Caregiver Cup vs Hash Bash vs Local Community Events
A summary of the Caregiver Cup controversy was published in the Pulse:
http://npaper-wehaa.com/citypulse/2010/02/03/#?article=747833
A portion of the article and an Anthony Freed quote which defines the fork in the road for the medical marijuana movement:
To Freed, medicinal use is only one dimension of cannabis.
“Focusing on one thing doesn’t do the movement justice. If you really wanted to help patients, you’d use every political channel to get to legalization,” he said.
Freed admits that he wants to use 'medical marijuana' as a trojan horse for legalization. He wants to hop on a patient's back and ride 'em all the way to his pot of gold. So what if patients get a bad rap out of the deal? The gold rush is on. Remember, the real money isn't in caregiving, it's in supplying all those patients with education, grow supplies, dispensaries, and commercial growing operations, so let's get busy. We have shit to sell patients. So Freed creates a national event, advertises an 'idiotic contest which makes a mockery of our law', and gives our enemies ammunition which will eventually be used against us, but according to Anthony, "he really wanted to help patients, by using every political channel to get to legalization." Legalization? It's already legal for patients. THIS WAS NOT ABOUT PATIENTS!
Anthony's quote tells the whole story. This was a medical marijuana event to promote legalization, which is a losing strategy. Pretending an event is about medical marijuana to promote legalization is dishonest and it abuses patients. It also backfires when the medical marijuana movement loses credibility when embarrassing headlines make national news such as "Caregiver Cup contest called off because police say it's illegal."
In contrast, the medical marijuana movement was successful last year in it's use of 'legalization event' like the Hash Bash to promote medical marijauna. This was accomplished fairly well at last year's Hash Bash when the medical marijuana movement reserved the entire 2nd floor of Dominicks. Hundreds of patients were introduced to MMMA, several clinics certified patients, other medical marijuana services and businesses helped patients. No adverse publicity was created because the Hash Bash has always been about legalization for recreational use for the past 30 years. It's honest, up front, and in your face about it. It always has been.
Unlike the Caregiver's Cup, the local police, political community, and the public, support the Hash Bash. Medical marijuana falls comfortably within the boundaries of the Hash Bash umbrella and patients are, for the most part, invisible in this environment. This 'invisibility' allows those of us who continue to support, and work toward, legalization and to do so without hurting the medical marijuana movement. A photo of a group of 'ordinary people' (rather than 'patients') smoking cannabis recreationally at the Hash Bash is not exactly a scandal because it's expected. Photos of what has become a 'normalized event' are not controversial. It's all about public perception.
The way forward for the medical marijuana movement depends on what we consider to be our mission. Do we want to focus on our mission 'to provide access to safe, reliable, affordable, medical quality cannabis for every patient who needs it'? If so, shouldn't we weigh each statewide event in terms of it's potential impact on our mission. Shouldn't we attempt to consolidate our gains, protect them, and continue to build the manufacturing and caregiver delivery network at a local caregiver level to fulfill our mission for medical marijuana patients?
Community caregiver/patient networking through local Compassion Clubs is currently the backbone of the medical marijuana movement in Michigan. Shouldn't we focus on events which support LOCAL community Compassion Clubs rather than illegal statewide dispensaries and large commercial growing operations?
Wouldn't the medical marijuana movement in Michigan for 2010 be better served if we focused our efforts on local community events of an appropriate scale? Large statewide events draw an enormous amount of attention, publicity, and police interest. Local community events which 'really focus on patients' draw little outside scrutiny.
Promoting additional Compassion Club fundraising events throughout the year (such as 'Wake, Break, and Bake' and 'Roll and Bowl' will provide a win/win for caregivers, patients and clubs. They don't create negative media publicity because they are at an appropriate scale--small is beautiful. They are discreet. And they serve to enrich the patients, caregivers, and local Compassion Clubs rather than a 'statewide greed head' who exceeds the limits of the current law at patient's expense.
Contrast these local Compassion Club community events with the Caregiver's Cup and most of us can easily see which of these events will 'really benefit the medical marijuana community' and which events might drag us through the mud once again.
All the best to MMMA and their new leadership. 2010 should be an interesting year.
- Bob Heflin's blog
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Patients come first and great
Patients come first and great post
Once Again BOB IS ON COURSE!!
Bob you are so right in small is beautiful. That is why it was voted in at a 1CG to 5 PATIENT ratio. It stays small and doesn't represent a huge entity making cash from a group who are already ill and have income issues. It will provide a steady stream of medicine for patients if it is left small where the CG's and Patients are in control of their medicines for their use. I suspect that being freed may be a fraud IMHO. Stay small and keep it out of Big Pharma's control, hell they already have that insurance scam they run to make billions.
Legalize It!
Legalization may very well have its roots in medical marijuana. It has always been my understanding that legalizing cannabis for recreational, medicinal, industrial, a spiritual purposess is implied from its conception.
The plant itself gives many of the answers to alot of questions. First the plant must grow roots before it can grow. It has to grow before it can flower. All these stages are important and require specific environments and feeding. Same goes with the movement toward legalization.
