It's a beautiful sunny Saturday in New York City. We completed our rounds of baseball and bike riding with lots of time left over to enjoy the day.
There seems to be a rally to change the marijuana laws going on across the street at Tompkins Square Park. There is a respectable crowd in attendance - far from menacing. So why are there about seventy cops in and around the park?
I'm definitly in support of the legalization of marijuana for medical use. If you have ever been face to face with someone in the throes of chemo or AIDS medication - there is no way you could deny the comfort of cutting through the extreme and endless nausea they deal with.
When I was pregnant with Ben, I suffered from severe morning sickness for my entire term. Now there is a name for it - Hyperemesis Gravidarum - back then they basically told me to suck it up. I wonder how many men could throw up at least four times a day while holding down a full time job and a commute that includes a crosstown bus and a twenty minute subway ride while their tummies are expanding into solid basketballs?
One day I was walking towards Avenue A and someone in front of me must have been discreetly smoking a joint. I somehow inhaled the second hand smoke and for a shining moment - I wasn't sick. I almost started to cry because it was such a relief.
Of course marijuana is no remedy for morning sickness - but I fully support its use for those poor souls dealing with chemo or AIDS medications.
Sadly, no acupuncturist or shiatsu practitioner would go near me for fear of liability issues.
Does my son appreciate any of this struggle? No way! I'm only as good as the last meal I cooked!
6 comments:
Hi EVI,
I was at yesterday's Tompkins Square rally, which was pretty good for what it was (as far as the music went). It was, as you observed, peaceful and pleasant.
I found the police presence a little off-putting, too, but I reminded myself that they're just doing their job. Sometimes, empathy comes hard for me. Lately, though, I'm having a slightly easier time of it.
I've never understood the need for politicians to protect us from ourselves in certain situations. The use of medical marijuana being one of them.
Dumb stupid men and their "suck it up" strategies. I love to re-read this piece from Gloria Steinem:
http://www.haverford.edu/psych/ddavis/p109g/steinem.menstruate.html
Well, I can speak from personal experience with chemo and da herb. It is magic. Your experience matched mine exactly. One tiny whiff and nausea turned off like a light switch. Fortunately pot is very tolerated in BC while still not legal. However medicinal marajuana is available but sometimes the hoops you have to jump through to qualify take far too long. That is when your dealer neighbour comes in handy for your wait period.
Why do they never have that kind of police presence during Oktober Fest or some of those drinking events? They are far more prone to violence.
I agree with you about the legalization of marijuana for medical use. I've known more than one person through the years who talked about how it helped them.
Sorry, Dr. Deb, but there are plenty of dumb, stupid women, too. Ever hear of Carrie Nation? Aimee Semple McPherson? I could go on, and with more recent examples, too, but you get my point. Men don't have a monopoly on idiocy (though I concede we're overrepresented).
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