Posts made in October, 2014

2014 PA Senate Voting Guide

Posted by KCC on Oct 21, 2014 in Blog

If any candidates position on medical marijuana is known it is indicated. Keep in mind that a ‘Yes’ on MMJ alone is not enough for us to endorse someone, unless we know their opponent is against it. Nor does a ‘yes’ on MMJ mean that we know their position on decrim or full legalization. In general the candidates we endorse support MMJ, hemp, decrim and are at least open to full legalization.

We urge everyone to take a moment and see if there is a race in your district and comment with what you know on the candidates’ positions so this can be updated and we can all help each other be informed voters.

If you are unsure which district you are in you can find it here.

District	Candidate	Candidate
District 2	Christine Tartaglione (D) Supports MMJ	John Jenkins (R) Unknown
District 4	Art Haywood (D) Unknown	Robin Gilchrist (R) Unknown Ines Reyes (I) Unknown
District 6	Kimberly Yeager-Rose (D) Unknown	Robert Tomlinson (R) Supports MMJ
District 10	Steve Cickay (D) Unknown	Charles McIlhinney (R) Supports MMJ
District 12	Ruth S. Damsker (D) Unknown	Stewart Greenleaf (R) Supports MMJ
District 16	Walter Felton Jr. (D) Unknown	Pat Browne (R) Supports MMJ
District 22	John Blake (D) Supports MMJ	Joe Albert (R) Unknown
District 24	Jack Hansen (D) Unknown	Bob Mensch (R) Supports MMJ
District 26	John Kane Sr. (D) Unknown	Thomas McGarrigle (R) Unknown
District 28	Linda E. Small (D) Supports MMJ	Scott Wagner (R) Supports MMJ
District 32	Deberah Kula (D) Unknown	Patrick Stefanor (R) Unknown
District 36	Gary Schreckengost (D) ENDORSED	Ryan Aument r (R) Unknown
District 40	Mark Aurand (D) Unknown	Mario Scavello (R) Unknown
District 44	Kathleen Cozzone (D) ENDORSED	John Rafferty (R) Supports MMJ
District 46	Timothy Solobay (D) Supports MMJ	Camera Bartolotta (R) Unknown
District 50	Michael Muha (D) Unknown	Michele Brooks (R) Unknown

2014 PA House Voting Guide

Posted by KCC on Oct 20, 2014 in Blog

If any candidates position on medical marijuana is known it is indicated. Keep in mind that a ‘Yes’ on MMJ alone is not enough for us to endorse someone, unless we know their opponent is against it. Nor does a ‘yes’ on MMJ mean that we know their position on decrim or full legalization. In general the candidates we endorse support MMJ, hemp, decrim and are at least open to full legalization.

We urge everyone to take a moment and see if there is a race in your district and comment with what you know on the candidates’ positions so this can be updated and we can all help each other be informed voters.

If you are unsure which district you are in you can find it here.

