POLITICAL BULL SHIT!
For anyone who wants to be an activist, I suggest you believe whole heartedly in what you are doing because you are going to need to!
I thought doctors were hard because they all think they’re GOD-like. But politicians, there is nothing or no one to compare them with. I met the nicest and the rudest. In ten years I have accomplished very little. First, I’ll list the organizations I’ve worked with. They’re all pot friendly because they’re the only ones who really put themselves out there.
February 22, 1997 I attended my first hemp fest working with FORML with Mike. From there I went to Florida Can then NORML, then Patients Out of Time, and after attending their medical convention I joined the Women’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform. These are organizations but most of the people are my friends. At my first hemp fest I met Jodi James and Kevin Alpin. I began working with the two of them and was quite amazed at how much progress we made. I have testified in Tallahassee for the senate hearings on medical marijuana. The group of us were given 24 hours notice to attend. We all made it on time. I changed one person’s mind. I went to all the offices of the senators and congressmen in Florida. My husband and I had a private meeting with Governor Jeb Bush. He was quite touched but said he could not do anything because this was a federal matter. After meeting with him, he made a comment on TV that he had never met a medical marijuana patient. So off to Tallahassee we went. The Journey for Justice!!! I hope all my friends from the Journey will post on my site. The very first night I met Cher and Brian. Within 30 seconds she went in the camper and got me a pair of socks because it was really cold. Cher is a full-time activist and she has a heart of gold, as do most of the women I met. Of course, our friend Kay Lee was involved because she works with prison reform. Why should anyone trying to stay alive be put in prison? During the entire journey the only time I was afraid was when the prisoners realized we were trying to end the drug war. I began to fear that if there was a riot, we would be charged. Needless to say, that at every county line we were met by sheriffs who could not help us but followed us and harassed us most of the time. Now, believe it or not, a lot of the cops are on our side only because they know if they arrest a young college student, they’re going to prison and will lose their scholarship. We spent 10 days on the road in a wheelchair. Only when the thunder storms came did Kay Lee and Jodi insist on walking to keep the integrity of the march. Jodi is my road partner. When ever and where ever there was something up, we tried to be there. Because of my special needs, my husband feels very safe when I travel with Jodi. We had more time in airports then I care to remember. We also did the Journey for Justice in Texas because we refused to allow the 2000 election to go on without discussing the drug war. Now, here we are in Al Gore’s office in George Bush’s beloved Austin and my dear friend Eddie lit a joint. I have never seen such mild mannered people go bazeerk.. One woman was screaming, "Call the cops! Call the cops!" Then some man came running out screaming, "No, don’t no one call the cops. Look, we don’t want to search you. We don’t want to know why you’re here. Just go. Just, please go." My suggestions to all people who are sick, smoke in any politicians office. You surely will not get arrested. I am serious. I went with a woman who had breast cancer to Dr. Welden’s office, who is also a politician, who does not believe in medical use. But even he would not have her locked up. I have debated Calvina Fay from Drug Free America on ABC News, Flash Point. Even she admits the police would not be looking for me. But that’s the whole point! How do they know how terminal I am. Or, how disabled the people who are using cannabis really are.
This is going to be hard! I’m supposed to put 10 years being an activist in a couple of short paragraphs. I’m supposed to keep it short and that’s impossible because we’ve done so much and there are so many people involved. I am going to be making a lot of people mad but please feel free to post anything and I will attempt to answer it. Now, for Cheryl Miller’s memorial, a lot of patients with MS were waiting to speak to politicians. NORML organized the patients arrangements and the new drug czar informed the politicians the "pot heads" were here. I went to several Florida congressmen’s offices and not one was in, nor did I ever receive a reply from any of them. We spent two days hiking all over Washington, which is not handicap accessible. In one building, I had to use a freight elevator. My friend Jodi was outraged and said, "my friend is not freight". Then, outside the building, who did we run in to? An ALS patient who was willing to use cannabis because he was having problems eating and coughing. I guaranteed him smoking would make him cough. Even in Texas, a woman came out of the crowd because she could see I had ALS and she was so grateful to hear me speak. Her husband had ALS and in the evening she would sit on the bed and blow smoke in his face. He said it was the only time he felt normal. And, after hearing me speak, she wished she had blown it morning, noon and night. Also, she was afraid maybe she had hastened his death by doing this. I put her mind to rest.
Also during this time Jodi and I went to the SHADOW Convention at the University of Penn. I had the pleasure of meeting Catherine Crier and actually ran into Bob Dole. I really mean it! I hit him with my wheelchair. I couldn’t think of his name fast enough to give him my spiel. One of the few times I felt positive. There was a whole room full of people who felt the way I did and thought the same. This is where I got to meet Howard from LEAP. He did a trip across the country on horseback trying to educate the people about the drug war.
It really doesn’t matter what I’ve done. The facts are if you have a drug problem in the present time, you better believe in God because he’s the only one with the compassion to help you. I also find it amazing they can make it mandatory 3to 5 years for drugs but can’t make it mandatory for 3 to 5 years in college. If you have a child with a drug problem, you better have bucks in the bank because now days, the only thing you can do is hope and pray they get arrested so you know there safe. What a nightmare for a mother to live through. Knowing that there is no help given to a child with the illness of addiction. I find it outrageous that they are still treating heroin addiction with methadone. An addict would be much safer it they were given heroin instead. Heroin does not destroy your body the way methadone does. I know they treated my first husband in 1970 with methadone. He knew maybe a dozen users. After one trip to the clinic, he met a hundred new friends. This is weighing on my mind because in Sarasota, they have a program for addicted pregnant mothers and the federal funding has been cut off. Now, the state is considering withdrawing their funding. If you believe in the right to life, you believe in all rights to life. Every mother who is looking for help, I wish you would find some group to join and finally make this a compassionate crusade and not just some drug addict who needs a fix.
