Katatawnic
Well-Known Member
This was an exchange from comments on a news article entitled Clarifying Law on Medical Pot, which for some reason are non-existent now. (However, the link for "Truth Manager" still shows his comments.) After giving my two cents' worth, I copied and pasted it into an email to my fiance, who was still on deployment at the time. (He just got home last week.) He was impressed with what I had to say, and urged me to share it with others. So that's what I'm doing. 
I always post in purple; it's an OCD thing with me to always use the same font and color; if I deviate from this ritual, I go absolutely crazy!
But to make this a bit easier on the eyes, I'll just do it in black this time. 
So, here goes!
Truth Manager
My response:
Truth Manager, perhaps you have "NEVER actually run into a cancer patient or anyone else with a serious condition that was using marijuana or expressed a need to use it" because we aren't able to even leave our homes the vast majority of the time. On the rare occasions that we ARE able (often only with assistance from our spouses who've taken on the additional role of caregiver), we're so busy enduring the pain and fatigue from something as simple as sitting in the passenger seat of a car that the last thing on our minds is beckoning a police officer to us so that we can discuss our use and/or need of pain medication, whatever its form. The vast majority of attention that terminally and chronically ill people receive is empathy, pity, and contempt. (The first of those three is the only one that is acceptable, much less desired.) How many terminally and chronically ill people do you "run into" while you're on the job? I'm willing to bet extremely few, because we aren't doing anything that would merit encounters with law enforcement. We're too busy trying to survive and cope to even THINK about doing anything that would draw attention to us by law enforcement. To paraphrase Nixon, we are not crooks.
Further, I'd like you to DISPROVE non-specific chronic pain. If you can, then I highly recommend you leave law enforcement, because your true calling must be in the medical field, Dr. Truth. Do you really believe that lack of diagnonsense (soley due to many illnesses' symptoms overlapping each other, with no methods of testing found to *definitively* reach a *true* diagnonsense for the majority of "Invisible Diseases") means that people are not suffering?! We are prisoners of our homes, our beds, our bodies. Our entertainment consists of television, our social lives rely on the Internet; that is all that most of us are able to do aside from attempt to hide our tears day in and day out. You don't run into us because we're so consumed with REAL suffering that we aren't ABLE to do harm to others, even if we wanted to; and most of us don't want to because all we care about is A SHRED OF RELIEF FOR JUST ONE MOMENT. We are snubbed by society, told that we are "claiming" disability so that we can "live the life" off of the tax dollars paid by those who are not "lazy" like we are. (Insert sarcasm.) Then we are further condemned because we seek relief from our pain, and one of the most effective forms of relief (with the fewest side effects) happens to be something that is viewed as "unconventional" by those who believe they have the right to enforce their personal "moral" opinions on others.
You want specific? Every bone in my body feels like it is broken. Every joint in my body feels like there is no cartilage to buffer friction. My hands, arms, neck, and back scream in pain simply from typing. My neuropathy (that's nerve pain, just so you don't need to look it up in a dictionary) can be best compared to the most severe sunburn one could imagine, and most days I cannot be HUGGED because my nerves interpret even the softest touches as shooting and stabbing pain. Mundane things you take for granted such as cooking a meal (microwaving frozen burittos doesn't count), folding a load of laundry, scrubbing the toilet or bathtub, washing dishes, grocery shopping, driving a few blocks for a quick errand, checking the mailbox, brushing the dog, showering/bathing, ETC., are excruciating beyond description for me because my muscles are constantly spasming. My body is failing me, and has been increasingly at least since I was two years old. I am now 38, and doctors have stated that my body is less functional than the average woman in her mid-eighties. All that I've listed is how I feel on my GOOD days, and is only a basic summary of what "life" is for people like me.
How's that for "non specific" chronic pain and "can't prove it" B.S.? I'd like you to PROVE that doctors haven't been baffled by my body, unable to say whether I have lupus or RA or MS or spondolitis or fibromyalgia or a myriad of other illnesses/syndromes, because there are no definitive tests for most Invisible Diseases (or else you're stuck with MedicAid which refuses to authorize the MRIs and other tests that have been ordered umpteen times in an attempt to diagnose and/or rule out illnesses). Who are you to say that people aren't legitimately ill simply because they aren't terminal, or because you can't SEE their pain and suffering? What makes a so-called life like mine NOT a serious condition? I take it very seriously, indeed. I've no choice, whereas you do.
Imagine for just one moment the tremendous lonliness you'd feel if you couldn't have physical contact with your spouse and/or family members, etc., nearly every day of your life. Imagine watching everyone else live while you are forced to sit or lie down and barely survive, but never LIVE, aside from vicariously through your loved ones. Imagine giving up your career, your passions, your ability to go hiking or even walking your dog, dates and outings with your spouse and friends, LIVING, because even with a cane and wheelchair the pain OWNS you. Imagine losing nearly every one of your "friends" because they've become tired of you not being able to go out and party with them or don't have the energy to visit much of the time. (Yes, you indeed discover how many true friends you have when you are chronically ill.) Now imagine that there is a medication that will help to relieve much of your pain, has few to no side effects, doesn't put you into a stupor like "conventional" pain medications do (not all of us get "high" when using less will help relieve our pain and still allow us to keep our heads clear), make your life a bit more manageable, allow you to be hugged by your spouse, ALL of which helps to lower the depression and suicidal tendancies your so-called life throws at you (who wouldn't be depressed when "living" like this?!).... only to be told that you are wrong and immoral and criminal if you use said medication.
