Tag: virginia marijuana laws

Legalize Marijuana in Virginia

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How the Repulican Party killed legalizing marijuana in Virginia.

Since January 16th, 2019 it is come to my attention that the delegates in the Commonwealth of Virginia do not care about the people that they are supposed to serve and vote on behalf of and to their benefit. I say since the 16th because the delegates of subcommittee 1 of the House of Justice Committee ruled to currently pass by indefinitely, which means to throw out and never bring back up for voting on 4 different bills that would have legalized marijuana. Now I find it ridiculous that 8 people can make a decision that can affect over 8 million Virginias.

Sounds a lot like the executives of a monopoly deciding to make changes that would hurt millions of Americans, except we could prosecute them under anti-trust laws. Maybe we should be allowed to sue and prosecute our Delegates and representatives in general when they vote against what most of the public they serve want.

Bills, HB2370, HB2079, HB2371 and HB2373 that would have made marijuana legal in the Commonwealth of Virginia were cut down by the Republican party just for spite a far as I can tell. The vote was straight across party line. One week after a Democratic Governor, Ralph Northam, called for decriminalization of marijuana in Virginia the 5 Republicans of the subcommittee 1 voted to kill the bills while the 3 Democrats voted to keep the bill alive and move them along their way towards becoming law.  As a registered Republican I can say those 5 Republican delegates did not vote for me or in a way the will improve my life.

Two Bills put forth by Delegate Steve Heretick, 1 by Del- Charniele Herring and 1 by Del.-Lee Carter, all Democratic Delegates, were voted down by the Republicans setting on the committee. I for one am tired of both the Republican and Democratic parties voting against each other just to be assholes instead of voting the way their constituents want them to vote. The polls show that the majority of Virginians are in favor of legalizing marijuana especially for medical use but also for recreational use for all those people over the age of 21.

In fact, polls by The Wall Street Journal, Gallop, and The Pew research Center show that Americans in general want the same things. A Pew poll shows that 62% of Americans support legalizing marijuana. Gallop shows that 66% wants to legalize marijuana and 94% of Americans believe the medical marijuana should be legal in every state and Commonwealth, as well as a Gallop poll that shows 53% of the Republican leadership in America support legalization. So, no matter how you put it for me you could say that this is how a Republican can learn to hate how the Republican party is serving it’s constituents and embrace the Democrats.

Or perhaps you prefer to ask questions like: How people in need of medical marijuana keep getting screwed over by the Republican party or How 5 people can make medical decisions for 1.7 million Virginians each without voting the way their district wants them to vote. I myself suffer from several medical issues that would benefit from the use of medical marijuana, but I guess I will just keep downing opioids one after the other, because that’s legal but not Marijuana, yeah that makes sense.

I think what we need to do is bombard the offices of the Delegates who voted these bills down with Emails, letters and phone calls to tell them exactly what the people of Virginia want and that if they will not vote the way we want we can and will remove them from office the next time they are up for election. In fact, here is the information for the delegates that need to change their voting to help instead of hurt Virginians by voting in favor of legalizing marijuana.

Gilbert, C. Todd (Chair) 15th E606 R (804) 698-1015 (540) 459-7550 DelTGilbert@house.virginia.gov
Bell, Robert B. 58th E311 R (804) 698-1058 (434) 245-8900 DelRBell@house.virginia.gov
Adams, Leslie R. (Les) 16th E205 R (804) 698-1016 (434) 432-1600 DelLAdams@house.virginia.gov
Collins, Christopher E. 29th E420 R (804) 698-1029 (540) 539-1724 DelCCollins@house.virginia.gov
Ransone, Margaret B. 99th E412 R (804) 698-1099 (804) 472-4181 DelMRansone@house.virginia.gov

 

These are the delegates who voted the correct way to follow what the voters in their districts want and not just to go against the other party for spite. I say we let these people know that they are doing a good job of voting in favor of helping Virginians.

 

Watts, Vivian E. 39th E203 D (804) 698-1039 (703) 978-2989 DelVWatts@house.virginia.gov
Herring, Charniele L. 46th E223 D (804) 698-1046 (703) 606-9705 DelCHerring@house.virginia.gov
Mullin, Michael P. 93rd E424 D (804) 698-1093 (757) 525-9526 delmmullin@house.virginia.gov

 

Also, let us not forget the Delegates who put forth these bills for voting and let’s tell them that we appreciate what they are doing on behalf of Virginians. Be sure to show them your support by voting them back into office the next time they are due for reelection no matter what party you are registered with. I am a Republican that will be voting in favor of these delegates when they need to be reelected to office.

