Residents filled the pews at Friedens Evangelical Lutheran Church, in Bernville, on Wednesday night, Feb. 11, for a medical cannabis informational forum. The forum was hosted by Campaign for Compassion and featured the follow speakers: Luke Shultz (Campaign for Compassion, patient perspective), Dana Ulrich (Campaign for Compassion, caregiver perspective), Senator David Argall (29th District), Representative Barry Jozwiak (5th District) and Senator Mike Folmer (48th District).
“This bill needs to get done,” said Folmer in an earlier press release on Senate Bill 3 (Medical Cannabis Act). “My biggest fear is getting a phone call from one of the Moms saying their child has passed because Pennsylvania did not allow them access to this medication. It distresses me to see the suicide rate of our military when medical cannabis can provide relief to post-traumatic stress disorder. We can help many with this legislation and I am eager to have this bill thoroughly vetted, passed by both the Senate and House and signed into law this year to provide one more arrow in the quiver of Pennsylvanians who are suffering.”
Two of the big points of the evening were that medical cannabis can help many different ailments and an emphasis on this bill allowing for cannabis to be used medically, not recreationally.
“Basically you name it, someone somewhere is using cannabis to help it,” said Shultz who suffers incredible back pain that prevents him from sitting. “I tried pretty much everything the doctors recommended.”
Shultz recalled being sent an article about medical cannabis that started his research, “I realized there’s something to this. There’s credible scientific evidence that has been done to show that it not only helps with pain control, it actually works well with opiates.”
Both Shultz and Ulrich explained that even the medications that are prescribed to help with pain and to fight the ailments, the side effects can be just as harmful and damaging to the body as the ailment.
Ulrich’s 7-year-old daughter started having seizures at 22-months and continues to have hundreds daily. Many different forms of treatment have been tried to control the seizures, but Ulrich has not seen success.
“After all of these things that she tried, and failed, we are at the end of our medical rope,” she said. “Allow the medical professionals to make the decision on what is best for their patients. I just want them [legislators] to step aside and allow the doctors and medical professionals to make the decisions that are best for their patients.”
Speakers mentioned seeing the positive results in states that allow medical cannabis and how frustrating it is that patients cannot receive the helpful medication based on where they live.
“Where is the issue here? This really should be a no brainer. When people are suffering and dying, why could it hurt?” asked Ulrich. “Why should your zip code determine what kind of medical treatment you can get?”
Jozwiak, a former member of the Pennsylvania State Police, agreed with Ulrich that treatment “should be between the doctor and the patient.”
In a press release prior to the forum, Argall said, “After meeting with many advocates, including several from Berks County, I am proud to co-sponsor Senator Folmer’s proposal. As a parent, I’d want every available resource to help my child battle pain and suffering.”
Argall began his presentation by stating that he would not have believed years ago that not only would he be speaking about medical cannabis, but that he would be a co-sponsor of the bill with the full support of the people of his district.
“I was not going to take away the hope of the people who are facing such incredible odds,” said Argall.
The last presentation of the evening was by Folmer and included a powerpoint. Folmer shared how he came to sponsor this bill after hearing from families in his district which lead him to lots of late nights researching the topic. During his presentation he shared stories of people who he has heard from that have had to resort to self-medicating because medical cannabis is not legal in Pennsylvania.
“We’re not trying to bring marijuana to Pennsylvania, it’s already here,” said Folmer. “We should be putting it in the hands of the right people and doing research.”
Folmer talked about an experience at a mall when he asked a group of teenagers if it was easier to get alcohol or a bag of marijuana. The teenagers responded that it was much easier to get marijuana.
In his research, Folmer discovered that there are many reports of medical cannabis being successful and that the drug is not physically addictive. Ulrich pointed out earlier that it is also impossible to overdose on cannabis. Folmer believes that medical cannabis could possibly help with prescription drug abuse and overdoses.
Following the speakers was a question and answer session. Many of the audience members shared their own experiences with prescription medications either not helping as well as they should have or the side effects causing more harm than good. From the testimonials at the forum, it seems as though many in the area are in support of medical cannabis.
For more information on medical cannabis, visit www.campaign4compasison.com and for more on Senate Bill 3, visit www.senatorfolmer.com.
