Do note that it can take quite a while to hear back from an MP and particularly when the House is in recess and they are away from their offices, like during the last two weeks.

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What was that thing last year about equal rights for those with disabilities, or was that more to do with just ticking the boxes…

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Not one comment or email from any politician, are they scared of me or what?

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greenfly: in the words of the PM himself – Hell yeah!

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Key on kava – that’s clever!

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Medicinal Cannabis: Who deserves aid more?
Monday, 13 July 2009, 4:05 pm
Press Release: Scoop Feedback

Who deserves aid more?

As we have seen on the news recently our Prime Minister – John Key enjoying his pacific island holiday with lots of smiles and dancing and busy pledging millions of taxpayers dollars to aid the pacific people, yet is unable to come to the aid of the sick people of New Zealand with the funding of Sativex.

Sativex is a pharmaceutical product derived from the cannabis plant, we are not allowed the natural plant because of health effects specified by his ministry yet we see on the news him partaking in a psychoactive substance called Kava and he did so enthusiastically as it appears it’s not his first try of this drug. His visit to Niue we see in the news him promoting a natural plant that has natural medicinal values that he wants to commercialise here in New Zealand called Noni which is all well and good for those who will benefit from this natural plant, but it smacks in the face of disbelief that his government has such double standards when it comes to Sativex, it simply makes no sense as to why he would partake in one psychoactive substance and promote a natural medicinal plant yet refuse to show interest in a pharmaceutical version of cannabis.

I ask John Key to front up on this issue and tell the New Zealand public why he denies the sick and disabled citizens of New Zealand an alternative medication that will be of benefit to them, why he would rather we were sent to jail for using the illegal substance cannabis, and most importantly why he holds such double standards?

All we feel like now is second class citizens in our own country.

Regards
Name withheld due to legalities of the topic

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0907/S00123.htm

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bjchip: correct there are knee replacements but the issue here is it is two inferior materials are used to make up the joint – a metal ball coupled to surgical silicone that is glued to the bone, if you are extremely careful on one of these you can get 10 years out of it, then if you are very lucky another can be implanted, but the limit is twice then you end up in a wheelchair anyway.

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Artificial knees have a pretty good track record at this point. Not that you’d have FULL use, but a wheelchair isn’t a certainty, particularly if it is “just” the cartilage, if you can get to the operating room.

respectfully
BJ

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keep the pressure on..niceguy..

..you have got one hell of a lot of support out here..

..be in no doubt about that..

..eh..?

phil(whoar.co.nz)

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The letter above was sent to the National Party, The Greens and to the Labour Party, I am waiting for a reply from any of the above.

It is school holidays (oops I mean parliamentary term break) so will wait another week or two…

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Shunda: In the US doctors get visits sometimes twice weekly by sales reps, here some doctors say they get a stack of pamphlets that nearly reach the ceiling yearly, visits by sales reps are alittle less frequent to that of the US.

Valis: going public is impossible, I have a partner still in the public service and given the political nature of the topic, it wouldn’t do her any favours, I have to show respect there.

greenfly: there is a 50/50 chance it will deal to the pain for that knee, however the other one has nil cartilage and the first signs of arthritis are present. All the surgery I am having is but delaying the inevitable wheelchair.

Quality of life – all that we want, shame it doesn’t happen when you use pharmaceutical drugs currently available then we wouldn’t need to fight about certain drugs like we do.

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MrNiceGuyNZ – good luck with your up-coming op and evading trouble, including pain, there after. Very powerful letter.

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MNGNZ, thanks for sharing your letter. It gives us much greater insight into where you’re coming from, which sounds pretty awful, so best of luck.

It strikes me that your story could play an important role when the next round happens. You could be one of the leaders we’ve talked about needing to find if you were prepared to go public. Its a very personal decision, of course, but something to consider.

Kia kaha.

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“usually these big businesses are also tied into the business of pharmaceuticals, and then it all starts to make sense…:

Fair comment. I think Consumer magazine exposed some of this stuff. The drugs companies do the rounds, dropping off pens with their brand names on and other little incentives to get doctors prescribing their products.

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Block voting by National.

A poster on NORML says the reason they block voted was because of the potential uptake of the drug Sativex by the public that could blow out the pharmac budget, though due to their short sightedness they didn’t use logic in working out that if there is greater use of Sativex that other pain releif medication would decrease thus evening out said budget.

