Patients need relief marijuana gives

[Dragonfan]

Lansing State Journal

19 October 2008

 

As a practicing physician of 29 years, I dedicated my life to caring for people. After my wife of 51 years was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last year, I knew uncertainty lay ahead.

Beverly's prognosis was grim. Cancer treatment is an emotional roller coaster, yet we kept hope until the last day. She underwent surgery and several courses of grueling chemotherapy. The resulting nausea robbed Beverly of her quality of life. She couldn't keep anything down, lost considerable weight and literally wasted away before my eyes.

Over the years, I heard marijuana was a helpful treatment for nausea. We consulted with our family physician. "Of course you know that isn't available," he said, "but Marinol is." Marinol is a synthetic version of THC, one of the active chemical components in marijuana. But it also had a distressing side effect - hallucinations. Beverly refused to take any more.

We were running out of options as Beverly's condition worsened.

I decided to procure marijuana for her. After taking just the smallest amount, her nausea was gone. It was miraculous.

Many families go through what we did - being forced to break the law to provide loved ones with relief. But on Nov. 4, Michigan voters can change this by approving Proposal 1.

To think my wife could have been thrown in jail for using a miniscule amount of marijuana to cope with her nausea is outrageous. Proposal 1 would protect seriously ill patients from arrest and jail. It's about compassion and common sense.

Years of study show compounds in marijuana can safely relieve pain, certain symptoms of disease and the side effects of treatment.

The debate over whether to allow people to use marijuana with the recommendation of a licensed physician should be about science and compassion for seriously ill patients who suffer debilitating pain. It should not be about fear tactics that marijuana use will skyrocket or that some might take advantage of the law. These arguments are largely baseless and haven't materialized in the 12 states with medical marijuana laws. Indeed, Proposal 1 incorporates many of the lessons we've learned from those 12 other states.

Proposal 1 establishes a statewide registry of patients, who must apply for ID cards and have the written recommendation of a physician. Police verification will be a mouse click away.

While some disagree with Proposal 1, the science is sound. More than 1,200 medical professionals in Michigan publicly support Proposal 1, as do prominent organizations like the Michigan Nurses Association. The American College of Physicians, the largest specialty physician group in the country, has acknowledged the efficacy and medical applications of marijuana.

Patients should be able to choose the medicine that works best for them with their doctors' guidance, and without fear of arrest or jail. That is precisely what Proposal 1 will allow.

Keeping a safe and effective medicine away from sick people is inhumane. Michigan can and should do better for some of the most vulnerable members of our families and communities.

I for one will NEVER AGAIN take any pharmachemicals [and haven't done for about four years], not after my history of ALL the bad side effects [without the puported 'good' effects], loss of my 20/20 vision [on a new you beaut 'opiod' that didn't list detrimental affects to vision until 18 months AFTER I'd been prescribed same and had taken humungous doses on a daily basis], gastrointestinal diseases attributable to pharmachemcals etc etc and so forth . . . all I WANT is the RIGHT to take a natural herb [without fear of persectuion or prosecution] that actually helps me without making me sicker in other ways . . . when will THAT ever happen?