My Memorial Day

This Memorial Day I visited my Vietnam veteran friend who has enjoyed spring fishing in the Rainy River, Willie Walleye Day events and decades of other special vacations to this place we in Lake of the Woods call home. This year was different because of pancreatic cancer. Now day to day life is all about reduction of pain, and efforts to have some quality of life. The pain is not well controlled although hospice nurses and doctors are doing their best.

I contrast his situation with a others I’ve known with cancer and pain. They used marijuana; smoked, eaten or vaporized the plant in one of the 16 legal states. In 2007 former Republican House Speaker Steve Sviggum authored a medical marijuana bill and said, “This is health care legislation that enhances the medical options between a suffering patient and their doctor – and keeps government’s nose out of their business.”
Minnesota police organizations lobbied Pawlenty to veto the bipartisan medical marijuana law which passed in Minnesota. Pawlenty’s veto has kept those with MS, glaucoma, PTSD, nerve pain, AIDS/HIV pain and nausea, cancer pain and nausea from having the option to medicate with a safe non-toxic plant which helps ease pain while not putting their mind in a daze. Our nation arrests 900,000 Americans a year for marijuana offenses.

Last week the former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz and former Fed Chair Paul Volcker and former elected leaders of Greece, Brazil and Colombia have also signed on to end the war on drugs and rather supported a “paradigm shift” that emphasizes public health over criminalization. Last year Rev. Pat Robertson of the 700 Club came out in support to change marijuana criminalization.

As an old health care worker I agree with Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders who is against the criminalization of marijuana users and said, “Marijuana has never caused anybody directly to die. I think we need to legalize marijuana for adults, and tax it so we can use the money for much better things.”

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