But then we already knew politicians weren’t very bright anyway.

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Shunda: I get my opiates in boxes of 100 pills, that’s with 3 repeats to boot.
We are seen as responsible enough to have such large amounts of addictive substances yet we are now allowed to use a natual plant.

The problem is stigmatism of cannabis by govt and the media alike, but you never hear much about the deaths, addiction and side effects of pharmaceutical medications we can get by the boxful, we do hear about the Heath Ledgers and Michael Jacksons of this world but in reality there are thousands more that suffer from pills. You have to ask yourself why we don’t hear about these things, if you dig deep enough you will find big business own the media and control the information they are allowed to publish, usually these big businesses are also tied into the business of pharmaceuticals, and then it all starts to make sense….

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Medicinal Cannabis: Open letter to Paul Hutchison
Tuesday, 7 July 2009, 3:56 pm
Press Release: Scoop Feedback

Dear Hon Paul Hutchison

I have just got access to the Hansard document of the Medicinal Cannabis Bill which you and your party rejected.

I am the one who suffers from the rare condition known as Nail Patella Syndrome, it is something I have lived with my whole life being of the genetic nature and knowing how rare this condition is I am surprised that you made this statement ‘I had a prominent Wellington physician tonight point out how conditions like nail-patella syndrome are absolutely rare and there are many other options to treat it with.’ when every physician I have ever had examine me has never heard or seen this condition before, it is so rare in fact that one orthopedic surgeon who examined me about 3 years ago had it as an exam trick question in 1975 but has never seen a case until I came along.
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I have participated in genetic research for Baltimore University in the US who managed to find 5 families in the world with this condition, even then they had trouble tracking that number down.

I question the reliability of the information provided by this prominent physician from Wellington and would like you to give him my details so he can contact me directly.

I have used painkillers, I have used anti inflammatory drugs and I have used anti depressants to block the pain and none have been effective enough to warrant continued use, also it scares me the side effects generated by these drugs and the chance of addiction is foremost in my mind. One of the drugs you would rather we took – Codeine has now given me something else to worry about, I now have reflux. The psychoactive effect of some of these drugs are not pleasant, some have left me fearing for my life, others have left my mind muddled and unable to work.

Cannabis was the drug medical users used before the pharmaceutical industry existed and it works very well for a number of different conditions, is it any wonder that people who use current pharmaceutical drugs who then find they aren’t doing the job they say they do turn to cannabis for solutions? Based on examples provided by the govt, you have made it quite clear that due to health reasons we are not allowed to use raw leaf to alleviate our symptoms and you would prefer that we use Sativex instead. The issue I have here is that Sativex is currently un-subsidised and approx. $900 a month has to be found to use it.

This is un-affordable to many including myself, I can buy an ounce of raw leaf for $350 that will last me 4 months!

If you really care about the health effects of raw leaf on the human body then I’m sure you will go out of your way to ensure a subside is applied to Sativex as soon as possible.

I have had knee surgery from the age of 8, all up I have had 6 knee operations to allow me to walk, my whole life has been one of pain and trying to find the right solutions to try and live a normal life.

I have a Femural Distal Osteotomy coming up shortly and I intend using raw leaf for my post operative care, I hope I am not arrested for using it in this form since it is still illegal which really doesn’t make sense considering a pharmaceutical version is legal.

Failure to try and make the healthier option cheaper will mean more and more medical users of cannabis will be persecuted, prosecuted, convicted and jailed because of your party’s inaction, please ensure these new container cells have wheelchair ramps.

Regards
Name withheld due to legalities of the topic

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Good spotting jh. Sorry to hear about your tyres and letter box (Kerr must bear some of the blame)
I enjoyed this comment from him,
” Many of the social trends associated with liquor consumption have improved with liberalisation starting 20 years ago.

Guess he would like to see the laws around cannabis ‘liberalised’ then.

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Yeah! Guns don’t Kill People. I Do….

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“Liquor is in many ways not special. Hundreds of products – matches, detergents, electricity, pharmaceuticals, motor vehicles and firearms, for example – cause problems if misused.”

Roger Kerr Business Round Table
http://www.interest.co.nz/ratesblog/index.php/2009/07/06/opinion-why-the-berl-alcohol-report-should-not-have-passed-the-smell-test/#comment-28415

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