HERE IS 1,2. AND 3 INSTALLMENTS:
Hello,
My name is Thomas Fitzgerald (Tommy) from York, Pa.,USA, and I am diagnosed with Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). This is a progressive, incurable disease which propelled me to action researching out-of-the-box cures. That, my friends, is where I’m at today.
My first experience with the herb came about in 1968 in the basement of Larry Peterson’s house; I have been smoking weed off and on since that fateful day (I'm 59 now). I served five years on a drug beef in 1991 in a max joint in Pennsylvania, where I got myself a two year Paralegal certification. I became a “Jailhouse Lawyer” and started fighting drug cases, and incidently, got two guys released and countless reductions of sentences.
So here I am today relegated to a wheelchair and a computer. After the last two years of research, I have discovered factual proof (clinical trials and published research) that evidences the incredible value of cannabinoids as treatment for cancer and neurodegenerative disease.
Cannabis Science Inc., President & CEO, Dr. Robert Melamede Ph.D., stated, “Squamous cell carcinomas have a much greater invasive potential than is typical of basal cell carcinomas. Photo-documentation of topical cannabis extract treatments of patient #2 and patient #3 dramatically demonstrate how the treatment appear to extrude the subcutaneous tumor to the surface as the killing and subsequent healing proceeds. Patient #3 reports continued progress as his tumors appear to shrink and the pain levels continue to improve. The patient's wife commented that about 75% of the large tumor mass is gone. We will continue with ‘live updates’ as new pictures and physician reports are made available to us.”
http://www.cannabisscience.com/news-a-media/press-releases/284-cannabis-science-reports-second-cancer-patient-receives-clean-biopsy-report-confirming-the-biopsy-is-free-of-cancer-cells.html
I had personal correspondence with Dr. Bob of Cannabis Science six months ago regarding neurodegenerative disease. He said, “I would be surprised it cannabis was not beneficial in slowing the disease progression. Even the US government has a patent on the neuro protective properties of cannabinoids. Have you ever tried high dose extracts, they seem to re-normalized a variety of biochemical imbalances?” The US governments failure to recognize the value of this type of research is unconscionable!
That was the first time I had my suspicions about Medical Marijuana confirmed to me personally by a respected PHD. Those two sentences galvanized me into action. I realized not only must I research on the medical community's efforts, also, I must advocate with-in the political arena. I have made huge strides in my research. I have medical contacts all around the world, and I can quote the bastions of conservatism that are now proponents of the use of cannabis for medical reasons. I can report on the efforts of some US Senators that just got a bill out of committee that will pave the way for FDA accelerated approval for trials utilizing cannabinoids as a research treatment for life threatening conditions.
But that’s all for later. Right now I have to go to the hospital for the interminable tests that measure the progression of my disease. C Ya !
Tommy
PS: I hope this and future posts will provide you with pertinent and relevant information. Where posts of this sort would have taken 20 minutes three years ago, now take me hours due to memory deterioration and narcotics for pain medication.
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I’ve returned to continue with another installment in my series of articles documenting my search to research an out-of-the-box cure for my disease, Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). In my first installment, I reported how President & CEO Dr. Robert Melamede Ph.D. of Cannabis Science Inc, had steered me towards a golden path lined with cannabis plants and frustration.
With his words firmly emblazoned in my mind, I contemplated an avenue of logical steps designed to garner supportive research to Dr Melamede’s recommended treatment regimen. I quickly realized that even if my research proved beneficial to my condition, I had to explore the realities of a government administration that for reasons of it’s own ignores the verified research by the scientists of the world. I found myself reflecting on what possible motive drove these idiots to refuse to accept verified findings of the scientific community. The latest polls show 56 % of Americans favor legalization and 74 % want the crackdown on Medical Marijuana to end now. But I digress from my path (it’s easy with these nitwits playing games with my life).
