Recent News
Pat Lynch and Tony Ryan advocate for the severely ill in the Capital Journal, opponents call safe access a "scam"
Click here to read the Capital Journal article.
The Coalition for Compassion is coming to your community!
* Sioux Empire Fair, Sioux Falls *
August 10th - 15th
* DakotaFest, Mitchell *
August 17th - 19th
* Central States Fair, Rapid City *
August 20th - 29th
* South Dakota State Fair, Huron *
September 2nd - 6th
07/25/2010
Veterans Administration shows compassion! Directive allows patient use of medical marijuana for VA clinics in compliance with state law.
Click here to read the Associated Press news release in the Rapid City Journal.
07/13/2010
Emmett Reistroffer and Tony Ryan speak in support of initiated measure 13 on KSFY action news!
Click here to view KSFY news story about campaign supporting initiated measure 13!
07/12/2010
Associated Press news release: medical marijuana ballot committee forms for 2010 election.
http://www.argusleader.com/article/20100712/UPDATES/100712023/-1/updates
07/04/2010
The Coalition for Compassion marched in the Sioux Falls 4th of July parade, passed out stickers to hundreds of supporters in the crowd, and shared personal stories about loved ones who are medical marijuana patients. The Coalition showed voters measure 13 is about compassion!
06/28/2010
Coalition for Compassion Representatives greet Democrat voters at the
2010 Democratic Convention in Sioux Falls.
05/22/2010
Coalition for Compassion Representatives Patrick Lynch, Tony Ryan, and
Emmett Reistroffer will appear on The Monday Lunch, KCFS 94.5FM on
Monday May 24th 10am - 2pm
05/22/2010
Coalition for Compassion
raises money & awareness second year in a row at the annual Crohn's &
Colitis Foundation WALK at Sertoma Park!
Coalition for Compassion representatives Emmett Reistroffer & Brad Reynolds walked for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation annual fundraiser WALK at Sertoma Park. Reistroffer and Reynolds raised a small sum of money for the CCFA and talked with dozens of Crohn's & Colitis patients who are suffering, and facing legal barriers to medical marijuana in South Dakota.
Reynolds is from Rock Rapids, Iowa but practices law in Sioux Falls for low-income clients in civil disputes. Reynolds' son suffers from Crohn's disease and is suffering from painful side effects of his conventional medicine, which forces Brad and his son to have their doctor check his liver monthly to monitor the level of damage the medication is causing. Watch Brad Reynolds speak at our Picnic-for-Patients last week to KSFY Action News.
View KSFY Action News report on the campaign kick-off
TAKES STEPS, BE HEARD!
05/18/2010
Campaign Kick Off and
Picnic-for-Patients is a huge success!
More than 50 Coalition members, patients, and
supporters joined Pat Lynch and Tony Ryan for the campaign kick-off at
Sherman Park! Event coordinator Emmett Reistroffer urged the supporters to
register friends and family members in a summer long volunteer voter
registration drive with a goal of registering more then 15,000
new voters before this fall!
The Safe Access Act appeared on the 2006 ballot as initiated measure 4 and
lost by a margin of nearly 15,000 votes or 4%.
The next picnic is planned for the middle of June, the exact date and
location will be announced by the end of May.
View KSFY Action News report on the campaign kick-off
ATTENTION VOLUNTEERS
RULES FOR REGISTERING VOTERS!
Remember, any South Dakotan who fills out a voter registration form must be
18 years or older and must turn in the form within ten days of completion.
You may submit the form to a local county courthouse or turn it in to the
campaign coordinator provided with enough time to file the form before the
ten day deadline. If you accept the completed form with intent to file the
form or turn in it in to the campaign coordinator you must provide the
applicant with your name and contact number (This is so they can be assured
the form is being filed and is mandated by state law.) You should also
provide the newly registered voter with information about the Coalition for
Compassion along with the contact information:
South Dakota Coalition for Compassion
SDCompassion.org
PO Box 2311 Sioux Falls, SD 57101
05/13/2010
Attorney General Marty Jackley releases 2010 South Dakota ballot explanations.
Click here to view the ballot questions on the 2010 ballot on the Secretary of State website
04/30/2010
Martha Vanderlinde, State Representative from District 15 speaks as a nurse and elected official in support of Measure 13!
