Pubdate: Sat, 05 Apr 2014
Source: Patriot-News, The (PA)
Copyright: 2014 The Patriot-News
Contact: http://www.pennlive.com/mailforms/patriotletters/
Website: http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1630
Author: Robert J. Vickers

CORBETT WOULDN'T LEGALIZE POT EVEN IF TODDLER GRANDSON NEEDED IT

Gov. Tom Corbett would be too distraught to reconsider his opposition 
to legalizing medical marijuana if his two-year-old grandson were 
stricken with debilitating seizures and doctors said cannabis was the 
only treatment that would provide relief.

Asked Friday night if he would reconsider his aversion to medical 
marijuana should his healthy grandson Liam need pot to treat a 
medical condition, the incumbent Republican governor said the 
heart-wrenching scenario would preclude him from making a rational decision.

"Then I wouldn't be in the position to make that decision because it 
would become emotional for me," Corbett told reporters after 
addressing the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in East Pennsboro 
Twp. "We have laws that have been passed. If we believe the laws 
should be changed, then let's change them."

The governor, who regularly dotes on his grandson, acknowledged being 
moved by testimony in the state legislature from families citing 
examples of young children who suffer crippling seizures and have 
been told by doctors that medical marijuana is the only remedy.

But he said any change in drug laws should be done on the federal 
level, not individually by the states.

"The president has the opportunity," Corbett said of Barack Obama. 
"We all know he's admitted to smoking pot in the past. He's had the 
opportunity to go and tell the FDA, try and direct them to do that. 
Has he done that? That's the question you all [the news media] should 
be asking."

However, it's not a question asked only by reporters.

An April 2 picture of Corbett reading to his grandson on the 
governor's Facebook page includes three comments calling on the 
governor to legalize medical marijuana.

A woman identifying herself as Dana Ulrich, the Berks County 
legalization activist who says her 6-year-old daughter Lorelei needs 
medical marijuana to stave off as many as 700 disabling epileptic 
seizures a day, said Corbett should consider her situation as a grandfather.

"He is blessed to have a healthy grandchild," Ulrich wrote in the 
picture comment section. "Governor Corbett, what would you do if Liam 
had a condition that has failed every pharmaceutical but medical 
cannabis could help? You would fight for it, just like I'm doing for 
my Lorelei. 500-700 seizures every single day!! Please give my 
Lorelei a chance at life...I'm not too proud to beg."

Ulrick then links to her "Legalize for Lorelei" Facebook page and 
implores the governor again: "Please be a hero for my baby girl."

Another woman identified as Amy Audino Houk, who's Facebook page says 
she once lived in Newcastle, Pa., wrote that she moved to Colorado - 
where pot became legal this year - so her ailing son could be treated 
with cannabis.

"I had to take my 6 year old epileptic son and move to Colorado to 
gain access to a non-psychoactive strain of medical marijuana oil, he 
no longer gets to spend time with any of his family other than me," 
Houk wrote in the picture comment section. "My husband and the rest 
of our family is back in PA, the place I thought I'd always call 
home. Would you wait for access if Liam was having 150 seizures each day?"

And a third woman, who identified herself as Paula Diamond, wrote of 
her 20-year-old son pained daily by Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and Dysautonomia.

"I hope and pray you will re-consider your position on MMJ [medical 
marijuana], not only for my son, but for all the children and adults 
suffering in the state of Pennsylvania with chronic pain, seizures, 
PTSD [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder], dementia, cancer, MS [Multiple 
Sclerosis] , and so many other serious, chronic illnesses," Diamond 
wrote. "The compassionate and just thing is to support those who are 
suffering and afford them relief."

Polls have shown a massive swing in public opinion toward legalizing 
medicinal marijuana in recent years. A Quinnipiac Poll last month 
found 85 percent of Pennsylvanians favor legalization.

Despite his current opposition, the governor seemed to leave the door 
open to legalization should federal laws change.

"When I see the federal government legalize it because it's a federal 
law, when I see the FDA do some testing, then I think we can start 
considering it," Corbett said. "Until then, no."
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D