States That Legalized Marijuana May Have A Big Problem

So far, there are 27 states that have legalized recreational and /or medical marijuana.

 

This post is taken from Marijuana Policy Project:

I’ve [Rob Kampia] received news that Congressman Dana Rohrabacher’s (R-CA) amendment to the omnibus-spending bill — which has prevented the Justice Department from interfering with state medical marijuana laws since December 2014 — is now in serious danger.

Some of our allies got excited when House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) told Rep. Rohrabacher that renewing his amendment was “important.”

They got excited when a bad Republican subcommittee chair told a good Republican that Rohrabacher’s amendment would definitely see a vote on the House floor, as long as the good Republican agreed not to raise the amendment in committee. (He agreed.)

MPP never trusted these Republicans. We’ve been sounding alarm bells about this for months, and it turns out we’ve been right the whole time.

I’ve just learned that a different, bad Republican chair has informed a good Republican that Rohrabacher’s amendment isn’t guaranteed to see a vote. (Without a vote, it won’t pass.)

In my professional opinion, this means we’re screwed in the House.

Our only hope is to convince the joint House/Senate committee to choose the Senate version of the spending bill, which includes a medical marijuana amendment that was recently inserted by our friend, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT).

If Congress chooses the House version, Attorney General Sessions, the DEA, and the DOJ will have the power to raid medical marijuana businesses and arrest patients in the 29 medical marijuana states starting on October 1.

Signed:

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

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Sabotaging America For Fun And Profit

Sabotaging America For Fun And Profit – http://wp.me/p1LcUS-cv

Pediatricians Say Florida Hurt Sick Kids To Help Big GOP Donors

CNN has done a great investigative job on this.  Here it is in short:

Now we find out Florida is a state that puts politics and money ahead of proper care for suffering, disabled children, according to this excellent investigative report. It’s because of extremely disproportionate donations to the Florida state GOP coffers by the medical insurance companies, as compared to their donations into other states’ GOP coffers.

A professionally-designed, approved questionnaire was used as a screening tool inappropriately to “filter out” children from the special Medicaid program which catered to those children.

Despite protestations from pediatricians,

“In the spring and summer of 2015, the state switched more than 13,000 children out of a highly respected program called Children’s Medical Services, or CMS, a part of Florida Medicaid. Children on this plan have serious health problems including birth defects, heart disease, diabetes and blindness.”

“Nearly half of all children in Florida, are on Medicaid, which has several types of insurance plans. The state switched more than 13,000 children into new plans, many of which did not have the same participating providers that treated these special kids.”

And so, too many of these kids did not get the special medical and surgical treatment they required, due to doctors in the new plans not having the needed additional education and/or experience or were not listed as providers.

“But some Florida pediatricians worry about children with special health care needs who, two years later, are still off the program.  The doctors aren’t just worried; they’re angry.”

• The data analysis the state used to justify switching the children is “inaccurate” and “bizarre,” according to the researcher who wrote the software used in that analysis.
• The screening tool the state used to select which children would be kicked off the program has been called “completely invalid” and “a perversion of science” by top experts in children with special health care needs.
• In fall 2015, a state administrative law judge ruled that the Department of Health should stop using the screening tool because it was unlawful. However, even after the judge issued his decision, the department didn’t automatically re-enroll the children or even reach out to the families directly to let them know that re-enrollment was a possibility.

“These are the sickest and most vulnerable kids, and (changing their insurance) can mean life or death for them,” said Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University. “This is really very troubling.”

Six pediatricians from across Florida gathered to tell CNN their concerns about children losing CMS coverage. They accuse the state of hurting sick kids to help big GOP donors.

Dr. Rishi Agrawal, an associate professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, agreed, adding that Florida should have more carefully considered how the insurance switch would affect the children’s health care.  “The process in Florida was particularly abrupt and poorly executed,” he said.

“It was a scam job,” added Dr. Nancy Wright, a pediatric endocrinologist in Tallahassee who said that dozens of her patients with diabetes were removed from the program.”

