Jesuit High Student Opens the Door for Compassionate Conversations

It took a student from Jesuit High to remind us that speaking out for our important cause at any given occasion can multiply into positive effects that we may not ever realize. This happened last weekend at the first town hall meeting held in north Dallas by state Senator Florence Shapiro.

My father attended the meeting to work on a drop out prevention program, as the subject was education. There were many Jesuit High students present (as it was held at their school). After my father was mentioned for his efforts in education by Senator Shapiro a student from the school raised his hand and asked about HB 164 and what the senator thought about it. Which the student claimed would make medical marijuana legal in our state. My father raised his hand and corrected the student, to the surprise of the crowd (since this was not his issue), and stated that it was an affirmative defense bill and would not make medical marijuana legal. The student disagreed to which my father pulled a copy of HB 164 out of his pocket, walked across the room and handed it to the student. The students crowded around to read the bill, and the meeting went on.

Later in the meeting, the same student raised his hand and stated that he was incorrect and the the bill would not make medical marijuana legal, and was only a defense bill. A few more people spoke on other issues and my father was able to speak again. He said he wanted to clarify that HB164 would not make medical marijuana legal. He went on to explain that his daughter in law (my wife) was a medical marijuana patient and this bill would allow her to explain to the jury the medical reason she broke the law. The jury can then decide, knowing all the facts, whether she belongs in prison.

After this meeting my father called me, told me the story and that Shapiro was having another town hall meeting in another location. My wife and I immediately prepared ourselves and hopped in the car to attend the second meeting for this unique opportunity to educate a senator.

We were able to speak with senator Shapiro after the meeting. She was able to meet my wife. We had her attention for some time as we talked about this bill and compassion for the sick and dieing in Texas. She was extremely receptive and compassionate toward my wife. We left her with an information packet and are following up.

So, the bonus action work for this newsletter to speak on behalf of patients in Texas about medical marijuana and especially HB164 at every opportunity. While the impact may not have such a cascaded effect as this story did, you may never know who's life you may touch or who's heart you may soften for the sick and hurting in our state. Be sure to direct people to TexasCompassion.com for more information and to get involved.

2) Actions:

Write a letter to your representatives using MPP's automated form letter on HB164

Spice it up with a little of your own language.... but send it even if you don't.

B) Super Action.

Continue meeting/writing/calling/e-mailing all the members of the public health committee. (you can find their information on our site here).

If you only have one good letter in you, send it to all of them; they have got better things to do than compare letters.

P.S. Naishtat's office has informed me that they know we love them. We would rather you send that letter to a representative we are not so sure of yet (change the name on it first).

C) Super Duper Action

Get a friend, parent, brother, sister, or offspring to do the Super Action. Tell them about The Texas Coalition for Compassionate Care, www.TexasCompassion.com.

3) Legal System Should Embrace Love Not Fear. (published in the Dallas Peace Times this month)

by Rev. Mark Waltz

Politics aside, I have always found Texans to be compassionate and caring neighbors. This truth was brought home to me recently when a friend showed me a poll conducted in 2004 that showed three quarters of Texans favoring the legalization of marijuana for medical use. They acknowledged in their responses that they respect the privacy of doctor/patient relationships. They also spoke to their belief that extraordinary circumstances often require extraordinary solutions. Many Texans have seen loved ones, stricken with cancer, trying desperately to deal with chemotherapy drugs that are difficult to swallow and keep down. Many have had their own issues with traditional medical care while dealing with multiple sclerosis or other debilitating diseases. So imagine my shock when I learned that here in our beloved state anyone caught possessing even tiny amounts of marijuana for medical reasons is not allowed to share their special circumstances as a defense in a Texas court.

A minister or priest certainly knows the difference between objective and subjective sin. Any defendant in Texas accused of a crime, other than possession of marijuana, is allowed to explain the circumstances surrounding the event. Even the taking of human life allows for explanations. We would have one reaction if the killing was of a storekeeper during a robbery, and another if the victim had been threatening the life of a child, for instance. St. Aquinas allowed for mitigating circumstances in the theft of a loaf of bread. A jury might still convict, but at least they would know the whole story and judge the defendant more humanely.

But in Texas, mitigating circumstances are not allowed as a defense for the possession of marijuana.

As a minister I have dealt with death, dying, and the struggle for life. I have seen people prescribed legal opiates in the doses required to ease their pain, who were left almost comatose and unable to maintain their jobs or their dignity. When they switched to marijuana and lower doses of prescribed medicines they were almost fully functional and contributing to the life of our community. I have seen people allergic to all analgesics but able to use marijuana and have a more normal life. I watched my own brother struggle against death when stricken with bladder cancer ten years ago. He was only 45 and didn’t discover the disease until he began having pain in his lower back. Because it was diagnosed as already metastatic, he had no choice but to sign up for experimental treatments at M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston. The drugs he ingested were nothing short of poison. His heroic battle was heartbreaking to watch and a living hell for him, and his wife and young son.

Looking back I can’t help wondering that if marijuana had been prescribed, he might have had a more peaceful and dignified death.

The Texas Coalition for Compassionate Care is trying to change a very bad law. They are currently lobbying the Texas Legislature to do the right thing. I have joined their efforts. There is a temptation in politics to worry more about the 25 percent of Texans who will decry a law that allows for a medical-marijuana defense than to rally for the protection of those who are suffering. It is time, however, to make decisions based on principle and fairness, not fear. Most lawmakers want to do the right thing, they just need their electorate to make them do it. So I am asking you to read the TCCC statement and endorse their righteous cause. You can do it as a representative of your church, or you can do it as a person of conscience and influence. Thank you.

-Rev. Mark Walz, Minister
Unitarian Universalist Church of Oak Cliff
3839 W. Kiest Boulevard
Dallas, Texas 75233

A link to the statement is in the sidebar under the donation button.