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Title: When It Comes to Pot, Pain, and Cancer, Jeff Sessions Is An Idiot
Source:
Reason
URL Source: https://reason.com/archives/2018/03 ... sions-idiot-pot-cancer-opioids
Published: Mar 3, 2018
Author: Matt Kibbe
Post Date: 2018-03-03 17:48:15 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 9859
Comments: 66
I am a stage-four cancer survivor. No, that's wrong. I'm not a survivor. I beat cancer's ass into the ground, dusted myself off, and proceeded on with life. I don't consider myself, or the millions of other people who deal with life-threatening or chronic conditions, a victim. We are not. But surely, patients have enough to manage already without the idiocy rattling through Attorney General Jeff Sessions' teeth every time he opines on opiods, cannabis, and pain management. That's right, I said it. Someone had to. Jeff Sessions is an idiot. The problem is plain for anyone who has had an experience like mine to see: Our top federal law enforcement officer has no idea what real pain is really like, or what doctors do to manage it. Sessions recently told the surely apocryphal story about current White House Chief of Staff, and former four-star general, John Kelly refusing pain killers during hand surgery. I have no doubt that the general is one bad ass individual. But really? Did he wash the wound with tequila before the first incision, while grinding his teeth on a stick? Watch Sessions tell the story here. It is itself quite painful. It's like your crazy great uncle's circa-1950s-liquor-fueled rants you are subjected to once every year at Thanksgiving dinner. The difference is that your crazy great uncle is kind of endearing when he's drunk, and his opinions are harmless. This crazy uncle is the Attorney General of the United States, and he has all the power to act on his feelings, and he clearly intends to do so. "The plain fact, I believe, and I am operating on the assumption that this country prescribes too many opioids," Sessions told a gathering in Tampa a few weeks ago. "I mean, people need to take some, uh, aspirin sometimes, and tough it out a little." "Believe." "Assumption." "Too many." Forget the fact he doesn't have the slightest notion of the difference between acute pain, like when a surgical scalpel cuts into your flesh, and chronic pain, that can last indefinitely. And I wonder what exactly "Dr." Sessions means by too many? Which patients, with what conditions, under what circumstances will be determined by the federal government to be deserving of pain relief? And who, exactly, is just going to have to "tough it out a little bit?" The Attorney General probably doesn't have any specific patient in mind. He doesn't exactly appear to be focused on individual patients. He just wants to make sure that fewer patients are prescribed opioids to manage their pain—and he is weaponizing the federal government in order to accomplish this goal. The Associate Press reported last month that, according to Sessions, "the Drug Enforcement Agency is now asking medical practitioners whether they have received continuing medical education on prescribing or dispensing opioids when they apply for a license or renew." Sessions is forcing doctors to make an ugly choice: Either do best by their patients and adhere to their Hippocratic Oath—or suffer the bureaucratic harassment from the powerful Drug Enforcement Agency, and risk the loss of their license to practice medicine. If incentives matter, and they do, expect doctors to start making bad choices for their patients. I remember a time, not too long ago, when Republicans and conservatives proclaimed loudly and often that health care choices should be between patients and doctors, and the federal government should keep its nose out. But those well-worn talking points have been shelved, replaced with a new form of medical authoritarianism. For me, it's personal. I was diagnosed with cancer in 2001. I have been injected with aggressive chemotherapy cocktails that leave you feeling like you have the worst hangover ever, except that it goes on for months. And there's extensive nerve damage. If you are a masochist, you can read more gory details here. I have undergone multiple surgeries that sliced me open from stem to stern, each time leaving dozens of surgical staples in my belly, making my torso look like I big zipper. Years later, I still deal with collateral damage from the battle, including scar tissue in my abdomen that can generate significant pain. With all due respect to tough guy John Kelly, I doubt he has felt real pain, the kind that makes you wish you were dead, until scar tissue from past surgeries manages to strangle your intestines closed. And, yes, it irritates me to retell these stories. I'm not nearly old enough yet to be spending my waning days on the porch, telling my octogenarian friends about all the parts of my body that are broken. I was hoping to save the good stuff for when my wife finally sends me away to a geezer farm in the country. Of course opioid addicition is a real problem, and opioid abuse is indeed dangerous. I have friends who have told their stories about managing pain, and addiction. They all sought other forms of treatment, settling on medical cannabis as a safer, more effective treatment for debilitating pain, and other chronic conditions. I can recount countless stories of patients using cannabis to get off of opioids. But here comes the idiocy again. Jeff Sessions has said that "good people don't smoke marijuana," and that he believes that cannabis is the gateway drug that leads to opioid abuse. "We think a lot of this is starting with marijuana," he says at that same piece of performance art in Tampa. The research, of course, says the opposite. So with traditional pharmaceuticals and cannabis off the table, I guess I really will have to "tough it out a bit." When I sat down to write this piece, I debated using the word idiot. It's intemperate, you might say. So I Googled it. "Idiot: A stupid person. Synonyms: fool, jackass, knucklehead, numbskull, nitwit, asshat." It might as well have just said "Jeff Sessions." 
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 18.