District	Candidate	Candidate
District 3	Ryan Bizzarro (D) Supports MMJ	Luke Lofgrem (R) Unknown
District 4	Curt Smith (D) Supports MMJ	Curtis Sonney (R) Opposes MMJ
District 5	Frederick Sheeler (D) Supports MMJ	Barry J. Jozwiak (R) Supports MMJ
District 6	Juanita Shutsa (D) Unknown	Bradley Roae (R) Supports MMJ
District 9	Chris Sainato (D) Supports MMJ	Gary Cangey (R) Unknown
District 12	Lisa Zucco (D) Unknown	Daryl Metcalfe (R) Unknown
District 13	Ann V.S. Schott (D) Unknown	John Lawrence (R) Unknown
District 15	Paul Cain (D) Unknown	Jim Christiana (R) Supports MMJ
District 17	Wayne Hanson (D) Unknown	Parke Wentling (R) Unknown
District 20	Adam Ravenstahl (D)	Tom Fodi (R) ENDORSED
District 22	Peter Schweyer (D)Unknown	Steven Santos (R) Unknown
District 25	Joseph Markosek (D) Unknown	John Ritter (R) Unknown
District 31	Steve Santarsiero (D) Supports MMJ	David Gibbon (R) Unknown
District 33	Frank Dermody (D) Supports MMJ	Sean Watson (R) Unknown
District 35	Marc Gergel (D) Supports MMJ	Kenneth Peoples (R) Unknown
District 37	Brian Kresge (D) Unknown	Mindy Fee (R) Opposes MMJ
District 39	Lisa Stout-Bashioum (D) Supports MMJ	Rick Saccone (R) Supports MMJ
District 41	Alice Yoder (D) Supports MMJ	Brett Miller (R) Unknown
District 43	Stephen Stone (D) ENDORSED	Keith Greiner (R) Opposes MMJ
District 45	Nick Kotik (D) Unknown	Benjamin Gross (R) Supports FULL Legalization
District 46	Jesse White (D) Supports MMJ	Jason Ortitay (R) Unknown
District 48	Brandon Neuman (D) Supports MMJ	Sonia Stopperich (R) Unknown
District 49	Peter Daley, III (D) Supports MMJ	Bud Cook (R) Unknown
District 52	Andrew Boni (D) Unknown	Ryan Warner (R) Supports MMJ
District 53	Dottie Miller (D) Unknown	Robert Godshall (R) Supports MMJ
District 54	Patrick Leyland (D) Unknown	Eli Evankovich (R) Unknown
District 55	Joseph Petrarca (D) Supports MMJ	Brian Panichelle (R) Unknown
District 57	Donna McClelland (D) Supports MMJ	Tim Krieger (R) Unknown
District 58	R. Ted Harhai (D) Supports MMJ	Thomas Logan (R) Unknown
District 61	Suzan Leonard (D) Unknown	Catherine Harper (R) Supports MMJ
District 62	Kevin Freeberg (D) Unknown	Dave Reed (R) Supports MMJ
District 65	Toby Anderson (D) ENDORSED	Kathy Rapp (R)
District 66	Robert Toby Santik (D) Unknown	Cris Dush (R) Opposes MMJ
District 68	Jon Ruth (D) ENDORSED	Matt Baker (R) Opposes MMJ
District 71	Bryan Barbin (D) Unknown	Jim Rigby (R) Unknown
District 72	Frank Burns (D) Unknown	Philip Rice (R) Unknown
District 74	Joshua Maxwell (D) Supports MMJ	Harry Lewis, Jr. (R) Supports MMJ
District 75	Jack Donahue (D) Unknown	Matt Gabler (R) Supports MMJ
District 77	H. Scott Conklin (D) Supports MMJ	Charles T. Martin (L) Unknown
District 81	Richard Irvin (D) Opposes MMJ	Michael Fleck (R) Supports MMJ
District 83	Richard Mirabito (D) Supports MMJ	Jeff Wheeland (R) Unknown
District 84	Kristen Hayes (D) ENDORSED	Garth Everett (R)
District 85	Michael Sundberg (D) Unknown	Fred Keller (R) Supports MMJ
District 94	David Colon (D) Unknown	Stanley Saylor (R) Unknown
District 97	Charles Hample (D) ENDORSED	Steven Mentzer (R) Opposes
District 98	Tony Crocamo (D) Supports MMJ, decrim	David Hickernell (R) Unknown Ryan Hazel (G) Unknown
District 99	Bryan Sanguinito (D) ENDORSED	David Zimmerman (R) Opposes MMJ
