This is my response from my state rep

[dano420]

I GOT THIS EMAIL IN LESS THAN 24 HRS AFTER SENDING LETTER TO HIM:




Dear Mr. Libert,



Thank you for allowing me to listen to your support for the use of medical marijuana. I appreciate your taking time to share your views with me.



As a physician and a researcher, I have done extensive research on the impacts of marijuana. Twenty-six years ago, during my training as an allergy and asthma specialist, my colleagues and I studied marijuana at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. We found that all marijuana leaves were contaminated with inhalable molds, and most importantly, these disease-causing molds survived the smoking process. In fact, we never found any marijuana samples that were not contaminated with fungi capable of inducing either asthma attacks or even death from overwhelming fungal infections in immune-suppressed patients.



For this reason, I did not support the Hinchey medical marijuana amendment to H.R. 3093, the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Act for FY2008, which failed to win approval.



Thank you again for sharing your concerns with me. By working together, we will build a better future for everyone.

Sincerely,

Steve Kagen, MD
Member of Congress

dano420 Reviewed by dano420 on 08-14-2008. This is my response from my state rep I GOT THIS EMAIL IN LESS THAN 24 HRS AFTER SENDING LETTER TO HIM: Dear Mr. Libert, Thank you for allowing me to listen to your support for the use of medical marijuana. I appreciate your taking time to share your views with me. Rating: 5

[Psycho4Bud]

I copied this over to medical marijuana news for ya. Once again, being a Wisconsinite myself I find this disgusting! Thanks for the information!:thumbsup:

Have a good one!:jointsmile:

[Markass]

All marijuana leaves...I like that...Extensive research...I like that too..I find that about 100% hard to believe.

[birdgirl73]

Hey, at least he gave scientific reasons. I'd expect an allergist/immunologist to vote the way he did. The surprising part to me wasn't the answer but the fact that he'd done research of any kind. That's at least something.

This is an uphill battle in mainstream medicine just like it is in mainstream minds. It will be a slow and ongoing process. Don't give up the fight. Keep educating people and yourself.

The saddest thing about his pointing to the mold problem, at least to me, is that if medicinal marijuana were allowed in a legitimate way, mold problems could be tested for and treated and eliminated just like other plant problems are in nurseries.

[Psycho4Bud]

Hey, at least he gave scientific reasons. I'd expect an allergist/immunologist to vote the way he did.

Amazing....:giggity: Isn't this site about the legalization of medical marijuana?ostexcuseme:

Have a good one!:s4:

[thcbongman]

Researcher never mentioned anything about buds. He stated "leaves." and apparently that the mold on the leaves survived the smoking process.

I don't find it very scientific at all!

[daihashi]

Hey, at least he gave scientific reasons. I'd expect an allergist/immunologist to vote the way he did. The surprising part to me wasn't the answer but the fact that he'd done research of any kind. That's at least something.

This is an uphill battle in mainstream medicine just like it is in mainstream minds. It will be a slow and ongoing process. Don't give up the fight. Keep educating people and yourself.

The saddest thing about his pointing to the mold problem, at least to me, is that if medicinal marijuana were allowed in a legitimate way, mold problems could be tested for and treated and eliminated just like other plant problems are in nurseries.

Oddly enough, your post seems to be the most unbiased post in this thread. Also I found that your post to be the most pertinent to the topic at hand and I completely agree with you on what you said; except the fact that I feel that the State Representative utilized a poor excuse in his response (which judging from what you've said you probably believe he's very much BS also).

[birdgirl73]

Thanks, Daihashi. I wish Dr. Kagen could see how much medical MJ helps sick folks. I think if he could, he would reconsider. They're like the scientists they are, I guess. He had seen mold on the plant samples and hadn't seen anyone relieved of their pain or nausea so consequently his decision was based on what he saw. I think it takes only seeing one person relieved of suffering to change that mindset.

Sometime if medical or decriminalization legislation comes up and there are hearings, I would like to testify before any committee hearings. The relief that my sister got was like the difference between night and day. I just learned my hairdresser has ovarian cancer. It's spread throughout her abdomen now and will be terminal. She's having six more rounds of chemo to simply try and buy her some more time. She could benefit from medicinal cannabis. She used to smoke it for fun, in fact. The problem now is she's married to a cop. The whole situation breaks my heart. He's not a stupid officer and is one of those like many of them who believes it's a waste of time for him and his colleagues to keep putting people in jail for weed. If we had federal OK and medicinal cannabis in this state, his wife's last months might be more pleasant.

[daihashi]

Thanks, Daihashi. I wish Dr. Kagen could see how much medical MJ helps sick folks. I think if he could, he would reconsider. They're like the scientists they are, I guess. He had seen mold on the plant samples and hadn't seen anyone relieved of their pain or nausea so consequently his decision was based on what he saw. I think it takes only seeing one person relieved of suffering to change that mindset.

The thing is that people seem to insist that people are using Marijuana just to get high. If anyone has been in any excruciating amount of pain then they can attest that alot of the "high" is instantly sucked out.

Recently I had very *serious* intestinal pain (reason I was off the boards for 3 weeks or so). I smoked a hellacious amount of cannabis for the pain. Majority of the high was taken out and I only received a slight buzz (I probably smoked about 3-4 oz in this time frame.. almost 4 times what I normally smoke).

I wish there was a way to determine how high people were that are taking it for legitimate reason. I know that the pain sucks most of the "recreational" portion of the drug out.

[birdgirl73]

So true that the pain diminishes the high! That was true for my sister. So did the smoking help alleviate your abdominal pain? I'm guessing so. In what people report from the use of medicinal cannabis, at least for nausea, it doesn't take very much to treat their symptoms. And when it's used for pain, it can be very complementary with prescription painkillers, requiring people to use fewer of those, which, of course, are hard on the liver and cause other side effects.

I think medical experts need not to look so askance at the whole getting high aspect in the first place. So many of them want to develop pain medicines that don't muddle people's minds or they question medicinal cannabis because of the "stoned" factor. I personally think that when people are sick, whether terminally or not, there's plenty of justification for some muddling or stonedness. Part of why medicinal cannabis helped my sister was that it also helped alleviate the reality of what was happening to her because it did make her high. This opinion goes against much of mainstream medical thinking, but I think being high is, in many cases for medical patients, a good, well indicated thing. Sometimes cannabis intoxication, as they officially term it, is perfectly acceptable. Like when you have a dreadful disease.