Texas Medical Marijuana Bill Would Be a Joke if it Was a Laughing Matter
A watered-down medical marijuana bill passed the Texas Senate this week, with the full knowledge that the Texas House and likely the Governor wouldn’t sign it into law anyway. KXAN reports:
House Bill 1535 grows the state’s medical marijuana program to include all Texans with cancer. People with debilitating medical conditions would also qualify, but the Senate removed part of a House provision that would have added all chronic pain patients. HB 1535 was amended in the House to include all forms of diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), rather than for veterans with PTSD as it was initially introduced.
The legislation was amended to raise the limit for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana — from 0.5% to 1% by weight.
I’m happy that all PTSD and cancer patients were included in the bill, even if it will never pass. I’m a true believer in medical marijuana. I know a little boy with epilepsy. He was born here in Texas and throughout his life had uncontrollable seizures. When Texas passed the first medical marijuana law to allow children with epilepsy some THC, his doctor wrote him a prescription, and he never had another seizure. It’s been something like three or four years since the last time this child had a seizure. It’s what religious folks would call a miracle.
Texas should include medical marijuana in the next legislative session and should allow patients with chronic pain access to a drug that will keep them off of opioids. It’s common sense. Too bad the Texas GOP has none.
I’m a chronic pain patient and I have “incurable” chronic pain, meaning two separate neurosurgeons, along with a team of physical therapists, my general physician and an orthopedic surgeon have all examined me and determined that I am beyond help. There is no cure for my problems until a bionic spine becomes available. I would LOVE to be free of opiates. I would LOVE to not have to take so much Ibuprofen that my doctor says it’s “when” not “if” my kidneys start to fail. That’s my choice, I can walk or sleep today, but my kidneys will fail in the future.
My last hope is that maybe THC will relieve my pain enough to back me off of the harsh opiates and ibuprofen. The Texas government is currently withholding that choice from me.
not only will your kidneys fail, so will your liver. absent transplants, you will die a long, painful death, pretty much losing your mind in the process. that’s what happened to my wife, after she was told, by a back surgeon, who didn’t believe in narcotic pain meds, to just take handfuls of ibuprofen, for her chronic pain. turns out, handfuls of ibuprofen, taken long-term, do not get along or play well with your liver. who knew?
actually, it turns out that the medical profession already suspected a causal connection between the two events, but it wasn’t until much later that studies were done to prove it. oh well, too bad for my wife.
good luck with your situation, I truly hope it gets better for you.
1If you’re not subject to peeing in a cup, look into d-thc 8. It’s a loophole substance brought to us from federal legislation that legalized cbd and only banned d-thc 9, the zonking component in cannabis. American ingenuity created it, so it is synthesized. But it works and should be available at a cbd dispensary. Go for the ingestable, rather than the vape, as lord knows what would go into your lungs. But then I only have moderate arthritis in my back, not sure whether it would be effective on anything worse.
Fwiw, prolonged use of ibuprofen- in my case about a year long ago- caused a kidney stone big enough to require surgical extraction. Not the prolonged agony of esrf to be sure, but not something to put on the bucket list
2I haven’t let the legality or not of weed stop me since 1966.
3I visit Colo once a year. For the shopping.
4publius bolonius@4
thank you for your contributions to the Colorado economy.
5It’s not called texastan for no reason. The whole marywanna BS is only about chirstANAL BS and raw racism!!! Since it is texas and most people there are drug addicts (AKA alcohol drinkers, smokers, vaporist) The marywanna thing may also be economic battle of the tobacco/brewer’s assisting. It has NOTHING to do with how BBBBAAAAaaaad the other drugs are. I’m willing to put smoker/alcohol deaths against the others! Most drug deaths are directly related to the criminals in charge of the drugs, as shown by the large decrease seen in europe!
6Are drugs harmful? Of course! So WHAT!! If it is dangerous than let’s outlaw alcohol & tobacco! Oh wait tried that, see how well that worked!!!!
Ibuprophen was the only thing that eased my chronic pain, though it’s nowhere as severe as yours, but it has put me into chronic renal failure. CBD has helped only my free-floating anxiety, but I’ll take that. Let’s both go to full-bore THC.
7I feel for you, I really do. However, let me one up you. Here in good old RED Nebraska, we have a governor who has made it a law that alcohol can be delivered with a meal order, but pot must remain illegal under any circumstance and for any reason whatsoever. Because (as he says), IT WILL KILL YOUR KIDS!
8I’m in the same condition, but I live in the blue part of WA State, where recreational marijuana has been legal for 8-9 years now. CBD is some help, but not the whole answer. THC means I can sleep.
9I wonder if you’ve tried naproxen sodium (Aleve) instead of ibuprofen. Naproxen will hit kidneys eventually, but it has a longer half-life so you take it only twice a day. For me It’s more effective, with fewer side effects.
Does PTSD include putting up with Trump for 4 years?
10Sorry to hear about your pain issues. The Rs seemingly have no empathy for people suffering pain from a medical condition. Concern for person’s welfare apparently stops after birth.
L.Long #6 aptly cites texastan, or living in an “electoral authoritarian” setting, i.e., generally a gerrymandered and voter-suppressed authoritarian regime run by a small circle of radicals who use elections to legitimate themselves.
11Excessive use of the similar analgesic acetaminophen/paracetamol, Tylenol, etc., is also potentially harmful. It is used more often than ibuprofen. Of course aspirin can be toxic too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracetamol
“Higher doses may lead to toxicity, including liver failure.[42] Paracetamol poisoning is the foremost cause of acute liver failure in the Western world, and accounts for most drug overdoses in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.[43][44][45]”
12@Mary #10 – Yes. Yes, it does.
13I bet each of these Republicans who vote against legalizing marijuana also call themselves “libertarians”.
14Here in Wisconsin, we have a GOP-Controlled legislature that won’t allow any kind of medical cannabis because, you know, Jaysus. Considering that this state perennially leads the nation in DUIs and fatalities.
Michigan and Illinois have recreational cannabis and there is a steady line of cars from this state to those. Damn hypocrites.
15CBD, and only CBD, stop the sleeplessness associated with Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS). Been taking a hit every night for about 25 years. Stop once a month, RLS comes right back.
Keeps my marriage alive. I’m even worse when I need sleep.
16I’m with publius bolonius@4 until TX stops being stupid. I also have back issues. I find a 5:5 ripple in my diet coke (I know, I’m a heathen) very helpful. I’m terrified of the effects of NSAIDS on my liver. My late husband destroyed his knee with the other TX religion – FOOTBALL – in high school. He took ibuprophen by the handful, opioids when he could get them prescribed. He had lymphoma, leukemia and cirrhosis of the liver. He beat the lymphoma w/chemo, but the leukemia resisted treatment and the treatment made the cirrhosis worse. As cpinva@1 said, it’s a painful death that destroys your mind. I’ll add you get sympathy for cancer, but everybody thinks you brought cirrhosis on yourself. They just figure you drank too much. Maybe when all the Boomers get it from too much NSAIDS we’ll do research to get effective treatments.
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