To The Oregon Legislature’s Marijuana Legalization Committee

Below is a copy of an email I sent today to the Oregon Legislature’s Marijuana Leglization Committee about upcoming changes to the OMMP. In this patient’s opinion, these changes are hurtful and unjust. They take effect March 1, 2016. I urge everyone to write or email the legislators listed below to ask them to stop this travesty.

I’m writing to ask you to delay the implementation of the new changes to the OMMP that become effective March 1st. Not only have patients had to endure the fee increase, but now patients acting as their own growers apparently have to report our grow amounts? I don’t understand this. It really feels like patients are being punished because we legalized. I don’t know how else to interpret this. And I thought I voted yes for a law that protected me. So I don’t understand.

I listed my husband until last year as my grower. Initially it was difficult for me to do my own growing, but I help somewhat now. He still does the heavy stuff, but I help where I can. But I decided not to pay the additional grower fee this time. I have to pay the THCF clinic to see their doctor to get my card, so there’s almost $200 there. Add to that the $200 I pay to the state, and that’s $400. I chose to list myself as grower and now I find out that I have to report and possibly pay an even larger fee for being my own grower. I sincerely hope that’s a bunch of misinformation. I cannot believe you would do that to patients.

My husband is a disabled veteran. We can’t afford these fees, but we don’t qualify for the lesser ones, so I’m between a rock and hard place. All of this seems to be a completely unnecessary burden to place on patients. All in response to legalization? If we needed all of this, why wasn’t it implemented years ago?

Please don’t do this to us. If this goes into place, I may not renew my card, and if four plants isn’t enough to deal with my RA, then I don’t know what I’ll do. You really have no idea how sick I was. I was severe for 13 years and cannabis is the ONLY thing that’s made me better. Not the Sulfasalazine, or Enbrel, or Humira, or the Methotrexate that hurt my liver and had to be discontinued, not the 4 Aleve per day I took in lieu of prescription Voltaren, and not the additional medications I had to take as a result of all of this wonderful treatment I was having..Metformin, 2 blood pressure meds, and trazadone all did nothing for me but increase the impact to my kidneys and liver. The year before I became a patient, my CRP was 46.5. Normal range is less than 5. They put my on CellCept, a drug for Lupus and to prevent transplanted organ rejection. Yes, I was given a transplant rejection drug for my rheumatoid arthritis. It did nothing except give me severe side effects. Raw cannabis leaf in my smoothies and juice stopped the year long flare I was in. Then, tinctures and concentrates put me into clinical remission. But it’s not a complete remission and I need cannabis to stay in balance. I’m off all the other drugs and my doctor is aware of what I’m doing. I also use herbal preparations I make to supplement. So far, I’m doing well. But it’s a real balancing act.

I guess I’m sharing this with you because I’m a success story. Cannabis really did all of this. The doctors have no explanation or apology as to why none of their treatments didn’t work. They just look uncomfortable. But it is what it is. Please don’t make my life any more difficult than it already is. I have a lot of damage from RA that will probably never go away. I deal with pain and inflammation daily, just not in the severe range anymore. Not everyone can simply do a treatment of cannabis and be done with it. Some of us have to medicate for the rest of our lives with it, which seems acceptable as long as it’s a pharmaceutical drug, but not so much when it’s cannabis.

Cannabis is not what people think it is. It’s a safe and effective treatment for so many things. Life is hard enough, particularly when your life is turned upside down with chronic illness. The least you guys could do is pave the way for us instead of putting up these roadblocks. Because you’re only making it harder to heal or to stay healthy.

So I’m asking again. Please don’t hurt us with your rules. I really couldn’t care less about the recreational side of cannabis legalization. Do whatever you want with that. But leave patients alone.

 

This is the list of legislators I emailed..one didn’t go through, so I didn’t include him here.

 

sen.ginnyburdick@state.or.us
Sen.LeeBeyer@state.or.us
Sen.JeffKruse@state.or.us
Sen.FloydProzanski@state.or.us
Rep.PeterBuckley@state.or.us
rep.kenhelm@state.or.us
Rep.AndyOlson@state.or.us
sen.tedferrioli@state.or.us
rep.annlininger@state.or.us