Ohio Medical Marijuana Act assigned to committee'too late for one patient

Published: March 3, 2005

S.B. 74—Sen. Robert Hagan's Ohio Medical Marijuana Act (OMMA)—has been assigned to the Judiciary Committee on Criminal Justice. Tomorrow, Sen. Hagan will testify before the committee on behalf of the bill. The Ohio Patient Network (OPN) intends to pack the room with supporters. To join in, contact John Precup, president of OPN, at 419-524-3804 or 888-262-2843.

To urge your legislators to support OMMA, please click here.

The introduction of OMMA comes not a day too soon in Ohio. Last Monday, February 21, medical marijuana patient Deirdre Zoretic and her caregiver/husband, Joseph Zoretic, were arrested and jailed for possession of marijuana. Deirdre, who lives with reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), was released after only a few hours behind bars, following a disturbance caused by prisoners who objected to her detention.

http://mpp.org/OH/action.html

Marijuana relieves the symptoms associated with Dierdra's RSD, which Johns Hopkins University's Tom Haederle has described as follows:

"If Hell were a clinical medical condition, it might look something like reflex sympathetic dystrophy or RSD. The disorder actually goes by many names, but they all describe the same thing: a constant, intense burning pain in a limb that, once begun, never goes away. The slightest touch, even a slight breeze, can bring agony. The affected limb often becomes swollen. Many people have difficulty moving it at all."

http://mpp.org/OH/action.html

For helping care for his wife, John spent seven days in the Cayahoga County jail and now faces a felony charge of possession of more than 1,000 grams of marijuana, which can carry up to a five-year sentence. Senator Hagan has proudly stood behind the Zoretics, and now it's time we stand behind him.

http://mpp.org/OH/action.html

Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project.