William C. "Bill" Mescher (September 5, 1927- April 8, 2007) was a Republican politician from South Carolina. He was born in Belknap, Illinois. Mescher served in South Carolina Senate, representing Berkeley County, SC, from 1993 until his death in 2007. Tomorrow, April, 8th 2011 marks the 4th anniversary of Senator Mescher's untimely death. For those of you not aware of who Mr. Mescher was or what Mr. Mescher tried to do, keep reading.
"In 2007, Sen. William Mescher (R-Berkley Co.) introduced S. 220, a compassionate bill that would allow patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis, severe pain, and other serious illnesses to use marijuana with their doctors' approvals. Sen. Mescher seemed like an unlikely sponsor of medical marijuana to many people. However, his sponsorship demonstrates the fact that treating suffering is not a partisan issue.
"Sen. Mescher's first wife died of lung cancer. Her doctor said that medical marijuana might be able to help relieve her pain and suffering and allow her to enjoy the end of her life. Sen. Mescher realized that South Carolina's policy of criminalizing the seriously ill is cruel and needs to be changed.
"Sadly, Sen. Mescher died of a stroke on April 8, 2007. None of his colleagues in the Senate were willing to carry the bill and it died in the Senate Committee on Medical Affairs without any additional hearings. Please take a moment to contact your state representatives now and urge them to introduce a medical marijuana bill next session."
For a complete reading of S.220 click here!
Update: I will post this in my blog soon. I want you and your readers to know that this bill has been taken up by another senator and hopefully next session will be re-introduced. The first bill lacked language and we're seeking advice from the population of SC on that. I have the bill and the comments go straight to the right person helping with the language of the bill. Also, there is another bill being drawn up for SC not in conflict with but that will help all who use or support cannabis. I will also post this when I get a copy of the draft.
ReplyDeleteSee my facebook profile for the bill and where to leave suggestions on it. Sorry I forgot to add that to my other comment above.
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