I wholeheartedly agree that there is not regulation in regards to the medical marijuana LAW in California. However, that is soley due to those who are supposed to be implementing and enforcing laws, from politicians elected by The People down to law enforcement officers paid their salaries by The People, passing their judgement on The People like me because they believe that their "moral" opinions ought to be enforced on others, at the expense of our health and our RIGHT to live with as little unnecessary pain as possible. I was extremely shocked to find that I did NOT need to provide medical records in order to obtain a medical marijuana recommendation from a doctor (which I can easily provide; my medical files must be as large as a full encyclopedia set by now). However, the lack of regulation is not my doing, and I absolutely resent being lumped into the same category as those who take advantage of a law (i.e., faking illness in order to obtain legal status RE: marijuana) that should have been regulated YEARS ago.
Who is "anti-law" in this scenario? Last I checked, California's LAW states that people who are terminally and/or chronically ill have the right to possess, use, and cultivate marijuana with the recommendation of a licensed doctor. You are the one making anti-law arguments, not us.
Feeling a bit down today? Here's your Prozac and Xanax. Got a headache? Take some Vicoden. Back pain? Eat some Oxycontin. Hard day at work? Down a few shots of whiskey. What a load of B.S.
"Funny, I am the only one stating facts as I have personally encountered them. The rest of you are simply quoting media B.S."
"The truth in these current times is never based on facts. If it were, you wouldn't be so upset about the facts I spoke of."
From your snide remarks about "can't prove it B.S." in reference to chronic pain and illness, I'd say you have NOT personally encountered the FACTS. You have no clue as to what you assert about me and people who are forced to live like me. We get upset about the "facts" of which you speak because you have NO idea as to what the FACTS are. I truly hope you never have to "personally encounter" the fact of life filled with pain and suffering, not to mention the stigmas put upon chronic illness. Even if that means you'll never understand people like me and our desperation to have a SHRED of relief.
That said, your self-righteous diatribe looks a lot like the "quoting media B.S." you so lament. I suggest it's time for you to FIND truth before you refer to yourself as one who MANAGES it.
I always post in purple; it's an OCD thing with me to always use the same font and color; if I deviate from this ritual, I go absolutely crazy!
But to make this a bit easier on the eyes, I'll just do it in black this time. So, here goes!Truth Manager
My response:
Truth Manager, perhaps you have "NEVER actually run into a cancer patient or anyone else with a serious condition that was using marijuana or expressed a need to use it" because we aren't able to even leave our homes the vast majority of the time. On the rare occasions that we ARE able (often only with assistance from our spouses who've taken on the additional role of caregiver), we're so busy enduring the pain and fatigue from something as simple as sitting in the passenger seat of a car that the last thing on our minds is beckoning a police officer to us so that we can discuss our use and/or need of pain medication, whatever its form. The vast majority of attention that terminally and chronically ill people receive is empathy, pity, and contempt. (The first of those three is the only one that is acceptable, much less desired.) How many terminally and chronically ill people do you "run into" while you're on the job? I'm willing to bet extremely few, because we aren't doing anything that would merit encounters with law enforcement. We're too busy trying to survive and cope to even THINK about doing anything that would draw attention to us by law enforcement. To paraphrase Nixon, we are not crooks.
Further, I'd like you to DISPROVE non-specific chronic pain. If you can, then I highly recommend you leave law enforcement, because your true calling must be in the medical field, Dr. Truth. Do you really believe that lack of diagnonsense (soley due to many illnesses' symptoms overlapping each other, with no methods of testing found to *definitively* reach a *true* diagnonsense for the majority of "Invisible Diseases") means that people are not suffering?! We are prisoners of our homes, our beds, our bodies. Our entertainment consists of television, our social lives rely on the Internet; that is all that most of us are able to do aside from attempt to hide our tears day in and day out. You don't run into us because we're so consumed with REAL suffering that we aren't ABLE to do harm to others, even if we wanted to; and most of us don't want to because all we care about is A SHRED OF RELIEF FOR JUST ONE MOMENT. We are snubbed by society, told that we are "claiming" disability so that we can "live the life" off of the tax dollars paid by those who are not "lazy" like we are. (Insert sarcasm.) Then we are further condemned because we seek relief from our pain, and one of the most effective forms of relief (with the fewest side effects) happens to be something that is viewed as "unconventional" by those who believe they have the right to enforce their personal "moral" opinions on others.
