Kupuna need medical cannabis, too
While the war on cannabis is finally shifting, a vulnerable segment of society is under attack with the threat of homelessness if they use cannabis in their homes. Ainakea Senior residents were informed that as of June 1, cigarette smoking is now banned except for a specified smoking area, while any medicinal marijuana use must be done off the property! Of course, there can be no possession of cannabis on property regardless of state law, with or without a doctor’s prescription.
Our Hawaiian Constitution, Article I Sec 6, states we have a right to privacy inside our homes. With that in mind, it is weird (and illegal) that non-medical individuals assume power to control what poor, sick elderly can do. FYI, most seniors daily confront pain and disease. An amazing amount of time (daily) and energy is given to controlling pain. Unless you have daily access to sick or declining elders, no one really understands this. There is a direct connection between pain and quality of life.
Pain eventually drains the will to live. Yet, non-medical individuals and those with an uneducated bias, for whatever reasons, choose to control the lives of disempowered, vulnerable people by taking away their pain control ability and choices. We know pharmaceuticals, especially developed for physical pain, have been scientifically proven to be damaging and addictive to our bodies. Cannabis does not. Addiction should not even be an issue when pain is chronic. The concept of “addiction” means nothing to people who wake with pain and go to sleep with pain.
I should mention one other thing that greatly affects quality of life — fear. Only one person is signing this letter. No one else felt safe doing so. We have been told if you don’t like this, then move. Yes, well, every resident knows even expensive housing is limited and low-income is non-existent in Kohala, so residents really hear, “We do not care about what you want.”
There are at least 29 states that have legalized marijuana. Each of those states listed medical reasons. For example, in Hawaii the following conditions from cancer, HIV/AIDS, wasting syndrome, severe pain, severe nausea, seizures, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, and PTSD are noted. We know that President Jimmy Carter cured his brain cancer with medicinal cannabis. If it helped President Carter, why not also let it help vulnerable kupuna?
Karen Martinez
Kapaau