Legislation to Legalize Medical Cannabis Filed in Kansas, Rally Planned

Legislation to Legalize Medical Cannabis Filed in Kansas, Rally Planned

By Press Release

Kansas Patients Groups Join Together, Call For Compassionate Cannabis Law In Kansas

Lenexa, Ks – On January 15, 2015, at 1pm, Several Kansas medical cannabis groups, including Bleeding Kansas and Kansas For Change, Sen. Gail Finney, and Sen. David Haley, will be sponsoring a rally in the Topeka capitol rotunda. There will also be a full day of lobbying for patients and caregivers, as they make the rounds of appointments with lawmakers.

They will be asking lawmakers to please support Senate Bill 9 and House Bill 2011 [both filed this month], The Cannabis Compassionate Care Act, currently in the Health and Public Welfare Committee.

SB9: “AN ACT enacting the cannabis compassion and care act; providing for the legal use of cannabis for certain debilitating medical conditions; providing for the registration and functions of compassion centers; authorizing the issuance of identification cards; establishing the compassion board; providing for administration of the act by the department of health and environment…”

Many of the patients represented at the rally are children and adults with severe seizure disorders, including Dravet Syndrome, the most severe form of Epilepsy, and Sodium Channelopathy.

“The Epilepsy Foundation supports the rights of patients and families living with seizures and epilepsy to access physician directed care, including medical marijuana.

The Epilepsy Foundation calls for an end to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) restrictions that limit clinical trials and research into medical marijuana for epilepsy.

The Epilepsy Foundation believes that an end to seizures should not be determined by one’s zip code.”

The record of cannabis efficacy on seizures has been well documented, and recently brought to wide public attention through Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s CNN specials “Weed” and “Weed 2.” We are asking for this same hope for the children of Kansas, including Sofie, Owen, Autumn, Mira, and Gavin. Many Kansas families have moved and joined the wave of medical cannabis refugees in Colorado, taking their taxes and talent with them. Otis Reed’s family of Lawrence, Kansas is one such family. However, many more Kansas families cannot move. They are begging for the hope that has been given to families in 34 other states.

We support the rights of every patient to access all medical options available. We believe medical choices should remain between physician and patient, dictated by medical precedent and research, and not outdated propaganda. “The Society supports the rights of people with MS to work with their MS health care providers to access marijuana for medical purposes in accordance with legal regulations in those states where such use has been approved.” http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Treating-MS/Complementary-Alternative-Medicines/Marijuana

Our patient’s ailments, proven by research to be helped, and even cured by cannabis, include: Cancer, including Leukemia, (cannabis has proven particularly effective against aggressive forms of cancer in the breast, lung and brain and seems to prevent metastasis of cancer cells) Alzheimers (cannabis has been shown to help even late stage Alzheimers), ALS, MS, (cannabis functions as a neuroprotectant, halting or slowing disease progression) Fibromyalgia, Chronic Pain, Degenerative Disc Disease, PTSD, Crohns, IBS, Tourette’s, Autism, ADHD, Lupus, and on and on.

“Cannabinoids may cause antitumor effects by various mechanisms, including induction of cell death, inhibition of cell growth, and inhibition of tumor angiogenesis invasion and metastasis” It should be noted this is from The National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institute of Health, a federal government agency.

The U.S. Government has patent #6630507 on cannabis as a neuroprotectant and antioxidant.

“The U.S. holds a patent on one hand, and on the other hand, same government says it has no medical applications. Journalists are trained to hate hypocrisy. This is hypocrisy.” Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Anderson Cooper 360.

“We cannot see allowing hope and healing to critically ill patients in 34 other states, yet denying it to critically ill patients in Kansas. It is not only illogical, given the current fiscal crisis in Kansas and the potential tax revenue that SB9 can generate for our Kansas schools, it is simply cruel. Kansas citizens can bring compassion for patients by contacting their representatives and asking them to support SB9. We need to all work together to make compassion the law in 2015. ” Lisa Sublett founded Bleeding Kansas, a patient advocacy group dedicated to seeing The Cannabis Compassionate Care Act passed in the 2015 Kansas legislative session.