There’s still not a lot to say. Alex hasn’t been doing too great lately, and even when he’s in a good mood he has to be wrapped up in a blanket or something that can similarly restrict his hands, otherwise he quickly enters a state of intense agitation which escalates into severe self-injury. Continue reading “Losing motivation”
Tag: cannabis
OCTA makes the November ballot!
Check it out, straight from the state’s website:
7/13/12 Signature verification complete. Petition contained 88,887 valid signatures, or 58.53% of the 151,870 signatures accepted for verification. Qualified to the ballot for the November 2012 Election.
Looks like circulators did a MUCH better job in the final push than early on, because the petition “throw-out” rate went down from 11.5% to a mere six percent. Well done, guys! We still have to get a vote passed, but this is still an incredible step.
Act now to stop prohibition!
In Colorado, a measure to legalize marijuana for adult use is going to be on the ballot. Is it absolute freedom and perfection? No, but vote for it if you live in Colorado. It looks like a darn good bill to me.
In Washington, another measure is going to be on the ballot. It’s got some concerning per se DUI law written into it, but I still urge people to vote for it. Why? Because that per se DUI law will likely go into effect eventually, as it has in so many other states
In California, there were a few ballot measures in need of signatures to get on the ballot. Unfortunately, the deadlines are too close, and it is being suggested that efforts be targeted to the Repeal Cannabis Prohibition Act: http://repealcannabisprohibition.org/ or http://www.facebook.com/RCPA2012.
The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act still needs a ton of help and the deadline approaches fast. If you live here, help out!
Sign the petition to support President Molina’s efforts to discuss legalization in Central America. Put Biden in his place by stating that we have no business telling Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, or any other country how to deal with the drug problem that we have created.
As always, make sure your elected officials know how you stand on things like HR 2306, and consider letting them know you consider this issue important enough to not vote for them if they don’t support it.
What happened to February??
It’s been a long time without an update, due to a complication with a “minor” surgical procedure on yours truly. Alex’s moods have been up and down, there’s not really much to say about them, but even so I’d prefer to say something certainly every month if not every week. However, I had a vasectomy recently and am one of the lucky few suffering a much longer than expected period of post-procedure pain. This cost me two visits with Alex, and has made other visits more difficult than usual. It also makes daily life very slow – my 1/2 mile walk to work (I work at a university, so I park pretty far from the building in which I work) is now about a 45-minute affair one-way. All of this combined has made writing about Alex one of the last things on my mind. Continue reading “What happened to February??”
What’s the problem? Why can’t Alex just come home so we can figure this out?
With the recent surge in traffic I’ve seen variations of these questions posted as comments as well as asked directly. Some people think that if cannabis works to calm Alex, then we have no good reason to not take Alex home and just dose him ourselves. Back when Alex was first moved from Salem, one woman suggested, directly to my face, that if we cared enough, we wouldn’t keep Alex in a group home, and that we didn’t have any right to complain because we had made our choice.
I should note that some of the confusion may be due to the Treating Yourself article — as in any article trying to get a lot of information across in a concise way, there are a lot of details left out, and some elements are slightly changed to simplify the explanation of the situation. The article is a great way to expose people to the damaging effects of prohibition, but it does gloss over some details that can make our plight seem confusing.
Unfortunately, the story is a lot more complicated than it seems at a glance. I tend to sound like I’m saying, “cannabis is Alex’s miracle drug”, when I really mean that it is his best option, and probably better for his situation than any drug available. Cannabis is an amazing substance. But Alex’s situation is extreme: Continue reading “What’s the problem? Why can’t Alex just come home so we can figure this out?”
Thanks, Treating Yourself, reddit, and family
The past two months have shown a big surge in traffic to the site, and a TON of supportive comments and emails.
Last month I made a big post on Huffington Post, and got a lot of traffic, but it turns out it was more due to a share on Reddit than anything else. So to all the fine people on r/trees, thanks! If you haven’t seen r/trees, it’s a great place for 420-friendly people to exercise their right to free speech, something cannabis consumers too often feel they can’t (or shouldn’t) do. Continue reading “Thanks, Treating Yourself, reddit, and family”
Vote for Ron Paul?
I’m now a registered republican so I can vote for Ron Paul in the Oregon primaries. I’m not saying I’ll vote for him if he gets the nomination (so no political commentary, please), but I think he would bring issues up that too few Americans are considering. The drug war is by far the biggest issue that needs to move into the spotlight. Continue reading “Vote for Ron Paul?”
Some days just suck
Alex had pinkeye on Sunday, the day he was going to be driven up for a visit. This marks the first time since June of 2010 (the month I moved up to live near him) that more than a week passed between visits. It was a pretty bad day. Rarely have I felt worse about my decision to put Alex in a group home than this week. Continue reading “Some days just suck”
Weed Wars takes on the controversial stories ABC won’t
I’m tired of waiting.
ABC interviewed us in April. They were going to run a story about Alex’s situation, and it was going to be aired nationally, not just locally. I wasn’t going to say anything here until we had an air date.
But I’m tired of waiting. Continue reading “Weed Wars takes on the controversial stories ABC won’t”
No, I haven’t disappeared
My 4×10 schedule was a bust, Alex has been very up-and-down, and generally there’s been just a ton of chaos, especially with the new baby. There’s also just not a lot to say at this point. I still have no idea how to best help Alex other than keeping up on politics and trying to educate people who still think pot is dangerous. Continue reading “No, I haven’t disappeared”