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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: 7668
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 # 38.
#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.
ESV is a bad translation, crappy new wave spin of the Bible. Even the KJV is somewhat better in not saying "governing authorities" but adding some light spin. "Higher Powers" is NOT necessarily Jeff Sessions, or even President Trump. "ordained of God"? That's the question. Romans 13 King James Version (KJV) 13 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 13 Let every soul be subject to higher powers: for there is no power but from God: and those that are, are ordained of God.
#39. To: hondo68 (#38)
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=4300
13 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: 4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. 5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. 6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. 7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
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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. ...
#38. To: Gatlin, those that are, are ordained of God, A K A Stone (#6)
(Edited)
Romans 13:1-14 (English Standard Version) - 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.
KJV - less spin, but it was approved by the King of England.
Romans 13 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
Replies to Comment # 38.
#40. To: hondo68 (#38)
... approved by the King of England.
Excuse me, but please explain to me why should I give a fuck that the “King of England” approved anything?
#42. To: hondo68 (#38)
(Edited)
Okay, no problem….let's use your KJV of the bible. Romans 13 King James Version (KJV)
Oh no, “Brother Hondo.” You cannot take Verse 1 out of context. That verse is tied to all the others. You must read and understand them all. No “Cherry Picking” of Scripture to fit a personal agenda....that is not allowed.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 38.
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