#6. To: Deckard (#0)
(Edited)
Members of the Oath Keepers organization took an oath and they are fulfilling that oath: As the Attorney General, it is Jeff Sessions’ duty to ensure that the laws of the United States are enforced and that the Constitutional order is upheld. You must come to terms with the reality that you simply cannot pick and choose which laws you wish to obey….unless of course you want to do jail time. If we all arbitrarily pick and choose which laws to follow, our whole civilized society will collapse. If you don’t like the Marijuana Laws, then work to get the laws changed. Don’t work to try and get Jeff Sessions to violate his oath and ignore the laws just for you. That will never happen. It would be interesting to learn if you, as the professed Christian you claim to be, pick and choose which Biblical Laws to follow.
What does Paul say in Romans 13 about government, really? How does that apply to American politics and emergencies. The lie that all government is ordained by God is answered plainly and directly. God is righteous and ordained righteous government to enforce His justice by defending the people and their divinely established unalienable rights. Don't fall for the lies of paid off, sold out FEMA preachers, Clergy Response Team members. Get thee behind me, Satan Gatlin, evil doer! You're lying about the Bible. Despicable.
Since I posted a verbatim verse….it is you who is saying the Bible is a lie. Shame on you …
Your interpretation of the Bible is false. Romans 13: Setting It Straight It is more than interesting that some 95% of the 14,000 evangelical churches that graced the German landscape during Hitler’s rise to power bought into the identical misinterpretation of Romans 13 that the vast majority (probably at least 95%) of the 300,000 evangelical churches that grace America’s landscape have bought into today. For example, one German pastor in 1933 gushed, “Christ has come to us through Hitler.” In like manner, many pastors today foolishly preach that God directs us through our President (whoever he is), or our Supreme Court, or virtually any other government agency. And speaking of the ignominious infatuation with government by Nazi-era German clergymen, Erwin Lutzer, in his brilliant book, “Hitler’s Cross”, wrote, “The swastika meant more to some pastors than did the Cross.” And there is absolutely no question that many pastors in America today place far more value on the US flag (symbolizing to them the power and authority of the state) than they do the Cross of Christ or the teachings and authority of the Holy Scriptures. Without a doubt, tyrants of all stripes love to exploit this asinine attitude of these sheepish, slavish preachers who idolize the state! Lutzer quotes Hitler as saying, “The parsons will dig their own graves. They will betray their God to us. They will betray anything for the sake of their miserable jobs and incomes.” And that is exactly what many pastors, deacons, elders, and churchmen are doing today: for the sake of their paychecks, insurance premiums, and retirement benefits, they are betraying the lawful authority of Christ to the tyrannical authority of the state. And the bastardized teaching of Romans 13 is one of the major tools by which this is being done.
Gatlin is a Subverted Nation neo-Nazi.
#20. To: hondo68 (#18)
Show me where I was lying when all I did was post the scripture exactly as it appears in the Bible without changing one thing. Show me …
I use strong language in my posts from time to time in order to stress a point or ask a question and I condone that by everyone. But to call me a “neo-Nazi” [Post #18] and refer to me as “Satan” [Post #7] are both malicious accusations by you that is way over the top and exceeds any bounds to human decency and civility. It transcends all the barriers and bridges to effective dialogue and the reason I must place you on bozo quite often. I just tire of reading your incongruous and irrational crap. Your post stands as a perfect symbol to reflect your troubled mentality and low moral character.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest When It Comes to Pot, Pain, and Cancer, Jeff Sessions Is An Idiot
A portion of that statement may be true, but Jess Sessions’ primary duty to our great nation is not to deal with pain and cancer. It is his sworn obligation to enforce the laws of the land and that includes laws involving marijuana. Recognizing that we each swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and affirming that we are guardians of the Republic, of the principles in our Declaration of Independence, and of the rights of our people, we affirm and declare the following ...
Be it recognized that Jeff Sessions is also an “oath keeper” who took an oath and is fulfilling that oath: The federal government requires civil servants to sign a loyalty oath to "bear true faith and allegiance" to the state and national constitutions, and to defend both documents "against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Employees must also pledge to perform the jobs for which they have been hired.
Why do you praise the “Oath Keepers” for keeping their oath, and at the same time side with people who want Jeff Sessions to violate his oath and ignore laws that you do not like? Is there some rational to this dilemma that you can explain to everyone? Romans 13:1-14 (English Standard Version) -
Do you pick and choose which Biblical Laws to follow?
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. ...
#7. To: Gatlin, Satan, FEMA preachers, Clergy Response Team, Evil Government Not Ordained by God, Deckard (#6)
#11. To: hondo68 (#7)
You're lying about the Bible. Despicable.
How can I be lying about the Bible when I posted verbatim verse from the Bible?
#13. To: Gatlin, hondo68 (#11)
Since I posted a verbatim verse….it is you who is saying the Bible is a lie.
#18. To: Deckard (#13)
Replies to Comment # 18. You said to me: You're lying about the Bible.
And that was “despicable.”
#35. To: hondo68, A K A Stone (#18)
Gatlin is a Subverted Nation neo-Nazi.
AND
Get thee behind me, Satan Gatlin, evil doer!
End Trace Mode for Comment # 18.
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