Drug War Briefs: Medical Marijuana Bill introduced in Ohio

Senator Bob Hagan (D-33rd District) introduced Senate Bill 74 which would allow doctors to recommend marijuana in certain cases, including with patients who suffer from HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, Multiple Sclerosis, cancer, nausea or chronic pain. The bill specifically does not authorize distribution of cannabis by primary caregivers or doctors and no insurance company can be forced to pay for medical use of marijuana. The introduction of this bill marks a victory for the Ohio Patient Network (OPN), the patient’s advocacy group behind state wide organizing. “Hopefully this bill will pass and the sick and dying can finally be taken off the battlefield in the War on Drugs,” said Joseph Zoretic, president of OPN.

The actual language of the bill uses the term “marihuana,” an interesting form of slang which yellow journalist William Hearst created and exploited in the 1930’s to demonize and ban Cannabis sativa. From 1850 to 1937, cannabis was used as the prime medicine for more than 100 separate illnesses or diseases in U.S. pharmacopoeia.

Drug War Briefs: Ohio “Drugged Driving” Bill passes Senate; on to House

Senate Bill 8, introduced by Jeff Jacobson (R-6th District) and Steve Austria (R-10th District), would make illegal operating a vehicle if virtually any amount of a controlled substance or metabolite of a controlled substance is present in one’s blood or plasma. A Driving under the Influence of Drugs (DUID) conviction would be a felony offense. This criminalization of post-drug use is in stark contradiction to scientific evidence that metabolites of drugs remain in bodily fluids long after any high has disappeared. The Senate vote was 30-1, with Senate Minority Leader C.J.  Prentiss, D-Cleveland, casting the only “no” vote. This bill was sent to the House on February 17th for approval.

J30 Election Reform Coalition

On January 30th at Whetstone Park, Columbus, Ohio there was a meeting of groups interested in election reform. The purpose was to, “Combine the efforts of the various election reform groups, as well as allow for communication between the groups so no one’s efforts are duplicated,” according to organizer activist Rady Ananda,

Among the 120 people present were members of CASE-Ohio, Ohio Vigilance, MeetUp, and Redefeat Bush. This cooperating group of organizations has dubbed themselves the “J30 Coalition.” Blackboxvoting.org’s Bev Harris encouraged each group to continue to work independently, in order to attack election problems from different angles, while at the same time keeping channels of communication open.

One of the problems that the J30 Coalition is addressing is conflict of interest in the electoral process due to party affiliations of members of the Board of Elections, and the privatization of voting machine contracts. Diebold is owned by a vocal Republican supporter, and Blackboxvoting.org revealed that ES&S is owned by Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb) and his campaign finance director, Michael McCarthy.

Red Bird books to prisoners

“10,888 days and counting. That’s not the number of books in their inventory; it’s the number of days I’ve been warehoused in prison as of 7/28/04. The most difficult, even painful part of the prison experience is not so much the physical violence, the eight plus years of segregation, being rejected by loved ones, nor the struggle with dependency issues and personal demons. No, the real struggle is for growth. In prison you don’t truly grow as a human being; you just sort of grow old. People grow hopefully through experiencing the world around them, even if it’s simply their community. In the prison world, we fear what we can grow into. For many prisoners, the path to their social, political, spiritual and educational growth and development can be tracked by following the footprints of the worn volumes of books they’ve read and in some instances fought to possess.” - Ray Champagne, inmate, Shirley, Massachusetts

Bill Barndt is 90!

It was fitting that Bill used his 90th birthday party to organize for Worldwide Humanitarian Aid. Friends and family gathered on February 5 at the First Congregational Church to celebrate with Bill and give donations of sewing machines, medical equipment, school supplies and money for his organization. There were many cakes to choose from and a sundae bar to graze at, while singing and commemorating the many accomplishments of the man of the hour.

Bill led the group HADCCO-Hunger and Development Coalition of Central Ohio, was the local organizer for Pastors for Peace and a longtime member of the Columbus-Copapayo Sister City Project. Besides being a progressive United Church of Christ pastor, Bill also traveled all over the world to deliver humanitarian aid and good will. I have memories of him at 74 years old, bouncing around in the back of a very small jeep from San Salvador to the countryside in the middle of the night to avoid military checkpoints; trekking through untouched terrain near Copapayo, El Salvador; and leading all the children in our sister city in games and songs.

Gay marriage at the Franklin County Courthouse on Valentine’s Day

Lee Gatwood surprised Kevin Bayles, his partner of four years, with a ring right before the ceremony. Another lesbian couple, not pictured, who are African American, decided to leave right after the ceremony when they learned that they would be turned down for a marriage license. It is surprising but many Ohio citizens still do not know that gays can’t legally marry here in the “land of the free.” These six couples, accompanied by Rev. Hawk, went into the Courthouse and applied for licenses. When refused, they thanked the clerk and said. “We’ll be back next year and every year until we get equal rights!” A couple of women passing by while the ceremony was being performed, were heard to say, as if scripted in a grade B movie, “It was Adam and Eve!” and “They must be praying to a different God.” Rev. Creech commented later, “Maybe we ARE praying to a different God; ours loves and accepts everybody, regardless of orientation!”

Trash plant finally trashed

Back in 1994, the Free Press crusaded against the cash-burning power plant and dioxin generator on the South Side of Columbus. The words “Shut it down!” with the subtitle “June Alexander battles cancer and the trash-burner” on the June 1994 cover. The July-August 1994 Free Press issue revealed a rigged trash-burning test hiding record levels of carcinogenics spewing from the plant. With Theresa Mills, the late Roberta Booth and the Loscko family and workers on the inside, the Free Press broke story after story. An article by Free Press Editor Bob Fitrakis appeared in the now-defunct Columbus Guardian with leaked internal safety memos showing a tenth of the workforce at the plant had died during its decade of operation. The plant was shut later year. Now the stacks have been turned to rubble and the plant is dead. May the workers rest in peace. These articles and more will be included in the fifth volume of The Fitrakis Files scheduled to be published this spring.

Vanity Fair reveals unfair election

At least well-dressed wealthy people who smell good will get it. Christopher Hitchens’ story in the March 2005 Vanity Fair sums it up well under the headline: “Ohio’s Odd Numbers.” It reads like, well, a Free Press article. Hitchens finds “Ohio’s polling results impossible to swallow” and insists that, “Both democracy and common sense cry out for a court-ordered inspection of its new voting machines.” Here, Here!

March-April 2005

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