Once again, one person in the Indiana General Assembly, has thwarted the will of the people by taking no action.
I am, of course, referring to Indiana Senator Patricia Miller (R-Indianapolis), Chair of the Health and Provider Services Committee, refused to hear S.B. 284 filed by Senator Karen Tallian (D-Portage). Without a committee hearing, the bill is dead. The deadline for hearings has passed.
Last year, it was Senator Michael Young (R-Indianapolis) who refused to hear another of Senator Tallian’s bills that would have relegalized Marijuana for personal use.
And Indiana Governor Mike Pence has sworn he would veto any bill that legitimized Marijuana.
S.B. 284 would have permitted medical Marijuana in Indiana and set a governing commission to deal with Cannabis related matters. It would have provided medical relief to thousands of Hoosiers who can’t or don’t want to use the chemical crap pharmaceutical companies want to deal. It would have made life better for those in Indiana by causing better health on an organic level. It would have eased the pain of Multiple Sclerosis patients like their own brother, former Republican Representative Tom Knollman. It would have stopped people like the Rollins family from having to leave the state for treatment of their daughter Emily who suffers from severe epileptic-like seizures. It would have helped our growing population of seniors with age related illnesses. It would have drastically reduced the prescription drug abuse rates now threatening our population. You can read the proposed bill here.
But because of voluntary ignorance or disingenuousness, Miller refused to hear the bill. Miller, with a background in nursing, has possibly not kept up with her profession. The American Nursing Association came out in favor of medical Marijuana in 2008. She also must have somehow avoided contact with the over 23 thousand studies showing the safety and efficacy of Marijuana as a medicine, ranging from treatment of chronic pain to cancer. She somehow must have missed the information about the endocannabinoid system that exists in every living being on the planet, with at least 42 receptor sites in the human body alone.
Just a few days ago, the “Washington Post” ran this story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2020/02/23/marijuana-may-be-even-safer-than-previously-thought-researchers-say/. The information of the safety of Marijuana has been established for sometime. For Senator Miller, or any other official, to say that there has not been enough study done on Marijuana, is a complete denial of the issues involved.
Or was it something else? Could it be that politics in Indiana has degenerated to a point that the health and well being of the citizens of this state matter much less than money or political connection? It’s rather interesting to look at who has given campaign money to Senator Miller.
http://www.followthemoney.org/show-me?c-t-eid=13011912#%5B%7B1%7Cgro=d-eid
Thanks to Northeast Indiana NORML’s David Kulp for this information. It’s well known that the mainstream medical organizations work hand-in-glove with the pharmaceutical industry, and is
doing its best to dismiss Cannabis as a viable medicine. When Marijuana is available and accepted as a medicine, big pharma will not make the money they are now. There are a lot of medical organizations contributing to Senator Miller. Do you think there’s a connection?
The most recent study done in Indiana shows 78% of Hoosiers want Marijuana reform. Does it bother you that the health and well being of Hoosiers is subservient to the greed of big medicine?
It still comes down to the politics of individuals in Indiana’s state government. The science is there. The economics are there.
I find this very unfair for Indiana and the people who live here. We need to have this Senator out as she has no concern for the people and our welfare. Cannabis is a cure and a natural cure. The proof is all over the internet and well known to be accurate. We don’t need man made drugs period! I, personally, had a medical license in Colorado for using cannabis and it worked. I used it for migraine headaches instead of the prescribed drug from my Doctor. Most prescribed drugs have serious side affects, while cannabis has none. This is BS people and obviously most know the truth. All Hoosiers need to push S.B. 284 thru and get those in need of a safe, good cure, without side affects in place here in Indiana.
What the hell is it going to take to get medical marijuana legalized in Indiana?! Bombarding Patrica Miller and Pence with phone calls?! I can promise you as a lifelong resident of Indiana, I will never again give my votes to Pence, and possibly any other Republican candidate!! I have had it up to here with having to live with chronic pain, taking percocet, not being able to get a higher dosage because I’ve been on them for so long that they barely keep my pain under control. I’m afraid for my health and the damage these opiates are having on my body. But sadly I have NO choice, no thanks to Pence and Miller!!
people don’t realize the health benefits of medical marijuana and how it helps people with various problems. I would much rather see people using marijuana rather than using pharmaceutical drugs or alcohol. so many people die yearly because of pharmaceutical drugs or alcohol. and yet these are legal.
and there’s not one death that can be put on marijuana.
Great article, thanks for the link with Sen. Millers contributions… I don’t like the fact that Bayer, Merek and AstraZeneca contributed as well as many health care and medical Hoosier associations. I’d love to know the conversations involved when obtaining these donations… and the conversations expressing their desires in the politics.
We will only EVER have what THEY deem we can. Patricia Miller has been backed big business and pharma companies for years. She is a paid puppet, what can you expect. She is no real Hoosier, just a slave to big business!!
What can you expect, she is a Republican. They are for getting paid big bucks to spit in the American peoples faces. Who in their in their right mind would vote them into office. The must be brainwashing their recipients somehow. There can’t be that many stupid people in America.
What a shame. We should boycott Big Pharm and turn to herbal medicines until the gov’t recognizes the importance of the matter.
I called and emailed Sen. Miller after her decision and was arrested and charged with a D Level Felony the next day at my job. Yes, I used some naughty words but there was no “threat of felony force” in my communication. I’m simply an advocate of medical marijuana and this racist & satanic hellhole wants to ruin my life for it. Unreal. Holder? Obama? Do you not see people are suffering in the shithole that is Indiana? Do something dammit!!!!!!!!
i have been smoking weed for the last 41yrs. i have a dr. in Terre haute, Indiana that i was seeing all of the time. he was a Psych dr. i have to stay HIGH all of the time, cause i can’t get my pain med’s that i need for the doctor’s. thank’s to this screwed up STATE.
This is absolutely absurd! The ignorance and greed among the Indiana political system is perhaps destroying the lives of many Hoosiers. Comparatively to the side-effects and health concerns with the “all-mighty pharmaceutical god juice” that everyone is indulging themselves upon, there could be a much more safe, and organic means of alleviating many forms of pain and illnesses. Yet, a political game is being played to attain a profitable outcome with the prohibition of cannabis. These are the officials we are so gracefully governed by. If ever there could be a time in which the concerns of the people’s health and needs are met, I would love to participate in this time. We need a reform and we need in soon.
This is absolutely absurd! The ignorance and greed among the Indiana political system is perhaps destroying the lives of many Hoosiers. Comparatively to the side-effects and health concerns with the “all-mighty pharmaceutical god juice” that everyone is indulging themselves upon, there could be a much more safe, and organic means of alleviating many forms of pain and illnesses. Yet, a political game is being played to attain a profitable outcome with the prohibition of cannabis. These are the officials we are so gracefully governed by. If ever there could be a time in which the concerns of the people’s health and needs are met, I would love to participate in this time. Justice is long passed due. We need a reform and we need in soon.
As an Indiana resident that is disabled. I have refused taking gov meds that thc / cbd can help. I have written an email to our congressman. He says the quantity of life would go down. what about the way my life was taking zombie pills.
We need open minded people running our state I say tillon for gov. I thought miller was for it. Many people here hasnt heard of “normal so the word is out down here now im sure ull be hearing from many in richmond now! Thanx karen keep up the good work