cannabisnews.com: Don't Tell Joe Hart Shhhh - It's His Birthday!





Don't Tell Joe Hart Shhhh - It's His Birthday!
Posted by FoM on August 02, 1999 at 09:38:54 PT
Shared By Kay Lee
Source: My Journey For Justice
I expected to write an obituary, but my subject asked me to send him a copy of the article. And who would presume to tell Medical Cannabis Advocate Joe Hart that he won't still be alive on Friday?
Don't Tell Joe Hart That He Won't Be Alive Tomorrow!byKatha SheehanKathaDS aol.com Key West, The NewspaperP.O. Box 567, Key West, FL 33041Phone: 305-292-2108office kwtn.com July 30, 1999 A lot of people more knowledgeable than I expected him to be dead by now. In 1984, the Veterans Administration sent him an unsigned letter saying that he should check with the hospital because he might have acquired "GRIDS" (Gay-related Immune Deficiency Syndrome, as AIDS was then called) from plasma received during surgery to repair shrapnel damage from a Vietnam combat injury. They probably expected him to be just another Centers for Disease Control statistic within the year. In the 16 years since Hart read his first death sentence, a lot has happened. Princess Di and JFK Jr. - younger people, who had all the health and the resources of the world at their command - are dead and buried. Joe Hart is (as I write this) still very much alive and fighting, albeit with a fast-growing, cancerous bone tumor chomping at his fearless heart. He would be 51 next week. Doctors gave him until Friday (today). I was at Joe Hart's bedside in the Miami VA hospital Tuesday. Although he had to reach up and punch a button from time to time to get relief from the all-consuming pain, Joe was still vigorous, witty, and eager to talk about cannabis and how it gave him years of quality life. Joe Hart is a take-control-of-your-life kind of guy. He discovered for himself what things were good for him, and what things were bad... Hart had never liked drugs. "Nearly all the guys in my armored personnel tank company in Vietnam were heroin junkies. I looked at them and said, "These junkies are going to get me killed!" He re-enlisted in the Army as a helicopter gunner. "Two years later, the guys in my old unit were all dead. The enemy took them out. When they died, their weapons were not even loaded. When he learned he was HIV-positive, Joe gave up social drinking and began trying to live a healthy life. He discovered a new ally against the pain and nausea which accompany the symptoms of AIDS: marijuana. Hart: "Can You Imagine the Government Outlawing Broccoli?" Cannabis is NOT a drug, says Hart. "It's a vegetable. A vegetable with wonderful healing properties. But the government has outlawed it. Imagine the government outlawing broccoli!" Hart, who came home with two Purple Hearts, five Bronze Stars and an Air Medal, says he has no regrets for having served his country, but he does regret some of the things he did in Vietnam, and in his later life he has tried to make amends by fighting for civil rights. "In Vietnam I forcibly moved people, and burned their homes. That was not right." He learned how it felt in 1995, when Key West police raided his home after a postal inspector delivered a package of marijuana to his door. "My house was raped," he said, "This was what I had done to people in Vietnam, and my own government did this to me." Hart welcomed the opportunity to "fight the Law" for the decriminalization of marijuana for medical use. His friends rallied. For two years prosecutors tried to make Hart concede that they had the right to ban him from using his herb, tried to make him quietly accept punishment. He would not. They would have to bully a sick gay man and drag him to jail in the glare of public scrutiny. The law blinked. In January 1999, Judge Richard Payne dismissed the case. He said prosecutors couldn't use the evidence seized in Hart's house because the arresting officers hadn't given Hart enough time to respond to the door before breaking in. Hart was indignant at the dismissal - he felt they stole his chance to publically defend cannabis and restore it to its proper place in society, as a homegrown medical resource that can improve life and reduce suffering. "My mother died of cancer. She died a morphine junkie. I guess I'm going that route, too," he said with a touch of regret, fingering the button of his morphine drip. "I think she could have lived longer and better if she had been able to use cannabis. But like many people, she didn't want to do anything that was against the law." That must and will change, he said. "I don't say "IF" cannabis is decriminalized. I say "WHEN." I just may not be here to see it." Stress, nausea and wasting are the worst enemies of the HIV-positive outlook which only cannabis could provide him. He says nobody has ever died of cannabis, and the worst "side effect" of cannabis use is arrest and forfeiture. "Children die every year from taking aspirin, but they don't outlaw aspirin," he said. Today, August 3rd, is Joe's Birthday. He turns 51 years old today. If you'd like to call him, his number at the VA is 305-325-7459. Kay LeeI Spoke With Joe Hart This Afternoon - July 31, 1999 http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2300.shtml 
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Comment #5 posted by dario on August 07, 1999 at 21:11:56 PT:
LIFE
I support your stuggle. I hope that you can find a release from your pain without the use of drugs. I completely support the use of marajuana as a method of therapy. My heart goes out to you!! Feel free to contact me.Good life to you,Dario,worshipper of the ocean and all that the mother earth provides for us.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on August 04, 1999 at 09:05:25 PT:
I just called the VA in Miami and spoke with Joe!
