cannabisnews.com: Activist Battles for Disabled Rights





Activist Battles for Disabled Rights
Posted by FoM on July 04, 2000 at 13:38:15 PT
He founded nonprofit, advocates legalizing pot
Source: Pioneer Planet
Below the bare stage, a pallid spotlight shines on Darrell Paulsen. He rolls his motorized wheelchair before a sea of dazed yuppies, dreadheads and body-pierced souls.They're at First Avenue nightclub for a National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws fund-raiser. Between performances by a rock 'n' roll band and a crew of aspiring rappers, Paulsen gives a short plug for the drug. 
He has traded the gray suit he wore earlier that day for a T-shirt splashed with an illustration of a hemp leaf. Five minutes later, he finishes describing how cannabis helps him control muscle spasms triggered by cerebral palsy. The crowd's applause is nearly deafening.This is the end of a long day of activism for 29-year-old Paulsen.The Minneapolis club seems like an odd place for a well-known local advocate to spread his message. Then again, the South St. Paulite often goes before groups like this to lobby in favor of legalizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes and to push the disabled-rights agenda. He established a nonprofit several years ago, serves on limitless committees that influence disability policy and ran for lieutenant governor under the Grassroots Party ticket two years ago.``My life hasn't been easy, but I wouldn't trade it for nothing,'' Paulsen said. Tenacious Activist:Paulsen, with thinning russet hair, maneuvers around the Twin Cities in his front-wheel-drive wheelchair, from St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman's disability advisory committee to the Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities. And he goes out of his way to prove his independence.''I can do anything you do, but different or slower,'' he said.It takes him longer to eat a cheeseburger and dress in the morning. On the telephone, he plays the shrewd tough-guy bit, barking if he doesn't get his way. No doubt, it's an outer shell of compensation; meeting him in person, one soon ascertains that he never bites.``I hide behind a phone because I can be mean, rough and tough as I want. People can't see me so they can't say, `I pity him.' No preconceived notions that oh, I'm in a wheelchair,'' Paulsen said.No one can deny his tenacity -- or political connections. ``He can get a little rambunctious,'' said state Sen. Jim Metzen, DFL-South St. Paul. ``He's committed to certain causes.''He's caught the attention of Gov. Jesse Ventura and receives e-mails from President Clinton's Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities asking his advice. At municipal meetings, attendees observe his barrage of questions. He used to host Disability Awareness Days and his nonprofit, Paulsen & Co. Inc., fields 90 calls a week from distressed disabled citizens who want help or money with landlord disputes or transportation.During legislative sessions, Paulsen is seen at the Capitol, working the ears -- and sometimes nerves -- of lawmakers.Then there's the prickly marijuana issue. Relentless in his stance favoring legal medical marijuana use, Paulsen invokes trepidation for many disability activists. When Paulsen makes his argument, red flags go up. Five years ago a judge sentenced him to community service for cannabis possession.Many in the disability community wish he took a quiet, diplomatic approach, even while they just as quietly admire his obdurate nature.``Disability organizations are conservative in their approach and don't want to deal with the issue (marijuana). He's a real character, individual guy. He's willing to take unfavorable positions and advocate for them. We all kind of cringe, but he's out there and that's cool,'' said Charlie Smith, publisher of Access Press, a monthly newspaper for and by people with disabilities.Paulsen also plans to run for a seat on the South St. Paul City Council this year.Growing Up:On his birth day, doctors told Darla Paulsen that premature Darrell, weighing 1 1/2 pounds, wouldn't live to see the sunrise. The umbilical cord wrapped around his tiny neck, stifling breathing and turning his pigmentation black and blue. Cerebral palsy is a condition caused by damage to the brain and is characterized by an inability to control motor function.Three months later Darla packed her bags, sons Dana and a 5-pound Darrell, moving from Atlanta, Texas, to West 7th Street in St. Paul to live with her parents.``I call him my miracle child,'' said Darla Paulsen, who now lives in Aberdeen, S.D. She didn't find out about Darrell's condition until he was eight months old. ``It was hard, but he was my son and that was just life.''The family of three later shifted to a sleepy South Dakota town 3 1/2 hours away from the Twin Cities. Paulsen could do little for himself. He drooled unremittingly. He couldn't speak, barely held his head up. Name-calling was as common as his daily struggles. Kids lobbed insults and blamed his immobilization on his mother's drinking. Paulsen doesn't know his father.When Paulsen turned 9, his mother enrolled him at a boarding school for people with disabilities in Sioux Falls, S.D. There, he learned functions that seem perfunctory to most of the world. He stayed there until age 12, after taking every type of motor-therapy class and undergoing major surgeries.Gaining acceptance was unhurried in Paulsen's life. He spent some time in foster homes. In school, Paulsen would be a year or two older than his classmates.``I looked different, did work differently,'' Paulsen said. He never finished high school.Gaining Freedom:Paulsen moved back to Minnesota at age 17 looking for dreams, love and a place compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Around the same time, somebody suggested that cannabis might assuage his pain from cerebral palsy. The left side of his body is more disabled than the right.It worked. Paulsen said the high lets him stay in his chair longer, and using the restroom takes minutes instead of hours.``Even though this was illegal, I was able to live an independent life,'' Paulsen said. The independence led Paulsen to live alone in an apartment for the first time, which he admits left him scared and lonely and lasted 10 months. ``I had to learn to interact with nonfamily members. I learned to ask for help,'' Paulsen said. His brother Dana now lives with him as primary caretaker.He experimented with vocational training and tried his hand at assorted jobs. Balancing life with no formal education caught up with him.A light bulb flickered in his head eight years ago: ``I saw potential for going into business for myself,'' Paulsen said.State grants and private help led to Paulsen & Co., the South St. Paul-based nonprofit. It started with giving transportation money to disabled friends. Today, Paulsen has a board of directors and part-time volunteers. Paulsen doesn't get a salary but his expenses are covered to supplement government assistance. He said his forte is being a small agency untangled in bureaucracy that delivers service faster.``Darrell is very enthusiastic in what he does. That makes quite an impression on some. He used to do a disability awareness fair that would attract both persons with disabilities and policymakers,'' said Bob Brick, executive director of ARC Minnesota. The same kid who didn't start talking until age 3 hasn't quit since.By Natalie Y. Moore Staff WriterNatalie Y. Moore can be reached at: nmoore pioneerpress.com or (651) 228-5452. Published: Monday, July 3, 2000© 2000 PioneerPlanet / St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer PressRelated Articles & Web Sites:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/NORML's Minnosota Branchhttp://www.normlmn.com/American's With Disabilities Act of 1990http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/statute.htmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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