Cruelty of Banning Medical Marijuana Patients from Transplant Lists
By Russ Belville, NORML Outreach Coordinator
Recently the Los Angeles City Council held hearings on the thorny issue of medical marijuana dispensary regulation. For years city officials have abrogated their duty to create sensible regulations for the dispensaries that have proliferated across the Los Angeles basin. The number of dispensaries has ballooned to over 500 (not the 1,000+ often claimed) following an ineffective moratorium on the retail medical marijuana outlets.
As usual, the hearings were packed, with medical marijuana patients and activists flooding the chambers to add their testimony to the record. One citizen petitioning her government for a redress of grievances was the Executive Director of the new Beverly Hills NORML 90210 (http://www.norml90210.org/become-a-member.php), Cheryl Shuman. In sixty seconds of testimony, Cheryl recounts her own personal medical marijuana tragedy, one that has befallen many desperately ill patients who use cannabis — even legally — and require life-saving organ transplants.
show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fbiXXW1A80&feature=player_embedded
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To me, people consuming caffeine , sugar, alcohol , junk food , and pharmaceuticals , or who are lazy, greedy, or arrogantly close minded to other peoples views, beliefs, and opinions just don't seem to care much about the gift of health , happiness, and freedom.
Before these patients are allowed to get a transplant, we really need to know if the marijuana use is going to interfere w/ the action of the anti-rejection medication that is required daily following transplants, or its effect on the kidney.
I'm a transplant recipient, but no one's going to be testing medical marijuana on me, because I don't want to lose my organs as a test case in case it does turn out to be dangerous.
I've got nothing against marijuana as medicine ; I've got a lot against it otherwise, since due to no fault of my own, at age 11 my pancreas quit working thanks to Type I diabetes . For the last 30 plus years, I would have done anything to be healthy, especially while I was on dialysis. I don't get the appeal of putting a drug in your body just to get high, and putting your health at risk from something that's not necessary. To me, people on drugs just don't seem to care much about the gift of health.