Representative Martha Vanderlinde D(15) co-sponsored the Safe Access Act with Representative Gerald Lange D(8) in the 2008 legislative session. Although the legislation failed in a sub-committee hearing by a 9 - 5 vote, Rep. Vanderlinde is working side-by-side with the Coalition to educate voters about medical marijuana. This is an issue she is quite familiar with after working directly alongside patients who suffer from debilitating illnesses as a nurse in Sioux Falls.
Rep. Vanderlinde published the following letter-to-the-Editor in the Argus Leader on Friday April 30th:
Letters: Marijuana can ease suffering
By Rep. Martha Vanderlinde
Nurses provide direct care to patients, and above all else we are advocates for their well-being. This is why the American Nurses Association endorsed safe access to medical marijuana in late 2008.
Never in my years as a nurse or as a state representative have I seen the necessity for the criminalization of a sick person using a natural herb to alleviate pain and suffering.
In the 2008 South Dakota legislative session, I proudly co-sponsored the Safe Access Act. This legislation would allow patients whom I've met who suffer from glaucoma, cancer and multiple sclerosis to no longer be forced into a dangerous black market for their medicine. They would not face arrest and prosecution for pursuing therapy that is recommended by a licensed physician.
Medical marijuana is backed by two decades of research. Please join me, the nurses and the many other health care professionals who are voting yes on Initiated Measure 13 this November.
04/28/2010
Cancer patient from Colman asks for your vote in Argus Leader letter.
James M. Tygstad
suffers from Multiple Myeloma, a severe form of blood cancer, and has
several tumors in his body. Although he has shrunk 5.5 inches and lost more
than 100 pounds in 5 years, Tygstad could be arrested and prosecuted for
using medical marijuana even when it is absolutely essential to his
treatment by stimulating
appetite and easing wasting syndrome.
Medical marijuana provides the safest and most effective alleviation from
severe nausea, and is commonly recommended by physicians in all 50 states,
even where legal barriers still stand in the way. Even the federal
government's own Institute of Medicine released a report in 1999 with a
conclusion that "[n]ausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety, are all
afflictions of
wasting and can be mitigated by marijuana."
This is namely why, the nation's three largest medical-professional
organizations have began urging the federal government to re-classify
marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act.
These patients are in the middle of political crossfire and need our
protection. Help us lift legal barriers in South Dakota state law by voting
Yes on initiated measure 13 this November 2nd, and patients in our community
will no longer live in fear of criminal prosecution!
Letters: Medical Marijuana SafeBy James M. Tygstad, Colman
As a sick person fighting cancer for years, I am appalled at the misinformation presented in the essay in the April 19 Argus Leader opposed to medical marijuana and a subsequent letter to the editor. Medical marijuana is a safe and natural medicine that alleviates nausea, which is common with most types of cancer and especially with chemoradiation therapy.
Do people honestly believe our laws are proper? A person such as me who might choose to use a little marijuana, whether vaporized or made in my tea, should not have to worry about the police knocking on the door.
The Safe Access Act proposed in South Dakota is nothing like the California law, nor does it allow for marijuana dispensaries or stores. This proposal simply allows patients such as me to use our medicine in peace.
I commend the retired police officer who wrote the accompanying essay in the April 19 newspaper in support of the Safe Access Act. He exemplified what true priorities for law enforcement should be.
I am not a criminal, and neither are the many doctors who tell me what effective therapy is. Please protect patients such as me who already are sentenced with a terminal illness.
Please vote yes on Initiated Measure 13.
04/21/2010
Yankton Press & Dakotan publishes 570 word editorial explaining the medical uses of marijuana and the movement towards safe, legal access.
Our opinion: Medical Marijuana - Let the Discussion Begin
"We believe that if such a substance, properly regulated, can alleviate the suffering of those who are coping with debilitating diseases or battling nauseous side effects from cancer treatments, then it does have a practical place in our society."
"This fall’s debate over medical marijuana should be an interesting one. Hopefully, it will be shaped by facts and practicalities, not misconceptions and misunderstandings. Let the discussion begin."
04/19/2010
Argus Leader sets the stage
for debate: Retired police officer Tony Ryan publishes editorial in favor of
Measure 13 while opponent Darcy Jensen claims patients don't need their
medicine.
