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Public Forum: The Case for Medical Marijuana
October 27, 2014 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
FreeThis forum will explore the medical science of marijuana, including the benefits, drawbacks and side effects; a historical perspective that examines the use of marijuana for healing over the last two millennia and the history of prohibition in the United States; the safety profile of cannabis including case studies and medical research; general misconceptions; the advocacy for and politics that surround the legalization of marijuana; and a collection of personal perspectives that depict the human side of the issue…plus plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion.
Panelists include:
Senator Mike Folmer (R-48)
John Hanger, Esq.
Cristy Harding, RN and Mother
Lolly Bentch Meyers, Co-Founder, Campaign for Compassion
Arno Vosk, MD, retired ER doctor
Moderator: Than Mitchell, WKOK Co-Anchor, On the Mark
Speaker Bios:
Senator Mike Folmer (R-48) is co-sponsor of SB 1182, Senate Bill 1182, the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Act, which would allow Pennsylvania physicians to prescribe medicinal cannabis. He serves as Chairman of the Senate Education Committee and Vice Chair of the Labor and Industry Committee. Mike is a founding member of the Constitutional Organization of Liberty, a community-wide educational project designed to promote awareness of America’s founding principles.
John Hanger is a former Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, a position he held between September 2008 and January 2011 under former Governor Edward G. Rendell. He is also a former Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.[1] Hanger is currently Special Counsel for Eckert Seamans, an American law firm and lobbying organization headquartered in Pittsburgh. He was a candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania in 2014, and campaigned on legalizing marijuana.
Cristy Harding, RN, is an award winning Emergency Room nurse, dedicated mother of 3 children, and a strong advocate for medical cannabis. Her advocacy for medical cannabis began in January 2014. A friend shared a video of a young girl’s success treating seizures with cannabis in Colorado. This sparked her interest since her youngest child, Jason, has intractable epilepsy. His seizues are not controlled with multiple medications or a special diet. Her in depth research has created an advocate that is well versed in the pros and cons of medical cannabis. She is also a member of the Stakeholder Committee for PA’s medical research study for pediatric epilepsy using cannabis.
Lolly Bentch Myers is one of the founders of Campaign4Compassion, a grassroots medical cannabis advocacy group. She has a 6 year old daughter who lives with intractable epilepsy, which is why she got involved in this movement. However, along the way Lolly has met hundreds of other patients who need access to Cannabis as well, and she now considers it a privilege to advocate for them as well. Lolly lobbied hard for the SB1182, the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Act, which passed the senate in September.
Dr. Arno Vosk is a retired emergency physician and a former faculty member of Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport. He is currently a volunteer medical examiner for Physicians for Human Rights Asylum Network, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and an adviser to the Penn Human Rights Clinic at University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He is a member of the board of Pennsylvania State ACLU, and a member of the board of Health Care for All Pennsylvania.
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