House Bill 7119 wasn’t even on the radar. It was something about teen smoking. Anti-smoking proponents hammer the harms of smoking tobacco every year during session. Every year lawmakers write hefty checks to anti-tobacco smoking campaigns.

We knew the opposition to smoking didn’t go away after the Governor signed the bill lifting the smoking ban. When some lawmakers think about smoking cannabis (read as smoking medicine) it makes them crazy. 

When the House leadership cooped the anti-teen smoking bill HB 7119 as the next battleground in the erosion of patient access I knew it was time to stand up and speak out. The author of HB 7119, Rep Durran (D-Miami)  added an amendment that would add to the already heavy burden on families of pediatric medical marijuana patients. I took the opportunity to speak at the House Appropriations Committee meeting and discuss how all these willy nilly decisions are affecting families. The most interesting thing is this bill addresses changing the age of tobacco consumption from 18 to 21. Tobacco is a recreational drug. It is absurd to add a section about a medical drug to a bill about a recreational drug.

Below is the video and transcript from my speech. It is so important for us to take every opportunity we are given to educate people. Marijuana is not an evil drug. It’s a plant. A plant that helps people heal and treat their medical conditions without the use of pharmaceuticals. This plant is saving lives! We must continue to educate anyone who will listen until everyone understands how much patients are benefiting from medical marijuana. Please, share your testimonies. It’s going to take time, but we will change minds!

Click the picture to hear my testimony or read the transcript below.

Mr. Chair, Committee Members:

Good Morning! I am a Gold Star Wife meaning my husband was killed in combat. I am raising our 15 year old daughter who is a pediatric patient.
|We need safe, legal, and affordable access to cannabis for our children. I would like to speak with you about how this bill will put even more financial stress on pediatric families. The cost for pediatric families is already considerably higher because we are required to pay for a second doctor’s visit plus an additional $75 for a caregiver card.

By choosing to consider all loose flower smokable, this body has prevented minors from accessing it for use with handheld vaporizers and other methods. We are not able to give our kids the benefits of full spectrum cannabis unless we purchase a $750 vaporizer from a Medical Marijuana Treatment Center. These machines take pods that cost $55 for 3 pods. According to the manufacturer’s website, each pod is designed to be used for one treatment. This means each treatment costs $18.33. If our children were given access to loose flower, I could purchase a $30 pen that would allow her to vaporize loose flower. This device would allow her to get 18 uses from a $50 supply of flower giving us a cost of $2.78 per treatment. That savings would be such a blessing for patients’ families.

We could also use loose flower to make full spectrum cannabis butter or medicinal teas for our children. Depending on the preparation, our children can get the benefits of THCa, CBDa, and other raw cannabinoids without the effects usually seen with Delta 9 THC. If your goal is assuring public safety and healthy families, then please vote no on this bill.