Dana Rohrabacher Uses Medical Marijuana For Arthritis
United States House Representative, Dana Rohrabacher (D-CA) is a member of the Republican party and serves California’s 48th congressional district. He is known for serving on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs as well as the House Committee on Science, Space, and technology.
He is less known for being a member of another group. Dana Rohrabacher is a medical marijuana patient.
While speaking with members of the advocacy group NORML, Rohrabacher told the audience “I tried it about two weeks ago, and it’s the first time…in a year-and-a-half that I’ve had a decent night’s sleep, because the arthritis pain was gone.”
Rohrabacher suffers from arthritis that he links to years of surfing. He says he is no longer able to surf due to the pain and has trouble falling asleep at night.
“I went to one of these hemp fests in San Bernadino,” he told NORML members. It’s a candle, and you light the candle, and the wax is in there, and it melts down, and you rub it on whatever you’ve got problems with.”
“There’s definitely cannabis in there, and it makes sure I can sleep now,” he said about applying a marijuana topical treatment to his skin.
In 2014 Representative Rohrabacher joined a bi-partisan congressional effort to bring medical marijuana reform. The Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment was passed and protects medical marijuana patients and providers from federal prosecution. It also prevents the Drug Enforcement Agency from spending money to prevent states from implementing medical marijuana programs. The bill is seen as historic and perhaps the first meaningful law reforming the federal stance on medical marijuana.
Politicians have notoriously been coy about admitting to marijuana use. The admission by Representative Rohrabacher seems to signal a new direction in marijuana and politics. Perhaps this new atmosphere will create a comfort zone for other elected officials to come forward and speak openly about their marijuana use.