04/05/2010
Coalition for Compassion coordinator is quoted in Stateline.org top
story about South Dakota's place in perspective with the national movement.
Stateline.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan online news site that practices journalism in the public interest by reporting on emerging trends and issues in state policy and politics.
In South Dakota, Emmet Reistroffer is also among those following the news from California. Last year, he took time off from the University of South Dakota to gather signatures for a medical marijuana ballot initiative. It was a home-grown effort, drawing 40 volunteers, almost no national attention and no funding from major marijuana policy groups. Reistroffer, a Sioux Falls 20-year-old, took a part-time job at a local bar to make ends meet.
While he says he doesn’t necessarily support outright legalization, he wants to make marijuana accessible for patients like his mother, who suffers from lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. She has used marijuana in the past, he says.
“While I was growing up I had friends in DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education),” he says. I’ve always looked at it very differently. I’ve always seen this injustice and felt obligated to do something about it.”
Reistroffer plans to spend his summer trying to convince voters at county fairs. In 2006, voters turned down a medical marijuana measure on a close vote, the only state that has ever done so. If the measure passes this year, it will mark a significant shift in South Dakota’s attitude towards the herb, he says.
03/15/2010
South Dakota Secretary of State qualifies Safe Access Act for 2010
ballot as initiated measure 13!
Monday March 15th the South Dakota Secretary of State announced qualification of the South Dakota Safe Access Act just five weeks after the Coalition submitted 32,000 petition signatures, more than twice as many as the legal requirement.
For Immediate release from the Marijuana Policy Project:
Medical Marijuana Qualifies
for November Ballot in
South Dakota
“Measure 13” Would Allow Seriously Ill Patients to Use Medical Marijuana With a Doctor’s Recommendation
CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP assistant director of communications …… 202-905-2030 or mmeno@mpp.org Emmet Reistroffer, South Dakota Coalition for Compassion … 605-370-1108 or emmet.reistroffer@gmail.com
PIERRE, SOUTH DAKOTA — In November 2010, South Dakotans will once again have the opportunity to make the medical use of marijuana legal in the state. The South Dakota Coalition for Compassion, a nonprofit group composed of physicians, patients, law enforcement officials and private citizens, received word from the Secretary of State this week that “Measure 13” had qualified for the ballot. The campaign submitted close to 32,000 signatures last month. They needed just 16,776 valid signatures to qualify.
South Dakotans voted on a similar initiative in 2006, with the measure narrowly failing by a 52% to 48% margin. This year’s “South Dakota Safe Access Act” is sponsored by Patrick K. Lynch, former chairman of the board for the North Central States Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and was drafted with the assistance of the Marijuana Policy Project.
“We are excited that South Dakota voters will have another opportunity to make the medical use of marijuana legal for patients in the state,” said Steve Fox, director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project. “Given the increasing level of support for medical marijuana across the country over the past few years, we are fully confident that a solid majority of voters in the state will support patients’ rights this November.”
The initiative, if passed into law, would allow medical marijuana cardholders to possess up to one ounce of marijuana if they have been diagnosed with or are undergoing treatment for certain cancers, glaucoma, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, seizures or multiple sclerosis, along with other specifically diagnosable ailments. The initiative outlines specific disabilities that qualify patients for use, rules regarding registration cards, distribution, and rules for establishing a registry for medical marijuana users.
The entire initiative can be read at www.sdcompassion.org/sdaa
With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.
01/11/2010
Patrick K. Lynch and the Coalition announce successful collection of twice as many signatures as the state requirement to place the Safe Access Act on the 2010 ballot!
On Monday January 11th the Safe Access Act sponsor Patrick K. Lynch, also the former chairman of the MS Society, released a statement on behalf of the Coalition patients & their families,
"Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that effects the entire nervous system; symptoms vary for all MS patients, but by in-large the vast majority of us who suffer from MS must stay very, very quiet about the medicine we often use. The fact of the matter is that a large number of MS patients use medical marijuana because of it's effectiveness at relieving spasticity. The conventional medicine in pill form typically induces such strong side effects it's nearly impossible to perform normal daily tasks while medical marijuana helps patients stay mobile, eat, sleep and live comfortably."