It was at this time I stumbled over the fact that the Mayo Clinic came out with a report (Mayo Clinic Proceedings Volume 87, Issue 2 , Pages 172-186, February 2012) that states, “organized medicine continues to condemn the federal government for its stance toward medical marijuana and the ongoing legislative and scientific chaos”. The American Medical Association, the Institute of Medicine, and the American College of Physicians contend that the “patchwork of state laws” do little to “establish clinical standards for marijuana use” and have called for reclassification of cannabis as a Schedule II controlled substance so researchers can follow “the principles that are used to evaluate all other pharmacotherapies [that] have largely been ignored for medical marijuana”. The report also states, “By forcing marijuana to languish as a Schedule I drug with a high potential for abuse, no accepted medical use, and no accepted safety for use in medically supervised treatment, the federal government thumbs an illogical nose at contemporary public sentiment, recent scientific discoveries, and potentially head-to-toe therapeutic breakthroughs. This reclassification would be a first step toward reconciling federal and state law and permitting long-stifled research into a potential trove of therapeutic applications to commence”.
http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(11)00021-8/fulltext
This report gave me a sense of hope that the government idiots would eventually get their act together. I turned my attention to a published report out of Spain referencing cannabinoids slowing/stopping the progression of MS.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22342378
I really didn’t understand the science, but I damm sure understood that these cannabinoid guys were attacking the progression of neurodegenerative disease. I concentrated on this cannabinoid thingy and discovered two smart ladies, (I’ve found most ladies in this field are far smarter then my dumb ass), who took part in publishing a series of research utilizing cannabinoids. Realizing that I was losing brain functions, was losing the ability to perform the basic of mobility functions, my vision was failing at an alarming rate, and overall this Multiple System Atrophy just “sucks”, I went forward. Anyway, (sorry about the wallowing in anger there), I researched how to contact these smart PHD’s to discover who was taking their research and transforming it into clinical trials. I wrote and recieved responses (it was a long shot that worked for me) from Dr Neta Rimmerman and Dr Ewa Kozela of the Weizman Institute in Israel (by the way, they looked cute in their pictures). Their research with cannabinoids identified the areas of investigation to the endocannabinoid on a cellular level. No, I didn’t understand it, but I sensed the importance as it related to my own research into a trial specific to my need, that is, some cure to save my life
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21533611
OK, so here I sit in my wheelchair moving forward living in Pennsylvania, whose wingnut Governor describes Medical Marijuana as a “gateway drug”, a federal government that bows down to idiot drug czar Gil Kerlikowske (look at his picture on Wikipedia, and you know he’s an asshole), and a scientific medical community that can’t properly research cannabis because of intimidation and fear. I need help!
I implore you to take five minutes and support the plight of those of us suffering with incurable progressive diseases by Tweeting relevant links, or posting on Facebook to your friends, and basically raising hell on the internet in your own unique style. Thanks !
That’s all I got for now, I must turn my attention to my never ending fight with the insurance company. C Ya!
Tommy
PS: I hope this and future posts will provide you with pertinent and relevant information. Where posts of this sort would have taken 20 minutes three years ago, now take me hours due to memory deterioration and the narcotics for pain medication.
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One of the trials of being saddled with an incurable, progressive disease is the never ending evolution of your symptoms. My disease, MSA, is notable in the fact that the symptoms “ebb and flow” as you make the journey to an inevitable death. I really didn’t know what to expect till I watched a video by Paola Drapkin Vermeer depicting her mother Patricia Drapkin's struggle, and eventual death, with the disease. (http://www.prlog.org/11843776-multiple-system-atrophy-film-wins-fan-favorite-at-neuro-film-festival.html) Incidently, the video won "Fan Favorite" at Neuro Film Festival.
So, back to my litany of research. At this point I was approximately a year into the diagnosis and about two years of symptomatic medical ailments. By this time I was fairly knowledgeable to the realities of the disease and it’s neurodegenerative properties. I had a viable medical team consisting of a team leader, assorted neurologists specializing in various components of the disease, and other specialists learned in fields that are a challenge to pronounce, and quite frankly, only are of interest to other patients and other Doctors.
I continued to correspond with learned researchers throughout the world. I was convinced, beyond a shadow of doubt, that with the exception of one of the clinical trials bearing fruit, my only choice was to find a way to procure a cannabis oil/extract (tincture) that exhibits a 1 to 1 ratio of CBD to THC. I was in correspondence with Dr. Alan Frankel who was a big proponent of the future production utilizing a 4 to 1 formula. Other sources suggested “grow a high CBD strain & a high THC strain, combine the 2 while making oil to whatever ratio works best for you”.
