Medical Rights
Anyone who has ever suffered with chronic pain can attest to the cruelty being inflicted with barbarian laws that otherwise law-abiding citizens are being forced to navigate.
What right do our legislators have to deny a chronic pain sufferer a chance at relief? As someone who has suffered with long-term chronic pain, I can tell you, it’s no picnic. Many chronic pain sufferers have a difficult time finding a doctor who can diagnose, let alone treat the origins of chronic pain.
I am ashamed to admit that there were times I truly wanted to die, the pain was so unbearable and I am one who is firmly opposed to euthanasia. The pain medication the doctor prescribed would make me sick to my stomach, unable to eat and very lethargic. I was not in a good place. I would have done anything to stop the pain.
When I moved and lost my health insurance, I counted it a blessing. Once my insurance was no longer footing the bills, I began exploring alternative treatments, home remedies, and taking preventative measures. My efforts paid off big-time. Though still a pain sufferer, I was learning to better manage it. Still, I needed occasional help controlling the pain.
My natural choice was to turn to smoking marijuana. It was actually cheaper to purchase small quantities every couple months, than it was to pay for a doctor’s appointment and expensive prescriptions. Smoking weed enabled me to eat, it helped me to sleep and didn’t leaving me feeling all drugged out and hung over.
I even had moments when I was painfree, and could actually laugh and play with my young grandson, who lived with us. At these times, I felt human again and glad to be alive.
I remember growing up in a rural community. We didn’t run to the doctor with every sniffle, ache or pain. Grandma had Caster Oil, Peroxide, Baking Soda, Watkins Linament Rub and anything from the garden. We made our own butter, skimmed off our own cream, butchered our own chickens, baked our own bread and tended our own sick.
What right do these bozo’s have to tell me what methods I can use to treat my pain? Medicine is about relieving suffering, let’s get with the program. The article below illustrates an ignorance of the true issues surrounding the legalization of marijuana… [Read entire article]
As NJ Mulls Medical Marijuana Law, MS-Sufferer Faces Jail
Garden State could be the 14th in the nation to legalize medical marijuana
By Brian Thompson
Updated 6:45 PM EST, Mon, Nov 30, 2009
New Jersey’s legislature may be on the brink of passing a medical marijuana law, but it may be too late for MS-sufferer John Wilson of Franklin Township.
"This is as good an example as we could possibly have of allowing people who are suffering progressive disease to get some pain relief," said State Senator Ray Lesniak (D-Union County), of Wilson, who will stand trial on drug charges next month.
Lesniak is supporting a measure in the Legislature that would make New Jersey the 14th state in the nation with a medical marijuana program.
A National Guard training flight spotted 17 pot plants growing in Wilson’s backyard two summers ago, and notified lawmen. The most severe charge they filed was first degree maintaining or operating a drug production facility. That crime carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
Wilson, who has no medical insurance and is self-employed, selling items on E-bay, says he simply can’t afford the $2,000 a month that his doctors say he would need in prescription medicine.
"I’ve never been in prison before and don’t want to go there because I know my health with definitely deteriorate," said the 36-year-old.
The judge who will preside at his trial has already ruled that Wilson’s medical condition cannot be used in his defense. Attorney James Wronko could only say, "Jurors are pretty good at discerning the facts of cases. They get a feel for it."
Opponents of medical marijuana argue that legalizing the drug even for a few in need still sets a bad precedent for young people that society is trying to keep off drugs.
But supporters say strict enforcement of laws they generally endorse, without the medical marijuana exception, turn people like Wilson into criminals.
While the state legislature decides in the next few weeks whether or not to approve a medical marijuana law — one version has already passed the State Senate — Sen. Lesniak says he is writing Governor Jon Corzine now to ask him to pardon Wilson, even before the trial begins.