GUEST COLUMNIST: Reining in DEA will help those who rely on medical marijuana
Comments 6 | Recommend 6In all of nature, the most unnatural act is a parent losing a child.
Our son, Matthew William Bernsen died on Jan. 7, after a six-month fight with a very aggressive type of cancer.
By the time Matt was diagnosed, his cancer was at stage four and the disease had rapidly spread from his lungs, invading his spine, hip and leg. My son was in terrible agony, suffering excruciating non-stop pain, that even the most powerful narcotics could not bring him relief.
My wife and I were blessed to be able to care for Matt, but at the same time we suffered with him, helpless to do anything for him when the pain was overwhelming.
Matt chose to fight with chemotherapy — a polite way of describing ingesting powerful poisons that only added to his misery.
When we learned the devastating diagnosis, Matt asked his physician about medical marijuana to counter the effects of the chemotherapy.
In Colorado, like California, the voters support the use of so-called medical marijuana. His doctor told him that officially he was neutral, but then this doctor when on to give several reasons why Matt would benefit from using what I used to refer to as, “a green leafy substance resembling marijuana.” This is how I, as a career Los Angeles police officer, described marijuana in my arrest reports.
Colorado law enforcement allows the dispensing of medical marijuana by licensed outlets; not so the federal government.
The Drug Enforcement Agency, an arm of the U.S. Justice Department, regularly shuts down these medical pot merchants, citing federal law that prohibits the sale of a simple plant that does bring relief to those in chronic pain — including my son.
Yes, there were pot-laced brownies in the house and green-tinted weed-butter to spread on toast for my son.
As Bob Dylan sang, “the times, they are a changing.” President Barack Obama has directed his U.S. attorneys to no longer prosecute cases where federal agents seize medical marijuana. This reverses the previous administration’s policy, and will help the sick and dying.
Parents whose children are suffering unspeakable pain now no longer have to worry about a gang of black-clad federal dope cops kicking down their down their doors to seize the stash of medical marijuana because even simple possession remains a federal crime.
Reasonable people, including medical professionals, can and do disagree on the efficacy of medical marijuana, but as one father who saw first-hand how much relief this simple plant brought to my dying son, I am grateful for the president’s decision. And yes, in some respects, I deeply regret making all those marijuana arrests.
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Bernsen is a retired LAPD sergeant and former reporter for Fox 11 News in Los Angeles. He and his wife now live in Monument.
Uff da. Thanks for sharing.
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