HELP SAVE RICHARD'S LIFE!

Richard Hawthorne is one of the nicest people I have met in many years. A family man, loves his kids and grandkids, and he has hundreds of friends that would do anything for him in less than a second. He volunteers at the local animal shelter, loves animals and is just a genuine good guy. Unfortunately, Richard is currently living with cirrhosis and Hep C. He was on the list with Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto, CA for a liver transplant.

HE HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THAT LIST.

See the ABC7 News Story HERE

The medication he's on causes loss of appetite, muscle and joint pain, cramps, sleeplessness but luckily we have a medication that is natural and helping Richard stay alive while he waits for his transplant. That medication is doctor prescribed and legal Marijuana. Well, because of this medication, Stanford has removed him from the list. Stanford removed Richard from the list based on "national standards." It says: "The national protocols include factors that may lead to disqualification, which include both use of drugs and alcohol."

How does this make any sense?  Drugs?  Even Doctor prescribed drugs?

Other states have already turned this law over... Why are we in California, the pioneers of medical marijuana still allowing doctors to make personal and biased decisions?  Big Pharm will do whatever it takes to hurt the marijuana movement because they can't patent it. It can be grown in your yard, is natural, cheap and will hurt their business. So, do they even have Stanford in their pockets?Just last year New Jersey passed the law during The Assembly No. 765 stating:

BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey: 1. For the purposes of medical care, including organ transplants, a registered qualifying patient’s authorized use of marijuana in accordance with the provisions of P.L.2009, c.307 (C.24:6I-1 et al.), shall be considered equivalent to the authorized use of any other medication used at the direction of a physician, and shall not constitute the use of an illicit substance or otherwise disqualify a qualifying patient from needed medical care. This act shall take effect immediately.

It is clearly being recognized that marijuana can have legitimate uses for patients suffering from severe illnesses. “There’s a certain duplicity that exists, or a lack of candor or a lack of intellectual honesty” that continues to occur among opponents of medical marijuana, said Barnes, who is also sponsoring a bill that would decriminalize possession of a small amount of marijuana. “I think that there is a bias almost on the part of some people who don’t understand why the (original) bill was passed and the types of uses for which it’s being put.”.

At the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey’s University Hospital in Newark, marijuana use doesn't block patients from receiving liver transplants. “Medical marijuana is not a contra-indication for liver transplantation,” hospital spokeswoman Stacie J. Newton said. “If you are a user of marijuana, that doesn't eliminate you from being considered for liver transplantation.”

Different hospitals across the country have reached different conclusions in an area where there are no national guidelines, said Dr. Jeffrey Crippin, a past president of the American Society of Transplantation and the medical director of the liver transplant program at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

“Medical-wise, honestly, I don’t think there are issues that I’m aware of that say that marijuana will cause some horrible medical problem” that would make patients less fit for transplants or cause damage, Crippin said.

WITH A LIVER TRANSPLANT HE MAY GET TO SEE HIS GRANDKIDS GET MARRIED AND EVEN MEET HIS GREAT GRANDKIDS. HE HAS ALREADY LIVED LONGER THAN HIS DOCTORS HAD GUESSED BUT WE NEED TO STANDUP AND HOLD STANFORD ACCOUNTABLE FOR GIVING THIS MAN A DEATH SENTENCE.

• RICHARD HAS A PRESCRIPTION TO HELP OFFSET THE SIDE EFFECTS OF THE DRUGS HE'S TAKING THERE IS NO REASON AT ALL FOR HIM TO HAVE BEEN PULLED.

Help save Richard's Life! Thank you