The things that go through my head

I mean he really, really, really likes George Bush. Put plastic on your keyboard before you read because you might hurl. It’s that bad.

Did you know that the fact that Georgie Porgie is a good public speaker means that he could not possibly be a bad person or be responsible for anything bad ever? OMG it’s true. I mean, it’s not like there has ever been a historical figure that managed to be eloquent and evil at the same time. *cough* Hitler *cough* And no, I am not calling George Bush Hitler. If you think that, then you really need to put down the Bush koolaid.

What is up with these people that think protesting is a waste of time? Protesting is the best thing that you can do to protect democracy. We all have the right to free speech. Attention Internet Trolls and People that have nothing better to do than post hateful spam on Facebook groups devoted to organizing peaceful anti-Bush rallies: Do you not understand the irony of telling protesters that they are wasting their time? Quit spamming the internet with your bullshit and go cure cancer. We know you can do it, if only you would quit wasting your time.

If you are fond of reading nonsense from George Bush fans go ahead and read this nauseating crap ALA Les MacPherson. No wonder Bush’s speech was given to a full house, when we have two influential media people that completely give Bush a pass. Education president my ass. Did you know Bush brought in No Child Left Behind, the worst thing to happen to education ever? Thanks to Bush every child must go through standardized testing and all the funding of the education system is related to the scores that kids get on these tests. Terrible. Even if the 9/11 attacks had never happened George Bush was still a nightmare for the educational system.

There are more reasons why Bush is terrible but I gotta go fix my baseboards.

I had the most wonderful time meeting the people of Yorkton. My friends and I got the warmest of welcomes from all the people there. I will never forget sitting around Linda’s kitchen table talking to all of her friends and family. A few people wanted to talk us out of having our rally. They expressed fears about being arrested by the police, simply for making their voices heard about a very contentious issue. But we assured everybody that it would be all right. We had our video cameras rolling, our cannabis flag and rally signs. We took turns on the megaphone. We got many honks from supportive passers-by and many visits from people of all ages. I met up with a lot of young people who saw our protest plans on facebook and came out to check it out. I also met up with elderly people looking for medicine for their ailments. I got the opportunity to educate the public and let the people of Yorkton know that the drug laws need to be changed. I couldn’t have asked for a better day.

I have some video footage of the rally, unfortunately my cinematography and video editing skills are seriously lacking. A lot of it is wobbly and unusable and I still don’t know how to use windows moviemaker very well. At any rate, if I figure out how to cut and paste video, I will be on my way and I will be posting it here.

Before yesterday’s rally I had the opportunity to get some video footage of Linda’s grow room.  She had a very nice set up going.  I would write more but I just wanted to throw this up before I make the long drive to Milestone to get my boyfriend.  Enjoy!

A small group of activists, including myself, will be meeting up with Linda Maddaford on Friday, August 14th, 2009.  There will be a rally to support her rights taking place at 2 p.m. in the afternoon in front of city hall.  Here is the link to the Facebook event. The address for city hall in Yorkton is 37 Third Ave North.  Unfortunately, only a few people can go, due to the fact that it is summer and everybody is either at the lake or at work.  The fact that this is last minute short notice doesn’t help either.   It is quite discouraging but you have to do the best that you can do.  Meeting up with Linda will be a very worthwhile thing to do.

Anything you can do to lend support will be greatly appreciated.

Yorkton resident Linda Maddaford had her home invaded by the Yorkton RCMP on August 5th, 2009. Approximately eight vehicles, including civilian vehicles, police cars and vans, raided her house when she wasn’t home. Ms. Maddaford had been a licensed medical marijuana patient for five years and she had been growing for her personal use for three years. When the police came they took her two mother plants. The strain was specific to her medical needs and is gone. The police killed her medical strain and she can not recover it. She was charged with production of two mother plants and possession of controlled substances. She was growing for her own personal medical use. She faces possible jail-time, house arrest and probation. She is no longer able to be bonded.  Her court date is on September 14th, 2009.  The arresting officer was Constable Kaare Bruce Christensen.  The search warrant was signed by Judge G. Rathgeber #2950.

She had been licensed to grow since July 21, 2005 and was legally licensed until July 21, 2008. Her medical marijuana license expired July 21, 2008 after her doctor, a neurologist, Dr. Larry Wine retired due to sudden medical illness. Health Canada required that Ms. Maddaford have her papers signed by a specialist. She tried to find another specialist but none of them will sign her paperwork. She has seen numerous specialists and has talked to neurologist specialists all to no avail. She phoned AIDS specialists at St. Paul’s hospital in Vancouver. They could not assist her. She was told to find a specialist in Saskatchewan. This has proven impossible as many doctors are not accepting new patients and many others are unwilling or unable to sign the paperwork. Her family doctor, Dr. Andres Van Heerden, has been completely supportive of her application for medical marijuana. But the Canadian Medical Association general council policy recommends that physicians not participate in the dispensing of medical marijuana.

The Canadian Medical Association strongly opposes the use of marijuana for medical reasons because they say there is not enough scientific information proving that marijuana is safe and effective medicine. This despite years of scientific research attesting to the effectiveness of marijuana as a medicine. Some of Dr. Wine’s patients have had their forms honored and other patients have not. It appears to be a discriminatory action by Health Canada. She can not get her license renewed without a specialists’ signature and is in legal limbo. She is caught between the cracks of the government. Patients have no protection from persecution.

She is living on social assistance and has been attending school for the last five years. She has been struggling to better herself. She was studying to be a real estate agent. “I need to find a job that will allow me to work in spite of my disability. I really need to get off of government assistance so I can feel good about myself,” Ms. Maddaford said. Her charges mean that she is no longer bondable and will be unable to practice as a real estate agent. She will be unable to cross the US border. She has no money to pay for a lawyer. She goes for an appointment on August 17th to find out if she can qualify for Legal Aid.

Medical marijuana helps relieve her pain and muscle spasms caused by mechanical back pain myofascial pain syndrome onset spondylosis. She also has degenerative arthritis and a right rotary cuff disorder caused by a workplace accident. Her medicine helps her eat because she has issues with her stomach due to prescription drugs. She has restrictions in the flexibility of her arms and shoulders and stiffness in her neck as well as headaches. She has been without her medicine since August 5th, 2009 and has endured headaches, arm numbness, swelling and weakness. She is having difficulty using her fingers due to her symptoms. Her landlord has been supportive of her growing for her personal use and the landlord’s paperwork has been in order.. Her neighbors are devastated that she might be going to jail. There is no other medicine that gives her the quality of life that marijuana has allowed her to achieve. “I would be unable to make it in school without my medicine,” says Ms. Maddaford.

Health Canada has two categories for medical marijuana patients. Category 1 contains patients with terminal cancer and severe degenerative arthritis. They are only required to get their family doctor to sign their paperwork. Category 2 patients covers all other patients and are required to get a specialist to sign their paperwork. Licensed medical marijuana patients are allowed to grow and possess for personal use.

Media can contact Linda Maddaford for an interview by emailing me at tanyaderbowka at gmail.com.

Read more…