The OPAN President and I take this opportunity to present the bill to you, the Patients of Ohio, as it is the culmination of all your input, advice, and thoughts as well. As Chair of the Bill Committee, I gathered all the good advice you gave me and, where possible, incorporated it into this bill. This bill will not cover every eventuality, Patient, and/or circumstance. No single bill could do that and pass the Legislative process. However, it does incorporate significant advantages that no other state has managed to accomplish so far.

The first significant advantage is that it protects Patients who choose to work by protecting them from discrimination for their choice of medicine. The second significant advantage is that it allows for the transfer of medication between and among Patients and caregivers. We have learned from what other states have done, and the consequences of their choice of wording. This is a very carefully crafted bill with every word carefully chosen to advance our chances of passage.

The President and I both urge you to read it and become very familiar with what it says and does not say. To secure passage, we will need every one of you to become active to the best of your ability. We urge all of you to take the Speakers Course. We all need to be on the same page and singing the same song when talking to others. With a concerted effort by all of us, we can get this passed into law.

We know, from the experience in other states, that writing the bill is the easy part. The truly hard job comes once the bill is introduced to the Legislature. Other states have only been successful when the Patients themselves put on a ‘full court press’ with their own Congress Critters, local groups, friends and neighbors. We are planning to make some videos of a few Patients telling their story. These will be used in support of the bill. Every one of you knows someone who can be educated on this bill, and then talk to others who can be educated on this bill. Our Politicians need to hear from their constituents favoring the passage of this bill. Once our Politicians understand that voting YES on this will help them, they will do so. Right now, they have not heard much from those in their district who favor such legislation. We have to change that. Each of us needs to make contact with our Congress Critters ourselves, and urge others to also contact them. Enough contacts supporting this will spur them to support it in the Legislature. We cannot stress this enough….it is going to take everyone doing their utmost to get this passed.

Please contact Eleanor to arrange for Speaker Training. Please contact Brandy to coordinate contact with your Congress Critters. Be ready to write Letters to the Editor in support of this bill. Get educated on the bill, the issue, and Ohio’s place in the overall framework of Medical Marijuana Legislation.

In closing I absolutely need to thank a few people for their outstanding work to bring us this far. Brandy Zink, our Executive Director has worked tirelessly for the past three years to get us this far, and we certainly would not be where we are today without her help and guidance. Rob Ryan, OPAN President, came into office and immediately breathed new life into getting this bill finished and ready for the Legislature. MPP has been, not only our financial lifeline, but also a wealth of information and help in crafting a bill that will pass. Tom, Dawn, Mary Jane, Tonya, and Eleanor have contributed hugely to this process, and have my personal thanks for their help. We are now sending this finished product to you, the General Membership, before we submit it to the Ohio Legislature.

Respectfully,
Jayson R. Jones
Vice President, OPAN
Chair, Bill Committee
Chair, Rules Committee