The Speech They Wouldn’t Let Me Make
Just Another Abuse of Authority.
I’ve been gagged!
First I
want to apologize to my readers for not posting this blog more often but for the past month I
have been trying to figure what to write. There is too much going on and I
can’t comment on all of it. I have spent the last while trying to figure out
where my priorities lie and it has boiled down to the Ethical Decay of our
Society that has created all these problems. There is not much point trying to
advocate for Medical Marijuana because there is none now because of the opposition
of the Government and the CMA creating an insurmountable blockade with their
refusal to sign applications.
Following
is the lecture guide for my speech that pretty much sums it all up. Enjoy and
if you agree or disagree please comment. It’s not perfect and I need help
polishing it. All help appreciated, and if you know a Senior who should be
informed please share my lecture with them: The City won’t let me: damn them to
Hell!
Thank you
for your attention and consideration
The Senior Citizens Awareness Lecture
Good
morning y’all
Thank you
for coming and for your interest. This is the first time I have gotten up in
public to deliver a speech since my high school debates over a half century ago.
Why am I doing this?
My name is
Blaine Barrett, I am 72, retired, live here in Surrey and I am disgusted and disappointed
with Stephen Harper, his government, our Justice system, Cops- Federal and
local but most of all- the Canadian Medical Association. I have become an
Advocate for the use of Medical Marijuana and an Ethical Critic of our Society.
I also have
a blog where I have voiced my disappointment and criticism of the various parts
of the System.
I have long
experience with Cannabis. I took my first toke in 1970, and have never stopped
for the past 40 plus years. I enjoyed it recreationally for 30 and I still use
it on a daily basis to control neurological pain and Depression. Those problems
were the result a work accident and WCB mistreatment 15 years ago this coming
May. I was legally licensed under the Medical Marijuana Access Program in 2009.
I qualified for a 2gm./day and for 4 years I bought my weed from Health Canada:. 2 ounces per month at a cost of
$300/month, or $3600 a year. Health Canada will no longer be there as a source
of a legal suppy and I don’t use much but when I need it I need it! Now I
am a criminal buying street weed from Dispensaries at the same price Health Canada charged-if I am Lucky.
I will not
renew my license because it is useless. With it I can only buy legal pot from a
Licensed Producer at double that price at best. $7200 a year is way more than I
can afford. There are 40,000 other former Licensees who cannot get renewal
because of the CMA blocking applications, and if they managed, the average requirement
is about 10 gm./month and $36000 is too much for anyone on disability or a
fixed Pension income. The Maximum Canada Pension Disability and Old Age
Security combined is less than that by a long shot.
There is no
Medical Marijuana Program any more. It was destroyed by the new Marijuana for
Medical Purposes Regulations that the Harper Government imposed in April, 2014 and
its never coming back. Its destruction was aided by the Canadian Medical
Association who have directed all doctors to refrain from accepting patients or
signing Medical Marijuana Applications for Purchase.
OUR GENERATION NEEDS
IT
You and I
are members of the same Generation. We comprise the largest group of people who
need access to a supply of a variety of Cannabis derivatives for our Medical
use. Our numbers are now growing with the addition of the Baby Boomers. We are
all undergoing the unavoidable deterioration of Old Age! We suffer from a long
list of complaints: nearly all of which could benefit by treatment with a
Cannabis product. Our government and the Canadian Medical Association are
intentionally blocking access to all forms of treatment with the exception of
Dried Marijuana, the form used mostly by Recreational Smokers who want a high
from the THC level.
Seniors are
a major growing group who needs access to Cannabis but the majority of Senior
citizens have virtually no knowledge of what it can do for them: or most
importantly that they are being denied access. The 1930’s propaganda movie
Reefer Madness created the basis for all the information we grew up with in
mid-century 40’s and 50’s. It was biased to the maximum and portrayed Cannabis
as the Demon Weed. The idea was that to smoke a joint was to go crazy and enjoy
criminal behaviour because it incited violence and sexual immorality.
In 1960 the
punishment for getting caught with a couple of ounces was equal to that of
getting caught with heroin or cocaine-almost life in prison on conviction. Viet Nam changed that in the late 60’s when
the high you got from it became common knowledge and suddenly the wide spread
use of the Hippies blew away the myth of its severe consequences. There were no
incidences of violence at Woodstock and Free Love ensured no rape. The
promiscuity followed was not the result of Cannabis creating uncontrollable
lust but the pleasure discovered in making love when high, everything was
enhanced. Mine first experience was equal to a Fourth of July Fireworks show I
will never forget. Those of you who didn’t try it sort of cruised through the
next couple of decades sort of ignored it thinking “Well, after all it's pretty
harmless, it's not affecting my life in any way, the government knows what it
is doing and the Cops have things all under control.
What you
all missed in those years is that Medical Benefits were discovered and a small
group of users managed to get them noticed by the Liberal Party. Creating a
medical program is good politics. They created the Medical Marijuana Access Regulations
in 2000, received Kudo’s at the next election, and then stopped
promoting it
Because of
the lack of promotion the program grew very slowly and then the Harper
Government came into power in 2008 appointing Leona Aglukkaq Minister of Health
opposed all marijuana use and things have gotten worse every day since then.
Her last act as Minster was to announce
the creation of the Marijuana for Medical
Research Program (MMRP) in 2013. Its implementation in 2014 blocked all
access to Marijuana if for no other reason than the cost to meet Health Canada requirements. Prices from Licensed
Providers today run in the $10-14 range and you can only buy that with a
Doctors Declaration that is almost impossible to obtain due to a signature
blockade imposed by the Canadian Medical Association.