Tuesday, August 03, 1999 9:53 AM Subject: Joe Hart  I just called the VA in Miami and spoke with Joe. I must say that given his prognosis (he begins radiation therapy tomorrow) he certainly sounds quite chipper on this his 51st birthday. His biggest concern at this point is that we all continue the fight for freedom of therapeutic cannabis. He even told me that if we fail to keep fighting the fight, he is going to come back and haunt us all! What a tremendous spirit Joe has and will continue to have. Stephen rsmoore35 juno.com 
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 03, 1999 at 20:53:27 PT:
I Just Wished Joe Hart A Happy Birthday!
Hello Folks,I just got off the phone from talking to Joe Hart. He is a kind man. He wants me to give his regards to all the people here who have cared so much! He thanked us for the flowers and he insisted on writing down my name and what state I was from.So very considerate!As of the last few moments his doctors are consulting with a specialist that has been brought in to maybe see about "Zapping" Joe's words, the tumor in his chest. I said many people that he doesn't even know care about him and are keeping him in their prayers!Peace, FoM!
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on August 02, 1999 at 21:16:05 PT:
Happy Birthday, Joe! Written By Pat Whelan
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOE! Dear Mr. Joe Hart, I am writing to wish you a Happy Birthday. I hope you have very nice Birthday today, and that you have enough good friends, good "fixings" (food, ice cream etc.) and good "goings on" today, to help keep you in good cheer. Mr. Hart, although I had heard about you, it wasn't until about 2 months ago, that I found some web pages all about you. I believe they were written by Ms. Kay Lee, but I may be mistaken about this. There was a nice picture of you (wearing a tee-shirt with large cannabis leaf on it, if I recall correctly) and poignant words describing your harrowing experiences. I was simultaneously heartened to know that the human race has within it: good, caring, decent people like you, and disheartened to read about the others who have treated you inhumanely and with contempt disrespect. More recently, I was very sorry to read about your very poor health…. I am greatly saddened that our species includes so many individuals who enjoy the perverse "pleasure" of hurting and killing others. I hope that over time, we will become more wise, caring and compassionate creatures - both towards those of our own species, and towards all other species, too. Mr. Hart, I would like to thank you for all the good things that you have done to help bring more happiness into the world. Thank you Mr. Joe Hart, for all the good things and all the happiness which you have brought into this world.Thank you - Best Wishes and Good Luck Mr. Hart.Happy Birthday, Joe! With Appreciation… Pat Whelan 
Pat's Home Page
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on August 02, 1999 at 19:41:58 PT:
It's Joe Hart's Birthday Tomorrow!
It's Joe Hart's Birthday Tomorrow Aug 3rd!Send Him a Happy Birthday Note If You Want Too!Hi Folks,If I recall correctly, Ms. Kay Lee asked that if anybody wanted to send Mr. Joe Hart a birthday greeting, that they could email the greeting to her, and she would print out a copy of it and give it to Joe in the hospital where he is staying. Her email address is:Kay Lee's E Mailmrjah flakysol.com Joe's phone number is below. If anybody wants to call him and wish him a Happy Birthday, tomorrow, August 3rd, Tuesday. For those who haven't heard yet, Mr. Hart, a long time cannabis activist for Freedom, has been pronounced "terminal" with cancer and is staying at the Miami VA hospital. I am going to write Mr. Hart a birthday greeting now….Joe Hart's Phone Number: 305-325-7459Thank you.Pat Whelanhttp://homepages.infoseek.com/~marthag1/patshome.htm
My Journey For Justice - Kay Lee's Page
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