Jim Miller returns to Washington, D.C.

This is the second of a series of blogs that I will write to chronicle the trips I will be making to Washington DC on behalf of U.S. military veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), as well as anybody else suffering from post traumatic stress. New Jersey has the most restrictive medical marijuana law in the country. Legislators who were in favor of it's passage were barraged with the concept of our state becoming like "the wild west of California" where anybody with a headache or a hangnail can get a registration card. In a misguided effort to ensure that wouldn't happen, supportive legislators decided they would take it upon themselves to decide who should get medical marijuana and who shouldn't. They stepped in between doctor and patient in the case of thousands of vulnerable New Jersey residents. Even though PTSD is an acceptable reason to be issued a medical marijuana registration card in other states, our legislators did not consider the scars of veterans' sacrifice to their country when they decided to play doctor. No card for you!

Now, according provisions in our state law, those wishing to have the Health Dept. add currently unapproved conditions to the acceptable list of indications for a medical marijuana registration card will need a clinical study in hand to apply. It is unacceptable that there is an FDA approved medical marijuana/veteran PTSD clinical study being blocked by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). I thank the CMMNJ for their support that allows me the ability to ensure everybody that all thirteen congressmen from NJ can no longer claim ignorance of the problem as an excuse for doing nothing about it. I don't go to DC to argue with them. I can't force them to take part. I can however make their reaction to my efforts to educate them public, something they would rather not happen. For many legislators it is a test to see if their fear of marijuana is greater than their fear of clinical tests being federally blocked that could save veterans' lives.

I love walking along the hallways of the congressional office buildings in Washington DC and looking at the legislator's names on the office doors that I pass. I get to walk right into the offices of friend and foe alike, at any office that I want, to represent any issue that is important to me. It is a right of mine as a U.S. citizen that I consider to be more valuable than my right to vote. Don't get me wrong. I vote every year even though my singular vote has never been the difference in an election, but that has never been enough for me. I want to not just have a voice, I want my voice to be heard, especially when it represents the views of seriously ill and injured Americans who cannot show up for themselves.

The cage rattling began on Dec. 6, 2011. I put the congressional delegation from NJ on notice that they had been served, so to speak, and left them with enough information to see if they would go further on their own or not. I told each that I would be by their office every couple of weeks to help keep them in the loop and get answers to any questions that they might have.

http://cmmnj.blogspot.com/2011/12/jim-miller-travels-to-dc-on-behalf-of.html

The real fun began on my return two weeks later on Dec. 20. I had over a dozen letters from constituents of representatives of other states to deliver to their congressional offices as well as followups to do at the NJ offices. I was able to take on the extra visits because CMMNJ supporter Larry Vargo volunteered to go with me and do some stops himself. After getting a late start at 5:00 AM, we made it to our first Senate Office Building in time for a bagel and coffee in the cafeteria before our goal of a 9:00 start. Then we headed off to the Senate offices we were going to go to together. We did initial visits to the offices of Senators Menendez (D-NJ), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Kohl (D-WI), Johnson (D-WI) Schumer (D-NY), and Feinstein(-CA) together before moving to the congressional offices on the other side of the Capitol Building. We did the first two followups together in the Cannon House Office Building at the offices of Rep. Frank Pallone and Rep. Leonard Lance. I was correct in my prediction to Larry that they would have done nothing in the two weeks since they were advised of the situation. Basically though, we were simply setting the hook for the third visit. I advised each available staff member that statistically speaking, 250 US military veterans had killed themselves in the two weeks since I first made them aware of NIDA's blockade of the FDA approved veteran suicide PTSD/medical marijuana clinical trial. I then stated the obvious, that doing nothing was not a good look for them, and it would only get worse as the weeks passed while the number of suicides of veterans with PTSD grew on their watch. I assured them that I would be making their response, or lack thereof, a part of their "permanent record' in the form of a soon to be established website for all to see. Now I apparently have to get a website up and running. Say, anybody want to help make that happen? It is exactly the "big stick" that Teddy Roosevelt talked about. The threat of public awareness.

