s what we need to do. This is about education.”
Sydney, who has joined Julie on many trips to Harrisburg over the past year, was not able to make the trip on Wednesday.
In her absence, Julie carried with her a portrait of Sydney.
“It wouldn’t have been possible without the kids,” Michaels said.
Virgin Atlantic Airways
http://tinyurl.com/pjbm6r6
Luxury French Lingerie
http://tinyurl.com/o7qcz7m
From chocolate eggs to chocolate coins, give your sweet tooth a treat with our delicious products.
http://tinyurl.com/nragc9j
What began as a cautious exploration into medical marijuana for the sake of her daughter’s health has turned into something much bigger.
It turned into the passage of Senate Bill 1182 – the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Act.
“I’m very excited, and I’m pleased,” she said. “It’s a big step for Pennsylvania. I did think it would make it to this point, but I didn’t think it would make it this fast, this year.
Michaels, of Connellsville, celebrated from the gallery above the Senate floor, along with several other moms Wednesday, after the state Senate passed the bill by a vote of 43-7.
“This gives patients one more arrow in their quiver to fight their diseases,” said Sen. Mike Folmer, the primary sponsor of the bill.
Julie’s 4-year-old daughter Sydney Michaels, who suffers from Dravet Syndrome, a rare and catastrophic form of intractable epilepsy that begins in infancy, has been the driving force in her fight for the legalization of the bill.
Michaels has worked in concert with a group of other moms – moms whose children also suffer from epilepsy — for the past year, rallying to get the bill passed.
During an address before his fellow senators, Sen. Daylin Leach, co-sponsor of the bill, referred to the moms as the most effective lobbying firm he has ever seen.
Michaels referred to Wednesday’s vote as an “early birthday present,” seeing as Sydney will turn 5 years old on Monday.
Under the bill, state residents will need an access card from the Health Department after proving they have a practitioner-patient relationship and written confirmation of a qualifying medical condition. A handful of drug delivery methods that do not involve smoking it would be permitted under the bill, including extracted oil, edible products, ointments and tinctures.
The effort to get the bill passed has been described as an uphill battle.
The bill that was passed Wednesday is an amended version of the original bill, and no longer includes vaporization of cannabis as a method of treatment delivery.
Dozens of conditions that would have been approved for use under the original bill were also eliminated under the amended version of the bill.
“You can’t have a perfect bill on a situation like this,” Leach said.
“You can’t let the fact that a bill is not perfect mean that you don’t do anything. This does an enormous amount of good for so many people. There are some conditions that should be on that.”
Leach said there is a protocol in the bill to add conditions in the future.
“This will only grow over time,” he said. “At the end of the day, we’re going to help as many people as we can, as quickly as we can, and we’ll fight to help more.”
Although Michaels referred to Wednesday as a big step for Pennsylvania, it’s not the end of the road.
The state House of Representatives must pass the bill before their current session ends in two weeks, otherwise, the process begins again come January.
This possibility, however, isn’t deterring Julie Michaels. She planned to visit the offices of state House members Wednesday afternoon in the attempt to change some minds.
She and her fellow moms believe that they have 160 House members committed to voting yes.
“We continue what we’ve been doing,” Folmer said. “There’s no big contract lobbyists helping us in this. These are all real people, and they’re going to continue what they’ve been doing. They’ll continue to educate, educate, educate — and that’s what we need to do. This is about education.”
Sydney, who has joined Julie on many trips to Harrisburg over the past year, was not able to make the trip on Wednesday.
In her absence, Julie carried with her a portrait of Sydney.
“It wouldn’t have been possible without the kids,” Michaels said.
Virgin Atlantic Airways
http://tinyurl.com/pjbm6r6
Luxury French Lingerie
http://tinyurl.com/o7qcz7m
From chocolate eggs to chocolate coins, give your sweet tooth a treat with our delicious products.
http://tinyurl.com/nragc9j
No comments:
Post a Comment