OK, so I had my path laid out before me. All I had to do was find a way to circumvent the mendacious politicians. I noticed a law in the Senate sponsored by Kay Hagen of North Carolina that directed the FDA to respond to terminal patients with all possible speed rather then follow the present statues that laid out a long, convoluted procedure. I contacted both Pennsylvania Senators and both promised support to the bill. “This legislation allows the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to implement a more effective process for the expedited development and review of innovative new medicines intended to address unmet medical needs for serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions, while maintaining the FDA’s high safety and effectiveness standard. The TREAT Act allows the FDA to take advantage of new scientific methods and tools to improve the approval process for drugs to treat serious or life-threatening diseases and conditions, taking into account the unique needs and circumstances of these patient communities. These new methods and tools have the potential to allow drug developers to prove the safety and effectiveness of their products through fewer, smaller or shorter clinical trials without compromising or altering the FDA’s existing high standards for the approval of drugs”. “S. 2113 has been referred out of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. It is under consideration for inclusion in the FDA re-authorization bills which will enhance the FDA’s authority to ensure that safe and effective new medical therapies reach patients rapidly”. I have no problem playing the “incurable disease” card. Quite frankly, my condition is what drives a response from these political community.
SEC. 506. EXPEDITED APPROVAL OF DRUGS FOR SERIOUS OR LIFE-THREATENING DISEASES OR CONDITIONS.
"(A) ACCELERATED APPROVAL- The Secretary may approve an application for approval of a product for a serious or life-threatening disease or condition, including a fast track product, under section 505(c) or section 351(a) of the Public Health Service Act upon a determination that the product has an effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit, or on a clinical endpoint, including an endpoint that can be measured earlier than irreversible morbidity or mortality, that is reasonably likely to predict an effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit, taking into account the severity or rarity of the condition and the availability of alternative treatments. The approval described in the preceding sentence is referred to in this section as `accelerated approval'."
If I look to the Fed for assistance, SB409, I will be dead before any action is forthcoming. I read the following which sums up my position. “It seems none of Obama’s statements jive with reality. As we continue to pull at the threads of Obama’s poorly woven fiction, he loses room to hide his true agenda. Obama, as many of you know, has accepted huge stacks of cash from people, groups, and companies that make billions off alternatives to hemp and cannabis. They will fight hard to: (1) keep the President from allowing reclassification, (2) to keep the FDA from admitting that if marijuana were removed from the CSA it would have to be treated like an herb (the FDA has limited jurisdiction to regulate plants and herbal supplements), and (3) to keep our elderly folks believing marijuana is dangerous. If we can bring these facts to light for all Americans to see, we can end the absurd war on marijuana, and the mass imprisonment of cannabis users”.
So I have written Pennsylvania Representative Cohen, who is the minority chair of the committee Human Services. (http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/cteeInfo/cteeInfo.cfm?cde=56&body=H) Cohen has sponsored Pa.’s Medical Marijuana legislation HB1653. (http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2011&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=1653&pn=2081)
I wrote to Cohen looking forward to the possibility of testifying. “I am dying from a neurodegenerative disease, MSA. Question, are impacted Pennsylvanians allowed to testify before committee? As my disease is a progressive, incurable disease, it is in my best interests to encourage the committee to bring HR1653 to a vote. I have had extensive correspondence with respected researchers around the world on the use of cannabinoids to ameliorate neurodegenerative disease. Basically, these published accounts of relevant research state that I could live! (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22342378)
(http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/27t5rX/www.tokeofthetown.com/2012/05/study_confirms_marijuana_helps_with_multiple_scler.php) This research has been performed by well respected Doctors, and positively reinforces the dire need for medical marijuana. I'm now relegated to a wheelchair and a hospital bed. My time is running out, and the slow, painful death is looming in the future. Thank you for the time out of your busy schedule.”
The drive to find a cure for this fricking disease was bolstered by the Vermeer video I mentioned in the opening paragraph. Well here I am, and if you plowed your way through the preceding recitation you deserve to know my plans. I have appointments at Hopkins, and also with my prime neurologist at the end of June, to discuss a viable Clinical Trial. If the Trial avenue is closed, I am going to fly to Oregon, get a non-resident card, change my residency to Maryland, and start producing an oil according to the formula discussed by the researchers from The Weizman Institute.
That’s all until we get passed the Fourth of July. I’ll either be scheduled to appear before the Pa. Senate (unlikely), inserted in a Clinical Trial (unlikely), or making travel arrangements to head west. The number one thing that absolutely drives me out of my mind, is the government could save me all the hassle and pain by simply re-scheduling cannabis to a Schedule II drug, those pricks!
C Ya,
Tommy
PS: I hope this and future posts will provide you with pertinent and relevant information. Where posts of this sort would have taken 20 minutes three years ago, now take me hours due to memory deterioration and the narcotics for pain medication.
