Florida lawmakers for trying to cap THC levels for medical marijuana?

Medical marijuana patients lash out at Florida lawmakers for trying to cap THC levels

Orlando Weekly
Posted By Dara Kam
News Service of Florida
Apr 9, 2019

“A bill that was supposed to be about helping a community that is plagued with drug addiction and drug overdose … a bill that was supposed to be about helping a veteran community that is plagued (with) suicide is now being used as leverage by lawmakers to try and impose their will on the people."

Photo via Florida House of Representatives State Rep. Ray Rodrigues

After fiery exchanges with veterans and patient advocates who accused a legislative leader of relying on faulty research, members of a House committee on Tuesday pushed forward a proposal that would cap the level of euphoria-inducing THC in smokable medical marijuana.

The House plan would also give veterans free, state-issued medical marijuana identification cards, a sweetener that angered veterans who lashed out at the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ray Rodrigues, during an emotionally charged House Appropriations Committee meeting.

Jimmy Johnston, a veteran who is president of the North Florida chapter of Weed for Warriors Project, lashed out at the committee for linking the free ID cards for veterans, a savings of $75 per year, with the THC cap.

Rodrigues, a soft-spoken Estero Republican who serves as chairman of the House Health & Human Services Committee, was visibly shaken following a meeting that became so heated the House sergeant and his aides were summoned.

Rodrigues has shepherded House medical-marijuana legislation since the state first authorized non-euphoric cannabis for a limited number of patients in 2014.
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"...they held hands. He raised a gun to his chest and killed himself."

"Meredith said she and her husband went to their primary care physician and asked for a referral to another pain clinic. They were told it would take a minimum of six weeks."

"That was too much for Lawrence. In March, on the day of his next medical appointment, when his painkiller dosage was to be reduced again, he instead went to a nearby park with his wife. And on the very spot where they renewed their wedding vows just two years earlier, they held hands. He raised a gun to his chest and killed himself."

Go here to read the rest of this story...then maybe you'll understand how taking away pain medicine can be hazardous to our lives.

As doctors taper or end opioid prescriptions, many patients driven to despair, suicide

I have not had to take pain medicine for a long time, since the shots into my spine worked, but I remember what life was like in that kind of pain and no hope of it going away. The only thing that allowed me to keep going to work, was the medication to take some of the pain away.

Vietnam Veteran told meds may be cut off at 75?

Local veteran looking for some answers
Courier News
Sean Ingram, Section Editor
6/17/2018

“With all of the other problems that are occurring in the world, why would the government want to cause a huge commotion amongst the veterans?”

Ira Johnson served his country in the Vietnam War. His medical list of conditions includes photosensitivity and exposure to Agent Orange. He is on 44 medications altogether.

He wants his fellow veterans to know he was told recently by his primary care physician at the VA Hospital in Fayetteville that his meds would be decreased, and when he reached age 75, they may be cut off completely.

"What purpose is this serving and what will happen to the veterans who are in need of their medications and are unable to obtain them?” Johnson said in a letter. “ ... This is a problem that needs to seriously be investigated, thoroughly reviewed and re-evaluated before any type of action occurs. Why would there be a reason for the medications to be discontinued if they are not being monitored?"
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Threat of Suicide Not Taken Seriously by VA?

Marine veteran sues VA Medical Center, Congressman Phil Roe over opioid tapering policy

Johnson City Press
Becky Campbell
November 24, 2017 

"According to Rose, one of the specific VA guidelines he finds to be disturbing was that “doctors should not take the threat of suicide seriously when a veteran is placed on a forced taper or denied pain medications.”

Robert Rose, a disabled veteran, turned his back on Congressman Phill Roe July 3, 2017 in an act of protest against the "opioid safety initiative."

A Washington County man who said he endures constant pain from training injuries he suffered while serving as a Marine filed a lawsuit earlier this month over a forced opioid tapering policy that eliminates or severely reduces veterans’ access to the pain medication.

Robert D. Rose Jr., of Gray, was a Marine sergeant when he left the service because of documented injuries he suffered during jump training. Rose made a public protest statement in July when he turned his back on U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, R-1st, at a plaque presentation commemorating historic buildings at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Mountain Home. Rose has taken his protest a step further with a federal lawsuit against Roe and 17 VA Medical Center employees, including the director, doctors, nurses and police officers.

After Roe’s speech in July, Rose told his story to Press reporter Brandon Paykamian.
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