cannabisnews.com: Caught In The Crossfire





Caught In The Crossfire
Posted by CN Staff on October 18, 2007 at 06:46:36 PT
By Lisa Kaiser
Source: Shepherd Express 
Wisconsin -- Among the casualties of the war on drugs are those who use marijuana to relieve their pain and suffering. Sean—not his real name—lives in Milwaukee County and smokes pot to help him cope with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other health problems. He walks with a crutch and his joints are stiff, but he manages to get around when he needs to, thanks to his use of marijuana as medicine.
“I’m a bad spokesman for MS,” he said. “Pot gives me energy. Usually people with MS are kind of out of it. I’m paralyzed on one side and it hurts to walk. But pot helps me get around. It makes me more flexible. I’ve tried different pain medications. Morphine is a joke compared to marijuana. Pot is a much better painkiller, without the nasty side effects.”Sean requested anonymity because his medication is illegal in Wisconsin. He has an out-of-state doctor’s recommendation for it, but won’t discuss how he obtains his medicine. “It’s a bit tricky,” he said.Legislation to make medical marijuana legal for people like Sean will be introduced in the state Legislature within the next few weeks. While it has many Democratic allies, and the subject is scheduled for a public hearing in the state Senate, supporters worry that it won’t go anywhere in the Republican-controlled Assembly. State Rep. Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa) chairs the Health and Health Care Reform Committee in the Assembly, and she’s told reporters that she believes a medical marijuana program would lead to full legalization of pot in Wisconsin. She told the Wisconsin State Journal that she wouldn’t allow the bill to be heard in her committee. “This is nothing more than a backdoor attempt to legalize marijuana, which is not going to happen on my watch,” she told the paper. Vukmir did not return calls for comment for this article.Sean scoffed at her arguments.“That’s nonsense,” he said. “We’re not trying to talk people into taking it. But some people have found it to be beneficial.”Sean urged supporters to contact their elected officials to help seriously ill people access and use medical marijuana legally, safely and easily. Polls consistently show that Wisconsin residents overwhelmingly support a legalized medical marijuana program in the state—more than 80% of respondents, in fact, want the state to legalize medical marijuana for those who have a doctor’s recommendation—yet Sean and his allies are frustrated by politicians’ unwillingness to take the next step. Each time they use their medicine, they break the law and put themselves in jeopardy.“Talk to your state officials and aldermen,” Sean urged. “Say you want laws passed in your own community. If we can have it legal locally, we can be safe in our own homes. Using medical marijuana is not a crime.”To get involved in the movement to legalize medical marijuana in Wisconsin, please contact Is My Medicine Legal Yet? at: http://www.immly.orgSource: Shepherd Express (Milwaukee, WI)Author: Lisa KaiserPublished: October 18, 2007Copyright: 2007 Alternative Publications Inc.Contact: editor shepherd-express.comWebsite: http://www.shepherd-express.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:I.M.M.L.Y.http://www.immly.org/Madison NORMLhttp://www.madisonnorml.org/Medical Marijuana Gets Heavy Support http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23388.shtmlMondovi Woman Leads Fight for Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23376.shtml 
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on October 18, 2007 at 20:21:03 PT
whig
Satellite is the only option for me at this point. Maybe in a year or two we will have more options. Our Governor has been in our local area trying to get broadband to us and those who live in the country since we have so many people in rural areas in this part of my state.
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Comment #13 posted by whig on October 18, 2007 at 19:34:00 PT
FoM
What I don't understand is if you have power and cable then they should be able to deliver broadband without forcing you to go to a satellite service. Is Hughesnet the only broadband option for you now?
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on October 18, 2007 at 16:38:12 PT
aolbites 
It's terrible going back to dial up. I keep my speakers off because I can't stand the dial up sound. I will keep watching the HughesNet forum and if they fix the FAP and pay for the technician to come and adjust the dish without charging since it was a satellite failure not my equipment I could go back but they have to change the way they do business. No one stays on Hughesnet as soon as they can find another way.I am glad I can get around CNews ok but it takes forever for an article to load when I am looking for something to post. If I had been off line for 8 days what would people think when no news would be posted? That's why waiting wasn't acceptable. I feel very responsible for CNews so I must do what is right for it and all of us.
