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Medical marijuana and death with dignity

February 15, 2016

med potOPINION by PATTY WELSH

Death with dignity means my loved one can stay comfortable in their own home as the end comes closer.

They get to sleep in their own bed be surrounded by friends and family any time night or day, unlike a hospital setting. They may be on hospice and have the nurses come to the house, no getting dressed or having to do a difficult car ride and sit in a waiting room.

Volunteers come to the house so I might get some respite care myself. Clergy can come to the house as desired by the patient. People who play musical instruments can come and play soothing music or any music the patient wants.

Medicine is delivered to the patients home, I don’t have to go to a parking lot to get my medicine whether it is Xanax to help with anxiety, pain medicine or many other pharmaceutical drugs to help with palliative care.

It is all about what that one person needs, it is about living right up to the last breath. It is about living a quality life, and if one decides with the aid of their doctor they may be given drugs to end their life on their own terms.

It is not being treated like a second class citizen because you happen to need a drug that the federal government considers a controlled substance, but the state of California sees differently, and has passed a law to allow patients to access to this drug with out fear of arrest. You can’t go to the pharmacy and get it, and hospice cannot supply it to you.

Right now in Arroyo Grande, the city council has decided we can not legally grow marijuana on our own property, cultivate it for use or for medical marijuana dispensaries, have a brick and mortar dispensary or have it delivered to your home by a company. Even though a law was passed by the state allowing terminally ill patients and others such as Devin Ward to have access to marijuana.

Arroyo Grande Council Member Kristen Barniech wrote me and told me Devin’s caregiver could drive him to a parking lot in Pismo Beach to get his medicine, just like you would drive to CVS to pick up any prescription? No! to sit in a parking lot waiting for a delivery to come and you make the transaction in a parking lot is not the same as going to CVS.

Also, fearing a law enforcement officer sees this transaction and detains everyone until they straighten it out, is not like everyone else. And the person who is distributing may be arrested, so next time you need a refill where do you go, who do you call?

And who gets the revenue from that sale, it is not Arroyo Grande, the city this council member makes laws for, it is Pismo Beach. This is a perfect example of not in my back yard. However, it tells certain people they are not worthy of the same dignity and respect being one of the most vulnerable, because they need a drug you can’t pick up at CVS.

I again urge this city council to revisit this topic sooner than the 60 days you are now considering. The reason being Devin Ward is just one of the terminally ill in our community that needs you to think about them. Government works very slowly and these people need help now, they needed your help weeks ago when you voted to out and out put a ban on marijuana in every way, shape, and form.

And why were other cities compelled to still allow deliveries, but we ban everything to everyone. Why not just allow dispensary to deliver? Then go back and really look at what the state voted for when they passed the law so many years ago.

If this was your husband, wife, child, sibling, mother, father would you be willing to wait 60 days? This is a human being, a resident, a partner, a son, a sibling, a friend.

I want him to matter to you, because he does matter to a lot of people. And I don’t want him to suffer as you decide it is okay to wait 60 days.

I have walked this walk, and I can talk this talk, I pray none of you have to do the same in the near future. I know what is going on in Devon’s head and he is scared to death and freaking out. The idea of being in pain, of being left to suffer when there are people who can help and a drug that can and has helped. Yet, instead he is told to wait 60 days. And at the end of 60 days, things might not change, and the suffering may continue.

I don’t know how touched you were by what this man said, but he touched me very deeply. I remember all I went through to help my husband Peter as he died. And we were not trying to get pot, just normal drugs for the terminally ill. It was a struggle and during one stay in Arroyo Grande hospital, I was told by a head nurse, “he is only dying.”

We don’t value the dying. They will not longer vote, they will no longer be patients, they will no longer be contributing people and are considered less than human in many aspects. I will stand and fight with Devin because it is the right thing to do, because he does matter.

Do the right thing, don’t wait 60 days and don’t make Devin Ward suffer physical pain.


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Most of us know that Kristen Barniech has never held a job, went from daddy’s house to hubby’s house, her big accomplishment is having 2 kids.


She gets all her information from the internet or from her gym rat friends at Kennedy Fitness so what do you expect from her.


Why do you think Tony appointed her, because she is a follower not a leader, and she is cute. He did not needs brains and he did not get them when he appointed her. I get so tired of her saying well my kids do this, my kids do that.


We don’t care about your kids or your friends Kristen. Oh she does get all her city information from staff, I forgot that. So she always vote whatever the staff recommends.


She is probably proud of herself for suggesting someone go to a parking lot to get their medicine. Does she even realize how unsafe that is for all parties concerned. That is all a robber needs to learn is which parking lot and when.


Kristen is that where you go to get your pot? is that how you know about this location? Or it is your kids when they aren’t loitering at Starbucks


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i disagree with you on two things: she went from daddy’s house to daddy’s house which her and overpaid parasite fireman hubby live in. Secondly, she is not attractive, at all, unless you are in the middle of a Cuyuma construction site.