Freed and associates have slightly more sinister motives. They want skip all that and move to one of the many results of legalizing...Money
And that's how things get all f***ed up
Personally I think all drugs should be legal. Gangs and violence and crime are much the result of illegal drugs. Because they are illegal profits are sky high. Its about controlling the supply and reaping the profits and they will stop at nothing to get them. Power corrupts and greed fuels the quest for power. Make drugs legal you take away the power source and return liberty to the individual.
All the money and time we spend tracking down kilos of this or that and prisons and courts and man hours. All that could go into research and education and rehabilitation. The demand is never going away it can only get more brutal. The Mexicans are now the new Columbians. This is not going away and never will.
Ron Paul is the strongest political leader I know of and I hope you all study carefully what he has to say. We need strong, smart, leadership in the future and only common sense can protect liberty in the face doomed strategies like the U.S. govt has today.
Medical cannabis law will surely lend credibility to future legalization efforts and hopefully spark interest in medical cannabinoid research around the world
The world has followed the doomed policies of Richard Nixon in banning and villifing cannabis. The whole world needs to recover from the prohibition of drugs.....
Legalization .......for world peace and sustainable planet
I agree
Until we have the freedom to do whatever we want to do to our own bodies we will never be truly free. I can appreciate Anthony's vision, although I do disagree with his implementation. We have to remember, as a community, that our country has been absolutely brainwashed since DARE started in the 80's to hate and fear all drugs. That is why I believe the best bet for legalization is education. Let the people know how the war on drugs was fueled by money and racism, and how prohibition only serves to make outlaws rich. Once they have all the facts they will make the correct decision, but it will be slow going for a while. Much like how a glacier only moves inches in a day, but can destroy mountains so we will be as a community. Attend CC's, serve your patients ethically and with integrity and debacles like the CG cup will be a distant memory.
Prop. 1 should never be
Prop. 1 should never be tampered with. As a community we should oppose any attempt by any person, government or group to do so. It's opening the proverbial can of worms. Anthony has no right to use our good name, while he pushes his envelope. We are the sick and disabled. He is playing with our medicine for his own personal benefit. Thank you for your post.
Amen!
I agree with Blueberry
Bob for President
Hey Bob great blog.
Reading the article you posted a quote from makes me thing that Brandy didn't get the word that she was fired. Sounds like she represented us fairly though. I do give her credit for that.
Bob, your post resonates
Bob, your post resonates strong with me and is in keeping with the state of mind of the board of the MOCC.
I want to say thank you for presenting this in an intelligent, logical blog.
I'd like to add this simple checklist for those that need help wrapping their heads around what they are doing.
ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION:
"is it good for the patient AND the caregiver"
If you can answer "yes" you are on the right track
If you have to answer "no" you're on the wrong road
We need to be unified in our focus and present our community to the public as united for patients and caregivers.
We are creating jobs and helping people. We are educating patients, caregivers and the public.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, we are here to help other clubs. If you need help, contact me, contact Bob, contact Rochester Cares, contact someone with the MOCC, contact somebody.
We are all here for the same reason. We need to keep that clear message moving forward.
Looking very forward to Valentine's Day
Wife and I have been very sick - starting the road to recovery.
Peace,
Mizerman
Hey get better mizer! You and
Hey get better mizer! You and yours!
its true
there are alot of people out there who wish to use mmj patients to get it legalized for everyone. while i support full legalization, i think it is wrong to use the mmj community to advance this cause. once people see that everything is fine with us in a few years they will have enough proof to show that legalization wont result in an apocalyptic event.
there are parts of this law that are seriously flawed and need fixing LONG before we should try to legalize recreational mj. if mr freed, and some of the other people that want the same thing as him, REALLY care about protecting patients rights they would keep working on mmj law reform and NOT full legalization. the genie is out of the bottle anyways... legalization across the board is GOING to happen in due time so why try to force it? the people of michigan OVERWHELMINGLY WANT medical marijuana. they arent so quick to go along with everyday people "catching a buzz" whenever they feel like it. at least not yet.
anthony freed isnt the only one doing this... there are a few caregiver groups that are trying to do the same. if you people TRULY care about patients rights you will stop using patients to further your agenda. if you dont stop now you are going to stall the eventuall legalization of cannabis and get our rights that we have now taken away from us.
WORK ON PATIENT RIGHTS FIRST!!!
Finally - so true - I see
Finally - so true - I see this fight as a fight for patient rights. I do understand that legalizing marijuana can help relieve problems associated with medical marijuana - like social acceptance, work place rules, public safety - but patient rights has to come first.
Like Will said - "If its not good for the patient AND the caregiver" don't do it.
I also point out, he did not say "Good for the patient (and maybe not for the CG)" or
he did not say "Good for the CG (maybe not for the patient)"
Its important to make sure the ideas are good for both, the patient and CG - as they need each other to make the MMMP work.
Now
that's what I'm talking about!
Community caregiver/patient
Community caregiver/patient networking through local Compassion Clubs is currently the backbone of the medical marijuana movement in Michigan. Shouldn't we focus on events which support LOCAL community Compassion Clubs rather than illegal statewide dispensaries and large commercial growing operations?
Wouldn't the medical marijuana movement in Michigan for 2010 be better served if we focused our efforts on local community events of an appropriate scale?
My answer is YES. It works for the patients and volunteers in that community. Make a difference locally. Help the people around you. Encourage these people to learn, and in turn they can encourage others.