Discrimination Against Victims of Violent Crime... is WRONG...!.

Please stop discriminating against the victims of violent crime.

Greetings,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: Texas Crime Victims Compensation Fund / Brenda Weaver.

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Please stop discriminating against the victims of violent crime.

We all know it's a crazy world out there nowadays. And no one knows it more than the people who work tirelessly to keep our society a safer place to live for everyone, the police, hospital workers, fireman, the list goes on and on. However, oftentimes as we all know, bad things still happen to good people. Fortunately, we even have programs designed to assist the victims of violent crime... however, when such programs such as The Crime Victims Compensation Fund (which forces criminals to pay back the system into a fund to help crime victims whose lives have been irreparably damaged) begins to discriminate against the very people it is designed to assist - then something has gone wrong - very wrong indeed.

Such is the case of Richard VanWormer, a former operating room technician & surgical first assistant. One fateful night, after leaving the hospital after work one, he stopped at a convenience store & gas station only to suddenly find himself being viciously robbed, brutally shot point-blank in the chest and then left for dead.

Only Richard wasn't dead, as much as he might later wish, after his desperate pleas for 'catastrophic assistance' and ongoing care to The Texas Crime Victims Compensation Fund were summarily denied, forcing him to attempt to live with virtually no income and without the medical care that he so desperately requires. Why so, you might ask? It's simply because his doctor in Colorado, where he now resides, recommended that Richard legally use the benefits of medical marijuana to help ease his multiple painful neuropathies . Although grateful to be finally finding some unprecedented relief from his uncomfortable symptoms, little did Richard know that since cannabis is still considered illegal in Texas, regardless of the therapy being legalized since the year 2000 in Colorado where Mr. VanWormer now lives, his benign use of the therapeutic medicinal weed would end up dashing any hopes of him ever receiving his due treatment or benefits. The exact same treatment and benefits that any other victim who didn't use medicinal cannabis, would have readily received from the Texas Crime Victims Compensation Fund. This, because according to the denial letter he received; 'Per Texas Code of Criminal Procedure 56.42, catastrophic funds are not available for ongoing medical care which includes, but is not limited to, doctor appointments, prescriptions to include narcotic and non-narcotic analgesics, medical marijuana, hospitalization, surgery, physical therapy, and the purchase and cultivation of marijuana plants.'. Now, instead of Richard getting a chance at finally having some long-awaited type of quality of life, he has suddenly found himself being labeled as, with all of its negatively associated degrading characteristics and stigmas, as a 'drug abuser' who is not eligible, much less worthy it would almost seem, of any type of financial aid or continued care. And this from the very organization that was founded on the principle of helping those innocents whose lives have been devastated by the vicious, violent criminal acts of others and NOT through any fault of their own. Apparently Texas Crime Victims Compensation Fund (TCVCF) does care -that is unless you find yourself as a victim whose physician recommends that your medical condition advocates the need for utilizing cannabis medicinally in order to successfully treat it. At this point, without the help of yourself and others to get the attention of The
Texas Crime Victims Compensation Fund, this once proud, hard-working man will more than likely very soon die of lead poisoning (since the bullet is still very painfully lodged over his left lung and TCVCF is also refusing to provide the ongoing care required to have it removed), if they don't hear a public outcry decrying their unethical discriminatory actions. And soon for that matter, as Richards case is up for review and his future is about to be determined within the next one to two weeks. It is with great hope that this petition is being started and if we can generate only a few signatures, it could be the powerful lifeline that might save his life.

Several months ago, since he had become nearly 100% bedbound from pain and could not afford to eat, pay his bills or ashamed as he felt, to even keep a roof over his head anymore, Richard applied for a form of financial aid, known as 'catastrophic assistance'. He was promptly denied.

This case is a sad reminder of the direction this country is headed without people like yourself letting Texas Crime Victims Compensation Fund know that this blatant form of discrimination against a person and their simple human rights will not be tolerated and that Richard should be allowed the same 'catastrophic assistance' benefit rights as anyone else, regardless of whether their doctor has recommended that they use cannabis medicinally, or not.

I'm Richard VanWormer, and this is my story. Many thanks to those who helped to compose this message. The reason I wrote my story TO the world is because it's a story FOR the world as discrimination knows no boundaries. So, despite if you agree or not with the seriously ill patients who are thankful to be able to legally obtain a bit of peaceful solace from their various painful symptoms, the fact is that if we all don't stand up now and say NO to ANY type of discrimination, other forms of discrimination will inevitably continue to rear their ugly heads into all of our private lives, no matter who you are. If we let TCVCF start by denying benefits to crime victims simply over what kind of medicines their doctor has deemed they should take, it will only be a matter of time before they chip and scrape just a little more of victims rights away, by continuing their pattern of refusing to award these extremely necessary, vital benefits to other victims who find themselves in their own uniquely despairing situations. Victims who have oftentimes been viciously violated, but do not meet the 'standards' of the Texas Crime Victims Compensation Fund, instead of the victims actual 'qualifications'.

I thank you for your valuable time and urge you to take a moment to sign this petition showing the Texas Crime Victims Compensation Fund that discrimination of ANY kind - is simply wrong.

Warmly;

Richard Mark VanWormer
* For those who would like to voice their opinion directly to TCVCF, their number is 512.936.1599


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Sincerely,

[Your name]