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Maybe things will be different when recreational cannibis becomes available next November..


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“And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.” (Genesis 1:29)


“The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:12)


JESUS STATED; “It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” (Matthew 15:11)


“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” (Colossians 1:16)


Does any assumed Christian want to argue that they know more than Yahweh regarding the above passages relating to marijuana being good in the eyes of the Christian God? Yahweh created EVERY plant upon earth for a reason, or do you want to question Yahweh’s decision to create marijuana for consumption? Yes? If so, where do you get the authority to do so? We get so sick and tired of government officials usurping the Christian God’s biblical word, and in this case, it’s a tragedy!


Screw it, what is more important, easing the pain of a loved one in any way, or following some draconian law set forth by man who has no dog in the race, that is, until they are afflicted with cancer and need pain relief?


I’d get marijuana wherever I could, and if arrested, have a field day upon the topic of easing one’s pain verse breaking the law. News at eleven!


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“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged ..”

LUKE 6:37


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Pelican1,


For your enlightenment so you don’t make your mistake relative to judging again, the Lord Jesus Christ commanded, “Judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24). He told a man, “Thou hast rightly judged” (Luke 7:43), and the most important judging verse is when Jesus told others; “Why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?” (Luke 12:57).


For comic relief, tell a jury of your peers in a court room setting not to judge!


You’re dismissed.


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i actually met Devin the other day. It is bad enough listening to him tell you how the disease progresses and what he is up against, then he brings in the story about KFB telling him to go do an illegal parking lot drug deal. Devin, we apologize. Kristen was appointed to her position, and cannot help help but show her intelligence or lack thereof, at all times. Please forgive us and we admire your courage in this fight. We are on your side.


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joseywales,


You can really be on his side if you deliver some Mary Jane for Devin instead of your insipid rhetoric where cheap words do absolutely NOTHING to help him out, but only to appease your mind in some insidious way!


“We are on your side.” How trite can one get in this situation?! Pathetic.


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Awful damn judgmental of you Ted.

Maybe the Outlaw Josey Wales was bearing gifts when he/she met Devin.


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i think we all have Devin covered. courtesy of KFB.


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can she be removed?

i am so sick of these impostors pretending to represent their fellow citizens.


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KFB is really dumb as a post. Is she still in anecdotal as opposed to analytical stage? like a child that never grew up. Go to a parking lot in a neighboring city? the thick runs deep here ladies and gents.


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Kristen Barneich is wrong to vote not in my backyard and then tell a terminally ill patient to go to a parking lot to get his medicine.It will be interesting when it comes back to council what this bimbo has to say then and how she will vote.


And to think she makes other laws we have to live by what a moron she is.


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Kristen Barneich is just wrong, period.

No business sense, no common sense, no sense of reality.

To recommend that a dying man be driven to another business’ parking lot to conduct a transaction serves one purpose, and that is to make Ms Barneich feel better.

Suggesting Mr Ward act like a common criminal and involve others in the scheme is not a viable solution to the problem.

And what would she propose when he is too ill to get in a car, call an ambulance for transportation?

Mr. Ward needs a law that works for him and others who need the medication DELIVERED, not a solution which requires all parties to violate current laws.


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horse-soldier you are so correct Ms. Barneich did this to make HERSELF feel better.


She sits on the homeless coalition board, and looks at a 10 year plan all the while hearing that El Nino is coming. It was Mayor Hill who contacted Mr. DeBlaw to see about opening up the social services building again this year to help the homeless out.


She shows up and looks like she cares, but it is just for her own ego. What good does a 10 year plan do without a day by day plan for every day up to 10 years from now?


Mr. Ward needs help now, not in 60 days, but again she looked at the issue and in her mind she did something. I can’t even imagine what she will say when the council revisits this item, she will just once again show how little she knows and how little she really cares about others.


Mr. Ward there are people who care about you and are trying to get laws changed NOW, not in 60 days. I urge people to write the city council and ask them to get this back on the next agenda, let’s be proactive and help those who are struggling today.


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I keep an eye on these development. I no longer visit or spend money in any city that denies or limits access to medical marijuana.


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Unfortunately Mr. Ward is an example how this prohibition has affected a legal medicinal patient. The city has usurped his legal right to safe access. This is outright discrimination against a city resident, the city should be held legally liable for this draconian action.


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We have both here in Oregon, The hand wringers have been proven wrong, We did not slide down any slippery slope and crime has not gone through the roof.


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Lets just hope they didn’t do the same thing Governor Brown did here. It is easy to claim crime is down when you reduce the severity of many criminal acts and tell police not to bother with certain crimes, just let some criminals off and its easy to say crime is down.


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Of course its easy, because it is the right and logical thing to do. Pot should not have ever been a crime.


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the crime is the war on drugs brother


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