Pubdate: Sat, 03 Oct 2015
Source: Columbus Dispatch (OH)
Copyright: 2015 The Columbus Dispatch
Contact:  http://www.dispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/93
Author: John Pardee

END THE SUFFERING, SUPPORT MEASURE 3

Life is precious and a healthy life is a gift. This is a gift we can 
give to ailing Ohioans who need our help.

At this very moment, a child in Lorain might be having a seizure and 
a cancer patient in Amherst is undoubtedly in the fight of her life. 
A military veteran in Elyria, in the throes of depression brought on 
by post-traumatic stress disorder, might be thinking the unthinkable 
.. which is why we need to support State Issue 3 on Nov. 3.

Many chronically ill Ohioans suffer from diseases that can be 
effectively treated with cannabis but this medicine is currently 
illegal in Ohio due to marijuana prohibition. A "oeyes"  vote on 
Issue 3 will end cannabis prohibition and will give Ohio's patients a 
fighting chance at a better life.

As the first president of the Ohio Rights Group, the leading 
patients'-rights group in Ohio, I'v e met many patients and their 
families and heard hundreds of gut-wrenching stories. I've met dozens 
of military veterans who credit cannabis with saving their lives.

I met a retired grandfather in Lodi who was going to jail because he 
grew his wife's cancer medicine in their backyard and his neighbor 
turned him in. I've comforted a mother who just lost her son to a 
brain disorder and I heard how she had to troll the streets of 
Cleveland looking for his relief.

I consulted a desperate daughter in Elyria searching for that illegal 
medicine that could shrink her mom's cervical cancer tumors. I met a 
young mother near Mansfield whose baby girl couldn't wake up from the 
seizures that were slowly damaging her little brain.

I can't understand why folks are debating business models while we 
are losing precious lives every day; lives that could be saved if 
enough Ohioans can find it in their hearts to do the right thing.

We can join a nationwide movement that is saving millions of precious 
lives. Please vote yes on State Issue 3.

JOHN PARDEE

Vice president

The Ohio Rights Group

Oberlin
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