Delegate Steve E. Heretick   (D) – House District 79

In-session address:

Mailing address:

  • 715 Loudoun Avenue
  • Portsmouth, Virginia 23707
  • (757) 397-9923

Delegate Lee J. Carter   (D) – House District 50

In-session address:

Mailing address:

  • O. Box 243
  • Manassas, Virginia 20108
  • (571) 261-8546

Delegate Charniele L. Herring   (D) – House District 46

In-session address:

Mailing address:

  • O. Box 11779
  • Alexandria, Virginia 22312
  • (703) 606-9705

I know there are thousands if not tens of thousands of medical patients in Virginia, not to mention other states where marijuana is still illegal, that can and need the benefits of marijuana. I can only hope that there are enough like-minded people out there who are willing to speak up and make a difference. I personally have faith that in the near future I will not have to keep Narcan on hand in case I overdose on opioids because I will be able to buy marijuana and get off the opioids completely.

Well as always I hope you enjoy my post. Some will like it, some will hate it, but all will have an opinion about it.

Thank You

Blane O’Dell

 

 

 

 

Make Marijuana Legal!!!!

Make Marijuana Legal!!!!

The Question: Why is Marijuana not legal in every state, especially for medical use?

Over the past 10 years or so, I have watched as state after state is legalizing Marijuana, also known as cannabis or pot. Hell, whole countries are making it legal. And then there is the United States. So, I must ask why not? Why is the U.S. government not making marijuana legal? This product can help with so many things, from the opioid crisis to cancer. Yes, I called it a product cause that’s what it is, just like every other drug or drug therapy used in the medical profession. It’s funny, not funny ha ha, but funny in the hypocrisy that radiation is legal, chemotherapy is legal, opioids are legal, but not marijuana. Does this make any sense to you the reader? I just can not wrap my head around the idea that it is legal to give people therapy that literally kills you a little with every use, but not a drug that I have never heard of it killing a person just by using it like marijuana.

Marijuana has been used for thousands of years for many purposes, from simply getting high to stopping pain. When you consider how many diseases marijuana can help with or fix, it makes no sense why I even need to ask the question. At my last count Marijuana was legal in 33 states and D.C. with 20 of the being legal only for medical use and a Gallop poll showed that legalization was supported by 64% of Americans of which a majority was Republican, surprisingly enough. Also, when you consider that 91 people die every day in the U.S. from opioid overdoses, I believe that if marijuana was prescribed or legal to buy that the number would go down across the U.S. Now consider that opioid prescriptions have quadrupled since 1999 it makes even less sense that marijuana is not legal across the country by federal law. It is true that fewer doctors are so quick to prescribe opioids as a first line of treatment for most diseases now due to education of the effects it was having on patients. The number of people becoming addicted and overdosing. Yet, the number of over doses and use of opioids keep rising. I have seen firsthand where people who were on opioids for pain due to a multitude of different issues have given up using opioids all together in favor of marijuana and are quite happy with the choice.

The effects have some similarities between opioids and marijuana, such as euphoria relaxation, decrease in pain. However, marijuana is no where near addictive as opioids nor are the side effects as bad as opioids and I am talking specifically about addiction and death by overdose. Have anyone that is familiar ever seen anyone smoke so much weed that they die, no as far as I can tell the average person will fall asleep way before that can happen. The positive effects of marijuana are pain reduction, suppression of nausea and vomiting, appetite stimulation and reduced pressure in the inner eye. These are just a few issues it can be used to treat. It has been successfully used in treating Cancer, chronic pain, all types of arthritis, Multiple sclerosis as well as glaucoma. It has also been used to treat depression, anxiety, insomnia, hypertension eczema and epilepsy. All these diseases have shown positive effects when treated with marijuana and done so without addiction. It has also been shown to less dangerous when used by drivers when compared to alcohol, however you should still not operate a car or any equipment other than maybe the remote control to the television when using marijuana.

The positive effects of marijuana have been known for thousands of years, just look at the charred remains found at a burial site in Romania that have been dated to the 3rd millennium B.C. Marijuana is also the most widely used illicit drug in the western hemisphere and has been for decades. Now consider that the murder rate in Denver dropped by 52% the first-year marijuana was legalized, and opioid overdoses are down by 25% across the board when averaged over all 33 states. I have also read that Doctors believe the legalizing marijuana will lead to a down turn in binge drinking and related deaths by college students. When you consider all of this, I can’t understand the issues the opponents have to making marijuana legal. It has shown mostly positive effects and I did not even go into the predicted 11 billion in tax revenue it would bring to the table. Colorado made 98 million the first year in taxes. Yes, it was less then predicted, but still yet it was 98 million dollars in taxes. Now understand that all of this should be considered my opinion and not fact, but you can just as easily find all this information with a search of Bing ©®or Google ©® and looking at sites such as the CDC, Gallop, or any of the news sites. But if you do not want to do that just remember that this is all my opinion. All I hope to do is make people ask the questions and look for the answers themselves. I hope this is exactly the type of Blog post that makes you do just that. Until next time, Goodbye and enjoy life.