Both the
Harper Government and the CMA intentionally ignored any mention of benefit or
acknowledge any positive results from the scientific community. Data does not
exist and even if it did it does not meet the CMA Standards for Acceptance
which are ridiculous.
Once the
Medical Benefits were recognized in 2001 a dynamic world wide Technical
Analysis of Cannabis (TAC) began and there has been a tremendous amount of
research world wide to understand how Cannabis works and what effects were
possible. The Technical Analysis revealed massive evidence of a large range of
Medical benefits and our Government and the CMA have denied them all. We have
all been lied to for the past 13 years but now their intentional desire to
conceal all benefit has been blown to hell.
As evidence
of their ignorance the Government has authorized the legal sale of dried
marijuana only for all patients and has prohibited all by-products. The CMA has
not objected but has restricted their position to deal only with the dried
product despite knowing its limitations. You do not smoke marijuana for medical
benefit except for 10% of the patient pool who require an immediate effect.
Further they limit
At the
current time 90% of Medical Cannabis treatment is by patients using some
product that is produced by obtaining large quantities of raw green product and
processing it into their particular curative concoction. Medical Cannabis is
Oils, extracts, salves ointments, all kinds of concoctions. Research has
revealed that the benefits of any cannabis strain to any condition is due to
what combination of over 100 cannabinoids that a specific plant strain yields. It
is the types of cannabinoids and their synergistic interaction that provide the
specific effect on a particular problem. The technical challenge in determining
the interaction of all this complexity is well underway and I expect future
benefits will be amazing as results are determined.
I will end
this introduction now and get to the heart of the issue. What caused this
Blockade that the Government and CMA have created?
I am an Ethical Critic
I was
taught that our Government, the Medical Profession, the Judiciary and the Cops
all were made up of Men of Character who deserved my respect and trust. That
may have been true in my youth 60 years ago but all of these have suffered Ethical
Dry Rot in the past half century.
A Man of
Character is a man of high ethical standards but these have been abandoned. The
fundamental components are found in the Six Pillars of Character expounded by
the Josephson Foundation. but I will deal with only the First Pillar- Integrity
because all others are secondary and dependant on it. There are several
components to Integrity but once again I will deal only with the first and most
important: Honesty. Why is that most important? Because it is upon that we
grant our trust. For the past twenty years our government and the CMA have
betrayed that trust. They have knowingly and intentionally opposed Medical
Marijuana with three major lies that they still claim are the truth
The Three Major Lies
The Harper Government and the CMA have
promoted these lies in their own self interest ever since the creation of the
MMAR. These are:
1. There are unknown terrible risks for both Doctor and Patient in its use. The doctors fear Liability for
imaginary bad results that will never happen.
The truth is that in 5000 years of use both recreationally
and medically there has not been one death attributed it: nor any medical
problem as a result of its use. There is no
Risk! Even if there were there are “Disclaimer of Liability” contacts available
from their College for the asking. If they were so concerned with risk why do
they still use Oxycontin, heroin, morphine and Fentanyl with the known
consequences? In the 1900’s Cannabis concoctions were available off the shelf: It
was used as a common home remedy until its classification as a Category One
drug in the 20’s and Reefer Madness followed. There is no risk in its use.
2.
There is no medical benefit to
Cannabis.
That is Stephen Harpers belief and the CMA backs him up by
citing a lack of acceptable studies showing benefit.
The truth is that Stephen Harper will not accept science in
any way. He comes from a Fundamentalist background that would conclude that it
cannot have been use for 5000 years because that’s when his God created the
World and there’s no mention of it in his Good Book
The CMA’s position that there are no significant studies
shows they are either blind or, asleep and ignorant. In the past ten years
there has been more research done on Cannabis and its use and effect than any
other Pharmaceutical concoction. Everything about it is being studied:
The most important studies have been the Genetic engineering
and the resultant hybrids that are being developed to target the makeup of the
mixture of the cannabinoids and their relative strength and what it does for a
particular condition. This is going on in as many fields as there are diseases
that have shown any benefit from use. There are at least a hundred for almost
every ailment that a person can suffer.
The CMA has stated and holds that testimonial evidence is
unacceptable. That may have been in the past but it is the nature of the
testimonial itself that has changed to warrant its serious consideration and
study. It previously was confined to spoken or written testimonial that could
not be validated with further study. Such is not the current case because of
technology and the internet.
Facebook alone has hundreds of claimed benefits from
individuals. Many are complete with a physicians certification of accuracy,
backed up by MRI, x-ray, lab results but I know of no attempt by the medical;
community to do any follow-up or verification. All they have to do is ask for
it and hit send. I am not kidding when I state that over my experience in
Advocacy I have seen at least a hundred testimonials claim it cures of a wide
number of cancers but no-one checks them out.
Even if the cannabis doesn’t cure whatever you have; it can
relieve the symptoms of both your condition and is of great help relieving the
nasty side effects of chemotherapy and radiography. Anyone who is diagnosed as
terminal should seriously consider adding it to their medical treatment as a
last hope when there is none. It may not cure you but it can relieve your
suffering as you die. You owe it to yourself and your loved ones to remember
that option when your time comes.
1.
Cannabis is a Gateway drug!
It leads to addiction and use of harder drugs. Bullshit is all I can say to that. If
they want to stop addiction: go after alcohol and tobacco and leave our
medicine alone.
On that note I will end this lecture in the hope that you
feel that you have not wasted your time. I am available here for questions the
rest of the day. I’m going to grab a coffee and let’s go at it. Thanks for
coming to hear me. If you have any criticism please tell me. This is my first
seminar and it needs polish.
Thank you all again
Blaine Barrett