Larry got started on his own followup visits to 9 of NJ's representatives while I did initial stops at several out of state legislators offices as well as followups at the offices of NJ Reps. Runyan and Holt. I was talking to the staffer manning the desk at the door of Rep.Holt's Longworth office and trying to convince him that he should ask Patrick to see me for a few minutes when in walked Rush Holt. He recognized me from a 20 second chat we had eight years earlier and walked over to me with that "hey...I know you" look. In the 10 minute conversation that followed he showed why he was the the first person one who was smart enough to beat the Jeopardy computer. There was a certain sort of irony when Rep. Holt called Patrick out of his office to introduce him to me instead of the other way around. Rep. Holt confirmed that he is a supporter of medical marijuana and agreed that this deserved looking into. Needless to say, I now have the attention of Holt's Senior Policy Advisor for Defense and Intelligence who will also be his point man on this issue. Then, after Larry and I were finished with the remainder of our otherwise uneventful day of "setting hooks" in anticipation of my third visit, we headed back to Union Station for a quick meal at the food court before delving into the inevitable traffic delays getting out of DC. Let them all have a nice holiday recess and put all of this talk of veteran suicide on hold while they enjoy time with their families.

It turned out that I didn't get back to DC again until five weeks later on Jan. 25. That gave everybody ample time to either assess the situation for themselves or do nothing at all. I visited all 13 NJ congressional offices and made an initial visit to Ron Paul's office as well. Rep. Paul had met Cheryl and me at a Capitol Hill press conference the year before Cheryl died. He was deeply affected by Cheryl's commitment to medical marijuana rights, as displayed by her willingness to travel to DC in such an advanced stage of MS. We talked in his office a month after Cheryl died, and now I was back to ask him for help, and to offer him an opportunity to possibly spring this issue on his rivals at a future Republican presidential debate. I was treated like an old friend by his staff and Adam gave me all the time I needed to make my point, a point easily made in THAT office. They clearly remembered Cheryl's activism and enjoyed a couple of stories that they had not heard as well. I will be following up with additional information for Adam to ponder as requested. Then I was off to inform New Jersey's 13 US Representatives that there had been 875 veteran suicides since my initial visit to their offices seven weeks earlier, many while everybody else was having a good holiday celebration with their families.

My third visits to the offices of Rothman, Pascrell, and Sires showed me that they had done some vetting of the issue. Andrews had a recent change in staff setting us back one visit in the timeline, but he figures to be a supporter anyway. Payne's office and Frelinghuysen's office told me that they would get me a statement by the end of the week. They did not. Kate, from Smith's office took the time to have a productive unhurried visit with me and took copious notes. I waited until the end of our conversation to tell her that I was no stranger to her boss and that our previous encounters had been acrimonious at best. I'm not sure that she believed me when I told her that I brought Cheryl's funeral flowers to his Whiting office so he could watch them die instead of me. I'm guessing the fourth visit will be interesting. Pallone's office had apparently done nothing, and I chose to NOT tell his staff yet that I had picketed his 1175 Ocean Ave. Long Branch home with Cheryl's "memorial" wheelchair a month after she died. The fact that they did NOT know who I was certainly indicates that this issue hadn't yet reached Pallone yet.

Patrick was not in at Holt's office, leaving that follow up to an email when I got back. No need to worry there though. Gene from Sire's office had not only done his homework, he seemed to be taking the issue pragmatically for a republican rather than seeing it as a partisan issue. He rightfully took me to task for not having all of the information he needed to know whether or not NIDA was willing to work with the researchers at the Multidiciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) in order to meet the requirements for selling them government marijuana for the study. Considering that the FDA had had worked with MAPS in order to give their approval of the protocol for the study, it was indeed a logical question. My guess that NIDA will not relent was not good enough. Good one Gene! The others from New Jersey also expressed an interest in focusing on the exact stumbling block in NIDA'S refusal. All except David at Scott Garret's office. Not only was he condescending, he had absolutely no concept of the possibility that a Schedule 1 substance (marijuana) was even allowed to be studied in the US. He said it is his (Garrett's) position that they would not be looking into this unless somebody else initiates a response first. Then, and only maybe then, they might look into it. He actually asked me if I was recording him, as if he was worried that I might be able to accurately quote him.