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Comment #11 posted by aolbites on October 18, 2007 at 16:30:11 PT
OT: Internet
I dunno about altell, that seems to be based off of their cell network, what you would ideally be looking for is a local company offering dedicated wireless internet, [they only showed a pcmcia card antenna- you will need a external antenna for any reliable service] I wouldn't trust a cell phone company as far as i could throw them .. they always seem to have the worst contracts .. whatever you do end up with, read the contract carefully =)at least ohio seems to be pretty dedicated to rolling out the rural broadband, so at least some time in the next few years you will have more affordable options ..the rates seem to be all over the map for residential wireless .. once theres more competition prices Will come down.I just feel sorry for you on dialup .. but saving 50$ a month is not to be taken lightly either... I know i sure could use an extra 50 a month myself, but i Can't go back to dialup I'd go insane..
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on October 18, 2007 at 13:40:41 PT
aolbites
Thank you. We have done a little checking and maybe AllTel might be available but we were connected to India and neither of us can understand the way they talk very well. I did check locally and they don't have access to us yet with one service provider. I am saving $50 a month by using the ISP and that is justifying the slow connecting since we had to watch that we didn't use too much bandwidth with HughesNet or we were going to be Fapped and that really is almost as bad as a slow connection.
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Comment #9 posted by aolbites on October 18, 2007 at 12:57:59 PT
Wireless
FoM have you looked at wireless as a option?this one has a coverage map, seems to be the best list around at the moment...:http://www.onelasvegas.com/wireless/OH.htmlanother list:http://www.wispdirectory.com/component/option,com_mtree/task,listcats/cat_id,14/Itemid,42/the ohio wireless options have increased quite a bit since the last time i checked ohio broadband options..just some sites about Ohio broadband, not that useful, but .. here they are anyhowOn the Net Everywhere in Ohio:
http://oneohio.blogspot.com/http://www.ohiobroadbandcouncil.org/I must say, I've never ever understood how a company can sell internet access without posting prices .. its so stupid, and yet so many places say - call for information [on their website no less - which I would think would be the best place to put this stuff called 'Information' heh.]
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on October 18, 2007 at 11:41:49 PT
Dankhank
DirecTV has Wild Blue I think and on the broadband forum I read they have the same problems. What happened is the other day my satellite modem lost 3 of the 5 lights and I can't connect unless all 5 are on. I waited a few hours thinking it was a satellite problem before I called them since tec support is in India and I can't understand them very well. Over the next day I spent around 15 hours on line with them or on hold. They finally said that the transponder that my units modem was on died and they had to move me to another satellite but the problem was I would need a dish adjustment and the service call would be $125 and it would be 8 days until a tec could get here. I am way out of contact so I canceled and went back to an isp.
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Comment #7 posted by Dankhank on October 18, 2007 at 11:18:08 PT
FoM
so sorry to hear of your situation ...don't know much about Hughesnet, 'cept they are pikers ...Direct TV has something similar, or are they the same bunch?
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on October 18, 2007 at 11:16:06 PT
greenmed
That was good. At least in National Lampoon's Vacation the Aunt was dead. LOL!
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Comment #5 posted by greenmed on October 18, 2007 at 11:01:43 PT
Romney's shaggy dog
FoM, it seems you're not the only one who made that connection.http://tinyurl.com/24rel6
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on October 18, 2007 at 10:49:31 PT
Just a Note
If I seem slower lately I am. I de-comissioned Hughesnet and am now back on dial up at 24 Kbps.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on October 18, 2007 at 10:47:22 PT
whig
Oh the dog! That was too much. LOL! When I heard that the first time I thought of National Lampoon's Vacation when they put their dead Aunt on the top of the car. 
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Comment #2 posted by whig on October 18, 2007 at 10:42:02 PT
OverwhelmSam
We know he doesn't care much for his dog, either.
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Comment #1 posted by OverwhelmSam on October 18, 2007 at 10:23:06 PT
Romney's Wife Has MS
Ann Romney suffers from MS, and she can't even get her own husband to legalize medical marijuana. Of Romney cares so little about his own wife, he wouldn't give a damn about his own constituients.
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