District 101	Patricia Stephens (D) Unknown	Mauree Gingrich (R) Unknown
District 102	Jake Long (D) Unknown	Russell Diamond (R) Supports MMJ Robert McAteer (I) Unknown
District 104	Eugene Stilp (D) ENDORSED	Susan Helm (R) Unknown
District 105	Kelly Jean McEntee (D) ENDORSED	Ronald Marsico (R) Unknown
District 107	Kurt Masser (R) Supports MMJ	John Burd (L) ENDORSED
District 111	John Heptig (D) Unknown	Sandra Major (R) Unknown
District 113	Martin Flynn (D) Supports MMJ	Marcel Lisi (R) Unknown
District 114	Sid Michaels Kavulich (D) Unknown	Melanie Madeira (R) Unknown
District 115	Maureen Madden (D) Unknown	David C. Parker (R) Unknown
District 117	Laura Dickson (D) Unknown	Karen Boback (R) Unknown
District 120	Eileen Cipriani (D) Unknown	Aaron Kaufer (R) Supports MMJ
District 121	Eddie Day Pashinski (D) Supports MMJ	Betsy Summers (L) Unknown
District 122	Patricia Dawn Borger (D) Unknown	Doyle Heffley (R) Opposes MMJ
District 130	David Kessler (D) ENDORSED	David Maloney (R) Unknown
District 131	Michael Beyer (D) Unknown	Justin Simmons (R) Unknown
District 133	Daniel McNeill (D) Supports MMJ	David Molony (R) Unknown
District 138	Leslie Altieri (D) Unknown	Marcia Hahn (R) Unknown
District 141	Tina Davis (D) Supports MMJ	Joseph Lippolis (R) Unknown
District 142	Regina Kiley (D) Unknown	Frank Farry (R) Supports MMJ
District 145	Karen Chellew (D) Supports MMJ	Craig Staats (R) Supports MMJ
District 146	Mark Painter (D) Supports MMJ	Thomas Quigley (R) Unknown
District 148	Mary Jo Daley (D) Supports MMJ	Ed Flocco (R) Unknown
District 150	David McKenzie (D) Unknown	Mike Vereb (R) Supports MMJ
District 154	Steve McCarter (D) Supports MMJ	Robert Gillies, Jr. (R) Unknown
District 155	James Burns (D) Unknown	Becky Corbin (R) Opposes MMJ
District 156	Sandra Snyder (D) Unknown	Dan Truitt (R) Unknown
District 157	Marian Moskowitz (D) Unknown	Warren Kampf (R) Supports MMJ
District 158	Susan Rzucidlo (D) Supports MMJ	Chris Ross (R) Opposes MMJ
District 159	Thaddeus Kirkland (D) Supports MMJ	Michael Ciach (R) Unknown
District 160	Whitney Hoffman (D) Unknown	Stephen Barrar (R) Supports MMJ
District 161	Leanne Krueger-Braneky (D) Unknown	Joe Hackett (R) Unknown
District 163	Vincent Rongione (D) Unknown	Jamie Santora (R) Unknown
District 164	Margo Davidson (D) Unknown	Saud Siddiqui (R) Unknown
District 165	Charles Hadley (D) Unknown	William Adolph, Jr. (R) Supports MMJ
District 166	Gregory Vitali (D) Supports MMJ	Sarah Armstrong (R) Unknown
District 167	Anne Crowley (D) Unknown	Duane Milne (R) Unknown
District 173	Michael Driscoll (D) Unknown	Michael Tomlinson (R) Unknown
District 176	Hope Smith (D) Unknown	Jack Rader, Jr. (R) Unknown
District 183	Terri Powell (D) Unknown	Julie Harhart (R) Unknown Michael Molovinsky (I) Unknown
District 188	James Roebuck, Jr. (D) Supports MMJ	Ernest Adkins (D) Unknown
District 189	Elizabeth Forrest (D) Unknown	Rosemary Brown (R) Unknown
District 190	Vanessa Lowery Brown (D) Supports MMJ	Glenn Davis (G) Unknown
District 193	Paul Bart (D) Supports CBD Only	Will Tallman (R) Supports MMJ
District 194	Pamela Delissio (D) Supports MMJ	William Pounds (R) Unknown
District 199	Jill Sunday Bartoli (D) Unknown	Stephen Bloom (R) Unknown