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Florida Medical Marijuana Update

SOUTH FLORIDA WILL HAVE LOTS OF CERTIFIED DOCTORS WHO WILL BE ABLE TO PRESCRIBE MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Taken from Sun-Sentinel:

Hundreds of doctors in Florida are now certified since June 16th, who are able to  recommend medical marijuana for patients, and one of the biggest concentrations is in South Florida.

The state is moving forward to implement a constitutional amendment approved by voters; however, patients in some parts of the state have no access and insurance does not cover marijuana, so poorer patients could be priced out of the market.

• State lawmakers eliminated the original 90 day waiting period to get medical marijuana;
• There are now 957 doctors in Florida qualified to recommend medical marijuana, with 357 of them in South Florida;
• Monroe county has the most certified doctors, with one for every 8,208 residents in the county;
• Of Florida’s 30 largest cities, Boca Raton has the state’s highest per capita number of certified doctors;
• Doctors “recommend” marijuana rather than “prescribe” it, because it is a federally-controlled substance.

HOW CAN I GET IT?

Patients must have a qualifying ailment.  Those include cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, PTSD, ALS, Crohn’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), or “other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class,” per the amendment’s language.

To find a local doctor, go to http://SunSentinel.com/marijuanadoctors

You can also go to Floridahealth.gov, or call the Florida Department of Health’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use at 850-245-4657.

Patients can receive a 70-day supply at a time.  When that is exhausted, they must get another recommendation, which can be phoned in.  After 30 weeks, patients must once again see their doctor in person.

A typical in-person visit costs about $250.  Patients must also pay a $75 fee for their medical marijuana card; then, there’s the cost of the marijuana which ranges from about $100 to $200 for a 70-day supply.

At his Boca Raton clinic, one doctor treats about 50 patients.  He has used the law’s “other debilitating medical conditions” provission to prescribe (recommend) marijuana for auto-immune diseases similar to Crohn’s, severe arthritis and chronic pain from nervous system damage.

A photo ID is required on the card in order to be placed on the state registry, and there has been a steady increase in the volume of applications since Amendment 2 went into effect.

There are now 12 growers and there will be 5 more added in October.  They agree they have enough capacity to supply patient demand.

 

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We Need To Get On A Better Footing

At the end of the year, there are many more religions celebrating holidays than just  Christians.  trump is following his alt-right supporters in trying to eliminate all religions, other than Christians, in our country, by pushing the idea to retailers, etc., that, instead of displaying signs that say, “Happy Holidays,” they should announce, “Merry Christmas.” This will never happen. The only thing that IS happening, is that the white supremacists are coming out of the woodwork and doing their best to push their policies into government laws.

trump needs to step down – of course he isn’t going to do that. The only other alternative is to impeach. 

There is more going on than is necessary for Congress to impeach. Congress is filled with too many COWARDS. They are more focused on their political careers than on the needs of a nation.

Looking forward to next year’s mid-term election, when we have the chance to VOTE and throw out those Repubs.  Many voters (too many) normally stay home during mid-terms, but it is IMPERATIVE for these voters to get to the polls and help our country get on a better footing; a better place than where we find ourselves under the current administration and current members of Congress.  The majority of our representatives are not representing the best of our nation. 

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Patches Is The First To Try Out The New Furniture

Patches likes this one. She stepped up and made herself VERY comfortable. She fits in just right.

Rusty is off somewhere in the house, napping, of course. He doesn’t know about this new tree. I wonder how he will react, especially when he finds that Patches has taken possession.

 

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Headed in the Wrong Direction

Today’s tweet rants by our “illustrious un-leader” are absurd and indefensible. I am not happy about the direction in which our un-leader is taking our country. The saddest part is that, so far, the House has shown only some guts to push back. The Senate has shown more IMHO.  Hopefully, the House will open their eyes wider, and look into the future and wake up.  Stemming the tide against the media that our un-leader loves to spout, will show Americans that perhaps we still have some semblance of a democracy. 

“Why Trump Won”

I’m going to watch Fareed Zakaria’s CNN program tonight at 9 pm. I have much respect for his handle on world affairs, and am looking forward to watching the special program. My “take” on “Why Trump Won” is very simple:  He lied to the simple. And they believed.