Lynch went on to explain his excitement for the Coalition's successful petition-drive,
"Now that South Dakota is closer than ever before in passing a law that would protect MS and other patients we are finally beginning to feel a sense of relief from the day-to-day fear of unwanted, undeserving, criminal attention and the dangers associated with a malignant black market."
Emmett Reistroffer, the Coalition's petition coordinator recently turned director of communications announced the same day, "I couldn't be more proud of the army of volunteers that helped us collect nearly twice as many signatures as required, and the nearly 30,000 fellow South Dakotans who have joined alongside the Coalition to put the Safe Access Act on the ballot. Since our announcement on Facebook of the petition drives' completion, I have heard dozens of patients express their feelings of recovery and eagerness that stem from such a slim and emotional loss in 2006."
Any volunteers or petition circulators with completed or leftover blank petition sheets are encouraged to turn in their sheets to Emmett Reistroffer, make arrangements ASAP by calling 605-370-1108 or mail completed sheets to:
SDCompassion
PO BOX 2311
Sioux Falls, SD 57101
Largest U.S. Physician-based group recognizes medical benefits of marijuana, urges further research
The AMA's language in Policy H-95.952 had previously recommended that “marijuana be retained in Schedule I,” which groups marijuana with drugs that have no accepted medical uses and are unsafe for use even under medical supervision.
The AMA adopted a report drafted by its
Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH) entitled, "Use of Cannabis for
Medicinal Purposes," which affirmed the therapeutic benefits of marijuana and called for further research. The CSAPH report concluded that, "short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and
caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in
patients with multiple sclerosis." Furthermore, the report urges that "the Schedule I status of marijuana be reviewed with the goal of facilitating
clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods."
The change of position by the largest physician-based group in the country was precipitated in part by a resolution adopted in June of 2008 by the Medical Student Section (MSS) of the AMA in support of the reclassification of marijuana's status as a Schedule I substance.
“This shift, coming from what has historically been America’s most cautious and conservative major medical organization, is historic,” said Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project, who attended the AMA meeting. “Marijuana’s Schedule I status is not just scientifically untenable, given the wealth of recent data showing it to be both safe and effective for chronic pain and other conditions, but it’s been a major obstacle to needed research.”
In February 2008, a similar resolution was adopted by the American College of Physicians (ACP), the country's second largest physician group and the largest organization of doctors of internal medicine. The ACP resolution called for an evidence-based review of marijuana's status as a Schedule I controlled substance to determine whether it should be reclassified to a different schedule.
Coalition spokesperson and Safe Access Act sponsor, Patrick K. Lynch released a statement following AMA policy change:
"Myself and other patients in South Dakota who are patiently waiting for the Safe Access Act's passage are feeling more and more relief every time we here more professionals, medical doctors, and even the Department of Justice taking steps to protect sick and dying patients who need medical marijuana." Lynch continued, "Now that the two largest physician groups in the U.S. have made it clear medical marijuana is a health care issue that must be addressed, patients are ready to be placed above political crossfire and get the well-deserved safe access to our medicine."American Medical Association report download (.pdf)
Resolution adopted by the American College of Physicians
Memorandum released by the Department of Justice.
Keloland news story with the Coalition's response to federal policy change.
KSFY interview with Val Hannah about the new policy's boost for the local medical marijuana movement. Hannah is a gulf war veteran who suffers from chronic nerve damage, Hannah was also an advocate for the '06 measure and appeared in a TV advertisement to ask SD voters to protect her and other patients.
Click here to write our Congressional delegation, ask them to make medical marijuana available nationwide.
06/31/2009
Coalition for Compassion plans "Picnic for Patients" at Tut Hill Park, Wednesday August 5th at the lower picnic shelter
All petition circulators are invited to join the Coalition for a pot-luck style picnic and are asked to turn in completed petitions for notarization and filing. All new and prospective volunteers and petition circulators are welcome to come for training and materials. The Coalition is also inviting any patients who need medicinal marijuana for their therapy, as well as their families and friends; we will have opportunities for public advocacy in the near future including video interviews! All who attend are welcome to bring food as part of a pot-luck. RSVP for this event by clicking here or call the petition coordinator Emmett Reistroffer at (605) 370 1108
06/24/2009
04/25/09
Coalition for Compassion raises over $5,000 for the MS Society!
