The other night, as I went to bed, I was horrified to find out, as an epileptic, that the bill to reopen the government contained a secret amendment that Sen. Mitch McConnell added at the last second. This amendment to the bill will kill the hemp industry, which is crazy to me because in 2018, Sen. McConnell was the one who helped pass the farm bill to get the hemp industry going in Kentucky again. And now we are facing the demise of this industry.
As I said, I am an epileptic. I am known as someone who has intractable epilepsy, meaning that pharmaceutical medicine has not worked to stop my seizures. They’re basically wanting me to go to brain surgery. And in the meantime, I have found that CBD and hemp products control my seizures about 80% better than pharmaceuticals, I have calculated. I studied forest ecology, so if there is one thing I can do, it’s gather data and compile it into a scientific conclusion.
Sen. Rand Paul tried to stop this bill at the last second and voted against it. I am incredibly grateful for this. Even as someone who ran against him once and does not always agree, I still respect his service and I really admire his father. I am grateful to see Sen. Paul stand up for Kentucky just like his father would have done. This is a bipartisan issue that is pro-health and pro-Kentucky. So, as someone who is sick and lives in Kentucky, this is definitely bipartisan.
Also, I have personally watched someone suffer from cancer. They then later died in my arms of that disease. If these products had helped her, I could not imagine how betrayed I would feel right now. Sen. McConnell is putting people with cancer and severe disease, as well as Kentucky farmers, dead last. And unfortunately, I use that terminology literally.
They have given the industry a year to adjust to the new standards. So, I’m hoping the industry will file a lawsuit to slow it down even further. But also, please call your Congressperson and Senator and tell them that you support an amendment to restore the 2018 Farming Bill to the way it was. Senator McConnell is terrified that someone is getting intoxicated off hemp products. Yet I watch someone also die of liver cirrhosis from drinking too much beer. He did not mention that. That is weird. Probably because of how much money he gets from the alcohol industry.
As I said, this will deeply impact farmers, but we have also had many small businesses all over Kentucky open, providing help to many sick people with these products. So, it is going to deeply impact small businesses as well. I grew up with my family owning a small business, a scuba shop, and I couldn’t imagine the federal government one day destroying our business overnight. Not to mention the Republicans who did this were supposed to be pro-business, pro-freedom, and pro-agriculture. As usual, they pick and choose when their values matter.
Plus, this just drives people into the marijuana industry. And although I am a huge supporter of people having access to medicinal marijuana, it was something I did not really want to do yet, since CBD and similar products were helping me so much. But my seizures go into what is called “status”, meaning they do not stop until they put me into a coma. I have been put in three comas in three years. So, this is not a game or something where feelings should outweigh science.
So, as Kentuckians, and for the women in my family who suffered from cancer, and as an epileptic, I ask that we work together in a bipartisan way to encourage our representatives to restore the 2018 farming bill to what it was and eliminate this last-minute amendment. I am simply trying to prevent my kids from having to watch me have more seizures. I saw my mother have them, and they are traumatic. This is a local issue, as we have several small businesses that will be destroyed by this. This is a state and local issue, due to people suffering. Lastly, it is a federal issue for all those reasons; it is not about people getting high.
Thank you.
Written by
Grant Short