You want specific? Every bone in my body feels like it is broken. Every joint in my body feels like there is no cartilage to buffer friction. My hands, arms, neck, and back scream in pain simply from typing. My neuropathy (that's nerve pain, just so you don't need to look it up in a dictionary) can be best compared to the most severe sunburn one could imagine, and most days I cannot be HUGGED because my nerves interpret even the softest touches as shooting and stabbing pain. Mundane things you take for granted such as cooking a meal (microwaving frozen burittos doesn't count), folding a load of laundry, scrubbing the toilet or bathtub, washing dishes, grocery shopping, driving a few blocks for a quick errand, checking the mailbox, brushing the dog, showering/bathing, ETC., are excruciating beyond description for me because my muscles are constantly spasming. My body is failing me, and has been increasingly at least since I was two years old. I am now 38, and doctors have stated that my body is less functional than the average woman in her mid-eighties. All that I've listed is how I feel on my GOOD days, and is only a basic summary of what "life" is for people like me.
How's that for "non specific" chronic pain and "can't prove it" B.S.? I'd like you to PROVE that doctors haven't been baffled by my body, unable to say whether I have lupus or RA or MS or spondolitis or fibromyalgia or a myriad of other illnesses/syndromes, because there are no definitive tests for most Invisible Diseases (or else you're stuck with MedicAid which refuses to authorize the MRIs and other tests that have been ordered umpteen times in an attempt to diagnose and/or rule out illnesses). Who are you to say that people aren't legitimately ill simply because they aren't terminal, or because you can't SEE their pain and suffering? What makes a so-called life like mine NOT a serious condition? I take it very seriously, indeed. I've no choice, whereas you do.
Imagine for just one moment the tremendous lonliness you'd feel if you couldn't have physical contact with your spouse and/or family members, etc., nearly every day of your life. Imagine watching everyone else live while you are forced to sit or lie down and barely survive, but never LIVE, aside from vicariously through your loved ones. Imagine giving up your career, your passions, your ability to go hiking or even walking your dog, dates and outings with your spouse and friends, LIVING, because even with a cane and wheelchair the pain OWNS you. Imagine losing nearly every one of your "friends" because they've become tired of you not being able to go out and party with them or don't have the energy to visit much of the time. (Yes, you indeed discover how many true friends you have when you are chronically ill.) Now imagine that there is a medication that will help to relieve much of your pain, has few to no side effects, doesn't put you into a stupor like "conventional" pain medications do (not all of us get "high" when using less will help relieve our pain and still allow us to keep our heads clear), make your life a bit more manageable, allow you to be hugged by your spouse, ALL of which helps to lower the depression and suicidal tendancies your so-called life throws at you (who wouldn't be depressed when "living" like this?!).... only to be told that you are wrong and immoral and criminal if you use said medication.
I wholeheartedly agree that there is not regulation in regards to the medical marijuana LAW in California. However, that is soley due to those who are supposed to be implementing and enforcing laws, from politicians elected by The People down to law enforcement officers paid their salaries by The People, passing their judgement on The People like me because they believe that their "moral" opinions ought to be enforced on others, at the expense of our health and our RIGHT to live with as little unnecessary pain as possible. I was extremely shocked to find that I did NOT need to provide medical records in order to obtain a medical marijuana recommendation from a doctor (which I can easily provide; my medical files must be as large as a full encyclopedia set by now). However, the lack of regulation is not my doing, and I absolutely resent being lumped into the same category as those who take advantage of a law (i.e., faking illness in order to obtain legal status RE: marijuana) that should have been regulated YEARS ago.
Who is "anti-law" in this scenario? Last I checked, California's LAW states that people who are terminally and/or chronically ill have the right to possess, use, and cultivate marijuana with the recommendation of a licensed doctor. You are the one making anti-law arguments, not us.
Feeling a bit down today? Here's your Prozac and Xanax. Got a headache? Take some Vicoden. Back pain? Eat some Oxycontin. Hard day at work? Down a few shots of whiskey. What a load of B.S.
"Funny, I am the only one stating facts as I have personally encountered them. The rest of you are simply quoting media B.S."
"The truth in these current times is never based on facts. If it were, you wouldn't be so upset about the facts I spoke of."
From your snide remarks about "can't prove it B.S." in reference to chronic pain and illness, I'd say you have NOT personally encountered the FACTS. You have no clue as to what you assert about me and people who are forced to live like me. We get upset about the "facts" of which you speak because you have NO idea as to what the FACTS are. I truly hope you never have to "personally encounter" the fact of life filled with pain and suffering, not to mention the stigmas put upon chronic illness. Even if that means you'll never understand people like me and our desperation to have a SHRED of relief.
That said, your self-righteous diatribe looks a lot like the "quoting media B.S." you so lament. I suggest it's time for you to FIND truth before you refer to yourself as one who MANAGES it.
And frustration at constantly being told how we're just looking for excuses to be legal stoners. (I've absolutely nothing against recreational use; however, that's not part of the MMJ debate.) I doubt it clued him in, but it certainly made me feel better! 
There is no "worthy/in" about it, and no one should suffer needlessly.
There's one more round of number crunching between the lender and the escrow company to be done on paper to make it all neat and tidy, but the loan officer said last night that it's "going through" so all looks good. I'll trust in it 100% when we've got the keys to the house in our grubby little hands. 
though I've NO idea who alerted them to this guy's existence 
) so I'm literally starting over with my rotation now and have to wait another five weeks till I harvest again.