Finally stopping by my representative's office (Jon Runyan) office last, I found Jennifer to be more cordial than she was at our first encounter. I'm not saying that the potential threat of media exposure had anything to do with it, but that IS what legislators respond to. She is now anxiously awaiting my followup email with a more precise evaluation of what needs to be done. Fair enough for now. My next scheduled trip to DC is Feb. 18, two days before over a thousand veterans will assemble at the Washington Monument and march to the White House in support of Ron Paul. http://fr33agents.com/1000-veterans-to-march-on-the-white-house-for-ron-paul/ I have met the organizer, Adam Kokesh, and hope he will include information about Rep. Paul's support for getting this study done during his event.

Jim Miller travels to D.C. on behalf of veterans with PTSD

We all know that the battle for medical cannabis is an uphill fight. The playing field is not level. That is for sure. However, every now and then a situation arises where the playing field is not just level, it is downhill all the way. The trick is to recognize that situation when it occurs and then hit it with all that you have. Be willing to commit. To that end I have suspended my efforts to finish a seven year project of writing a book, "Till Death Do We Part", in order to commit to ending the de facto federal blockade of research concerning the value of cannabis as medicine in this country. I fought for medical marijuana rights for my late wife Cheryl out of fear and anger even though I knew the odds were insurmountable. I fought because I had to. This is different. This time I fight because it is a battle that is entirely winnable. I went to Washington DC on Tuesday, December 6, to prove to myself that this is true. I drove home knowing that we hold all of the cards and all we have to do is play them.

The door to my congressman's (Jon Runyan) Longworth office was locked when I arrived at 8:20 AM so I sat on the floor and waited for the business day to begin. I was sweating after the 15 minute walk from Union Station on an unseasonably warm day and wishing that I was more properly attired. I had debated waiting until I could replace my threadbare suit or at least get a jacket and nice button down shirt to wear, but in the end I decided that being better dressed would have to wait until my follow up trips. After about 20 minutes, Runyan arrived with a staffer and I stood up to be dwarfed by the 6'7" 330 lb.former offensive lineman for the Philadelphia Eagles. I told him that I was concerned about the suicide rate among veterans and needed to talk with him or someone on his staff. I had emailed him a month ago and followed up with two visits to talk with his staff at his Mount Laurel NJ office but he didn't seem to make the connection, leaving me to believe that the issue had not even reached him. He told me that he was on his way to an appointment, but that I could wait until Jennifer came in at 9:00 and speak with her.

Having to squeeze in as many office visits as I could in six hours, including all 13 congressmen from NJ, I opted for putting Runyan on hold and going down the hall to the office of Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ). This is where I would begin to find out how earnestly this issue would be received on it's own merit. Congressional staffs like to manage their work load in part by shuffling non-constituents out of the office while saying something like "We have 600,000 constituents who we have promised to represent and our staff is already overloaded, so we regretfully must ask you to work with your own US representative to try and resolve this issue". To counter that, whenever I "cold call" a congressional office I like to bring at least one letter with me from a constituent that starts out saying something like "Dear Congressman (Smith), I would like you to have someone on your staff take the time to talk with Jim Miller when he delivers this letter to your DC office, as he can adequately represent my views on this important issue". First though, I like to see if the issue at hand keeps me from getting the bums rush before hammering them with the letter when necessary. But when someone does try to show me the door, I pull out the letter and say something like "As it happens I have a letter from a constituent whose request IS that you take the time to talk with me...now". I do enjoy watching someone's expression when they first realize that the balance of power has just shifted. In the case of Congressman Holt's staff, the issue of preventing veteran suicide was enough to be taken seriously even from a non-constituent, making the letter I brought from constituent Ken Wolski icing on the cake. I was advised that Patrick will be point man at Congressman Holt's office and to direct future correspondence to him.

