Thursday 28 May 2015

A caregiver clears up some assumptions about medical marijuana use

By Joseph Spiegel 
We, Rx Harvest, are writing this to try and clear up some of the false assumptions about the use and dispensing of medical cannabis. One can always make an argument against anything, but let’s stick to the facts and weigh the pros and cons. One of the main assumptions is the location of these dispensaries. Measure X clearly states, “dispensaries may operate only in the ‘Industrial’ and ‘Old Town Industrial/Commercial,” not residential.

Other location restrictions: cannot be located within “600 feet of a school, licensed child care facility or place where children regularly gather, church or house of worship,” and cannot be located on highways 62 or 247. Please check out “9.53.050 Location Restrictions” in Exhibit A of Measure X. The entire measure and exhibit can be found on the town of Yucca Valley’s website under the March 3, 2015, agenda.
The next issue, and probably the greatest, is the children. Almost every article we’ve read from the opposition is: “Children can get it.” “Protect our children.” Children cannot get medical cannabis from a dispensary. Period. If children are getting marijuana, they are getting it from drug dealers on the streets or their parents. It’s hardly a valid argument to say that “it’s appealing to children” and not also include those pretty pink, blue and yellow pills. Those pills are far more accessible and far more dangerous.

Should we ban all medications because children might get them? It is the parents’ responsibility to ensure their children are safe from all medicine. We should not punish those who truly need this medicine, whose quality of life is greatly increased, because of irresponsible parents.
Those pretty pills can kill. According to drugwarfacts.org, no one has ever overdosed from marijuana! However, those same statistics noted that pharmaceutical drugs killed more than 22,000 people in 2010 alone. These pharmaceutical drugs are far more harmful and have extremely dangerous side affects.

Unlike those pretty pills, if a child tries to eat a cannabis brownie, they won’t eat much because they taste terrible and they certainly won’t need their stomach pumped. They will need a nice, long nap. Again, I say that it is the responsibility of parents to ensure children do not get any sort of medicine they should not have.

Another argument we hear is, “People are already getting it.” That may be true; however, there is no legal way for patients to get this medicine in the Morongo Basin. Measure X would allow two safe and legal dispensaries in Yucca Valley. There are currently 13 mobile dispensaries operating in the Morongo Basin, all of which are operating illegally due to the county-wide moratorium. We continue to provide this medicine because we have personally seen the difference it makes in people’s quality of life.

We, Rx Harvest, have provided much-needed medicine to more than 1,000 patients. More than 70 percent of those patients are over 45 years old and suffer from serious medical conditions. They are our teachers, pastors, realtors, bankers, lawyers, doctors, business owners and soldiers who have fought for our freedom who are being discriminated against because of fear and ignorance. They are not teenagers abusing marijuana.
Vote yes on Measure X because patients have a right to safe, legal access to medicine that has changed their lives for the better.

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