Daniel Hankins urges Arkansans to vote Yes on Issue 5 to help alleviate the suffering of veterans and other patients
Arkansans for Compassionate Care on Friday started airing its second television ad in support of Issue 5, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act. The ad features Daniel Hankins, an Air Force veteran who was disabled when a 500-pound bomb fell on his back. As noted in the ad, Daniel also suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) due to the fact that three close friends lost their lives in front of him.
Hankins expressed his desire to use medical marijuana to alleviate his suffering and allow him to wean off many more harmful pharmaceutical drugs. Under the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act, veterans with PTSD would qualify to use medical marijuana if they have a doctor's recommendation to do so.
In New Mexico, where PTSD was added as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana by that state's Department of Health, approximately 3,000 PTSD patients are obtaining relief through the program.
There is strong anecdotal evidence supporting the use of medical marijuana for PTSD. It was even the subject of a feature story in the military publication Stars and Stripes.
The FDA has approved a research protocol to study the therapeutic benefits of medical marijuana for PTSD patients. But the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the federal government agency that controls the only legal supply of marijuana for research purposes, has refused to provide researchers with the marijuana needed to conduct the study.
The full ad, featuring Daniel, can be viewed here:
A second ad, featuring Emily Williams, the wife of Fayetteville City Attorney Kit Williams, has appeared on television over the past week. Emily used marijuana to alleviate severe nausea and appetite loss while she was undergoing chemotherapy to treat her cancer. This ad can be viewed here:
Arkansans for Compassionate Care
Arkansans for Compassionate Care is a coalition of concerned physicians, patients, and allies who agree that sick and dying patients should have access to medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation.
For thousands of chronically-ill Arkansans, the pain and nausea relief afforded by marijuana helps them live comfortably without harmful side effects. But marijuana is currently unregulated and not legally available.
Arkansans for Compassionate Care offers a better choice: controlled access to a medicine that is proven to be both safe and effective, especially against the debilitating effects of chronic illness and harsh medical treatments.
When all of these PTSD vets switch over to bath salts and meth because they aren't paid enough (or don't get enough support from the government) and can't grow their own meds they are going to be taking over the streets. Thousands of young men and women trained in weaponry and combat will be jobless and sick in various American cities with no hope. I hope it's worth it to the Arkansas politicians.
These moronic politicians are about to learn what "nothing left to lose" really means. Then hopefully all of these absued vets can heal, fire the politicians, and take their jobs.
"Live for something rather than die for nothing." Support your vets citizens as they have supported you. Don't get on your knees for the politicians. Stand up already.
I live in Arkansas, and the polls say it is a dead heat. Organizations that do not want it legalized, are resorting to disinformation to try and get us not to pass it. They don't understand they are sending good people to the grave early.............