I tried to work on varying presentation styles at my first couple of offices, and I arrived at the following as being the nuts and bolts of what proved to get rapt attention, one office after another. I use a staccato cadence on purpose, with each sentence meant to be considered as an individual, indisputable, stand alone fact.

"Suicide has reached epidemic proportions among US military veterans. Six thousand veterans commit suicide each year, far exceeding the national average for non-veterans. Well over 50,000 Viet Nam veterans have killed themselves, which is more than the enemy was able to kill in combat. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a factor in most veteran suicides. The Veterans Administration says that there were 40,000 diagnosed cases of PTSD in the past year among troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, placing a strain on their resources. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the protocol for a clinical trial involving Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans diagnosed with PTSD which has proven resistant to conventional therapies. The study is designed to evaluate the efficacy of marijuana relative to PTSD. The federal government (DEA) has a monopoly on the only supply of marijuana allowed for medical research in this country. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has subsequently denied the researcher's request for the marijuana necessary to proceed with this study, even though the study is privately funded and would cost taxpayers nothing. In July, the DEA denied a petition to reschedule marijuana out of Schedule 1 of the Controlled Dangerous Substances Act, reaffirming it's stance that marijuana has 'no currently accepted medical use in the US'. It took them 9 years to come to that decision. So, what we have here is one branch of the federal government maintaining that marijuana has no medical use while another branch refuses to let a clinical trial proceed that might prove otherwise, thereby preventing acquisition of clinical information that could save veterans' lives".

Yeah...THAT got their attention at every one of the 19 offices I visited that day...some because of their compassion and some looking to protect their ass. Whether or not it warrants their attention is up to them, but I warned them that the clock is now ticking and every week they do nothing another 125 veterans will have killed themselves. I left most offices with contact information for the appropriate person on staff to follow up with.

Finally, at the end of the day I made it back to Runyan's office to finally get to talk with Jennifer. Ironically it was she who was the only one at any of my 19 office visits that day who played the "600,000 constituents" card. Although Jennifer could not use this as a reason to push me out the door, she relied on it heavily in her effort to explain why their staff had done absolutely nothing in the first month that they had this information. I reminded her that 500 US military veterans had committed suicide in that same time period. She countered with the first of several sentences she would annoyingly begin with "What you have to understand is...." in order to help me accept such delays as inevitable and as being beyond Jon Runyan's control. I suggested that although she and freshman congressman Runyan had been on the job less than 11 months and I had been lobbying congress for medical marijuana rights for 20 years, inexperience should not prevent her from knowing what "fast tracking" an issue meant. I guess that I will see what plans Congressman Runyan has to deal with epidemic veteran suicide, if any at all, on Dec. 20, my next planned visit.

Anybody (living in NJ or otherwise) who wants to take part in ending the federal blockade against studying medical marijuana relative to PTSD can contact me directly at pot4ms@yahoo.com. I will be glad to advise you as to what needs to be in your letter to get my foot in your congressperson's door and you can fill in the rest, or simply use what I write for you as your own if you think it directly reflects your concerns. If you email the letter directly to me, but address it to your representative as if you were sending it to him (or her), it allows me the element of surprise if they try to rush me out the door with "Are you a constituent Mr.Miller?" I hope to have a productive trip to DC on Dec. 20. If your congressional representative is one of the 431 who are NOT Runyan, Pallone, Holt, or Freylinghuysen...I need a constituent letter from you. It does not matter what your representative's past opinion on medical marijuana has been. I need that letter to jump start the dialogue. If you have any interest at all in righting this wrong, email me at pot4ms@yahoo.com and I will help you publicly put your representative officially on notice and get his clock ticking...at the rate of 125 veteran suicides per week for every week that he or she does nothing. Ooh...that IS a bad look.