Passionate speech from KCC Executive Director, Les Stark

Posted by KCC on Oct 9, 2014 in Blog

I have been told that it takes five years to pass a bill in the General Assembly in Harrisburg. Five years. Does anyone know how long it has been since the first bill for medical cannabis was introduced in Pennsylvania? It was introduced in 1979. That means it is 35 years that the citizens of Pennsylvania have been waiting – 35 years!
That bill died in committee of course but after a lull of 30 years Pennsylvania finally had a medical cannabis bill re-introduced five years ago. The current bill was introduced nearly a year ago. How long are the people of Pennsylvania supposed to wait? Would you have us wait another 35 years perhaps?

Most of those who needed it 35 years ago are dead. Of what use was it to deny them their medicine? Some of those who needed it five years ago are dead too and their suffering still lingers in our minds. Sadly, some who needed it one year ago have also died. Some people are dying right now. Will you let them die to without relief?

My uncle Butch Kilhefner served as a Marine Corps Infantryman in Viet Nam. After he came home and got out of the Marines he signed up for the Navy and went back to Viet Nam. I was a kid when he was in the war but I remember watching the news, hearing the stories and then greeting him when he came back from his second tour in Viet Nam again.

He was a hero to me. It was his inspiration that led me to join the Marine Corps and serve as a Tank Crewman on the M60A1 Tank and his inspiration caused my brother Jim Stark to join the Navy where he served in the first Gulf War in WWII, serving on board what was to become the most badly damaged American warship since 1991 – the USS Princeton- after it suffered the blast from three surface and underwater sea mines.
A bit over a year ago, I visited my uncle Butch in the hospital. He had lifelong complications from Agent Orange. His liver was failing. For three weeks before he died he suffered from constant and severe nausea. He could not keep food down and had to be fed intravenously. None of the medication they gave him could combat his nausea.

Medical cannabis would not have saved my uncle Butch’s life. Agent Orange had been dogging him all his life and what he had could not be beaten. However, during the last few weeks of his life, his suffering could have been alleviated and could have at least had a break from the dreadful nausea. My uncle Butch hated cannabis and never used it, not even in Viet Nam. He would have used it though when he needed it.
I am almost 49 years old. The older you get of course the more people you see suffer and then die, the more loved ones leave us. It is always tragic and heartbreaking. Who would deny a cancer patient that is going through chemo therapy right now the opportunity to use cannabis to ease their suffering? Who would let them die and do nothing to allow them to ease their suffering with cannabis? Who would tell them, “I’m sorry, there is an election coming up and frankly, we don’t have enough time?”

Would our Representatives in the State Legislature tell them that? Would Tom Corbbett tell them that?
Make no mistake, the 85% support for medical cannabis does not all come from people who need it for themselves. I do not need it. There is nothing wrong with me. Medical cannabis will not benefit me one bit. I am motivated out of compassion, moved by not only my own experiences of watching loved ones suffer who could have benefited from medical cannabis, but because of my involvement in this movement I have come to know the advocates who we have come to know as the Mama Bears. I see the travails they are going through, the hardships they must overcome and there constant, relentless vigil over their seizing children. Any one of those seizures could result in death. My heart breaks for them, for how they and so many others are denied a natural medicine that is not only non-toxic but can produce in many instances miraculous changes and amazingly positive health outcomes.

My organization, Keystone Cannabis Coalition is disappointed in the amended version of SB 1182. We believe that whole plant cannabis must be allowed and the list of conditions should be expanded. Still, we are equally dismayed that even this meager offering to the public is being spurned by some in the House leadership and vehemently opposed by Governor Corbett.

This bill will go to Tom Corbett and get signed because the people are demanding the legislature to act now. If it does not, then Tom Corbett will watch from the sidelines as our next Governor Tom Wolf signs a medical cannabis bill into law.
The nearly 3,000 signatures collected by Derek Rosenzwieg in the last two weeks is representative of the millions of Pennsylvanians who support medical cannabis in this state. The people of Pennsylvania have waited long enough! Do not make us wait another 35 years. Do not make us wait another five years! Do not make us wait one more year!

We urge the House leadership and the Pa. House of Representatives to do the right thing. Allow SB 1182 to come to a vote. Do not say to our loved ones, “I’m sorry but there was not enough time”.