cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Helps Her Live Again Disabled Woman Says










  Marijuana Helps Her Live Again Disabled Woman Says

Posted by FoM on January 13, 2002 at 23:01:17 PT
By Kristal L. Dearing  
Source: Morning News 

In a small town in Northwest Arkansas lives a woman who hates drugs but smokes marijuana every day. Before being severely injured in a car accident in 1995, this woman -- we'll call her Jane Smith, which is not her real name -- was a substance-abuse counselor. A year after the accident, she could not walk, sleep, sit or stand without experiencing constant, debilitating pain in her neck, shoulders, back, hips and legs. 
Her physician diagnosed her with fibromyalgia, a condition characterized by aching and pain in muscles, tendons and joints all over the body, especially along the spine. Typically, doctors treat fibromyalgia symptoms -- there is no known cure or treatment for the disease itself -- by prescribing non-narcotic painkillers, medications to aid in sleeping and physical therapy. Jane Smith tried all of these things, for months and months. She went to physical therapy regularly, and tried dozens of different pain and sleep medications. But none of them were working. "About a year and a half after the accident, I wasn't healing," Smith said in an interview last week with The Morning News. "I was in so much pain, I couldn't get comfortable any way, I couldn't go up and down stairs, I couldn't sleep. It was terrible." Many fibromyalgia patients, according to medical research, experience similar problems in finding relief. In some cases, patients try narcotic painkillers -- when their doctors will recommend it. "I don't like the way narcotics affect my body, the way they make my mind foggy and the other side effects," said Smith, who fears criminal prosecution if local authorities discover her true identity. "So I was never interested in trying those medications to ease my pain." About the time she was near giving up hope, an "old hippie friend from the '70s" dropped by to visit Smith. "I know you don't smoke pot and haven't in a long time, but I really think you ought to try this," Smith recalled her friend telling her. "I think it will help your pain and allow you to still function." As an addiction professional, she knew marijuana isn't physically addictive, she says. So she agreed to try it. "He had some with him and pulled out the pipe, and I took a couple of draws on the pipe, and immediately my pain started subsiding," Smith said. "I could feel my neck and shoulders and back starting to relax, and by the time I finished (about five puffs) I felt relatively normal again -- almost like I did before the accident." After her friend left, Smith says she sat down and asked herself: "What now?" Having no other options for pain relief, Smith began using marijuana medicinally on a regular basis. It has changed her life, back to near-normal, and made it possible for her to do things like shop for groceries, go to the movies with friends, clean her house, and simply sleep through the night. "It's been the most effective medicine for me by far, in terms of not interfering with my life or with my thought processes," she said. "One of the reasons I think it's so vital to people like me is because the patient can control their own dosage." A typical person with debilitating pain can get substantial relief by taking just three to five puffs off a pipe or marijuana cigarette; the effects can last anywhere from four to eight hours, experts say. Smith noted that the amount of the active agent in marijuana that she typically ingests two or three times a day is far less than the amount in the only federally approved form of marijuana now available, a pill called Marinol. Several national studies, including two by top federal health agencies, have found that patients taking Marinol report significant pain relief but complain of side effects such as marked impairment of mental capability and lethargy. "I don't want to go around being stoned all the time; that's not my cup of tea," Smith said, referring to the way many patients report feeling after taking Marinol. "In spite of the fact that I'm severely disabled, I still lead a very active life." A Northwest Arkansas-based group is working toward getting a medical-marijuana law enacted in Arkansas. ARDPArk, or the Alliance for Reform of Drug Policy in Arkansas, is a 2 1/2-year-old group of Arkansas residents who believe that many patients who suffer from debilitating diseases and symptoms should be legally allowed to use marijuana for medicinal purposes. The group, founded in 1999 by six Northwest Arkansans, has been working to educate the public and state lawmakers about the scientific benefits of marijuana for such conditions as multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, glaucoma, AIDS, cancer, stroke, Tourette's syndrome, arthritis and muscle/joint injuries, and for chronic symptoms such as pain, muscle spasms and tremors, seizures, nausea, vomiting, insomnia and migraine headaches. ARDPArk has been concentrating for the last several months on a petition drive to put a medical-marijuana initiative on the November ballot for public vote. It's an issue Smith is passionate about. "Nowadays we in this country have a lot more important things to worry about than whether people are smoking a little herb -- especially sick people," she says. "Our country is wasting millions and millions prosecuting these people for a drug that is proven to be safer than cigarettes or alcohol." In addition, Smith said, legalizing medical marijuana would take much of the danger out of the lives of the patients, who currently have to surreptitiously purchase their marijuana on the black market from career drug dealers. "I can tell you these are not nice people running these drug cartels," she said. "They make Osama bin Laden look like a pussycat."Complete Title: Marijuana Helps Her Live Again, Disabled Woman Says Source: Morning News of Northwest Arkansas (AR)Author: Kristal L. Dearing Published: Sunday, January 13, 2002 Copyright: 2002, Donrey Media GroupContact: news nwaonline.netWebsite: http://www.nwamorningnews.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:ARDPArkhttp://www.ardpark.org/Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmLawmaker Plans Push To Legalize Medical Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11753.shtmlHouse Panel Refuses To Back Medical Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8611.shtml

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Comment #5 posted by E_Johnson on January 14, 2002 at 09:51:03 PT
If only Bill Maher could get her on PI
She would be a good person to put up against that self-righteous Dr.Drew.But if she's in the closet I guess that's out.
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Comment #3 posted by goneposthole on January 14, 2002 at 08:05:39 PT

Why all of this surreptitious activity?
Because she would lose her job, her home, her good standing in the community, etc.Maybe not such a bad thing, either. Instead of a life ruined, maybe a new life worth living.Instead of hiding in the shadows, to stand up and be counted might save her.Who knows? She may save more lives along with her own.For now, she is hiding from the Nazis to avoid persecution and I really can't blame her for that either.In the words of Alexander Solzenhitzen, "It's a taiga out there."
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Comment #2 posted by Dan B on January 14, 2002 at 07:08:19 PT:

I welcome the new convert
I find it sad that whenever we actually do get a convert--someone who was as engrained in the system of prohibition as anyone but then sees the light and is willing to share her story (albeit anonymously--and I don't blame her) in hope that maybe her word will change a few more people's minds--too often we focus on who she was before the conversion.It's like the Christian who cannot see her way to forgive the new convert for past "sins." For goodness sake, look at this story for what it is: a positive story of how one woman was willing to challenge her deeply-held views and in the process found some relief from pain.My Mom suffers from fibromyalgia, and while she does not use marijuana to control her pain (her symptoms are not as advanced as some others' are), she is supportive of changing policies so that others can. She wasn't always. There was a time when she called all illegal drugs, and marijuana in particular, an "invitation for the devil to control your life." She believed this because that was how she had been taught. It doesn't make her a bad person; it makes her human. Lately, she's been buying hemp oil shampoo because it has a big cannabis leaf on the outside of the bottle (and she was pleasantly surprised at how soft it left her hair feeling), which means she has come quite a long way toward acceptance. She made a point of telling me about her new shampoo while I was talking with her on the phone, and I took it as a manifestation of her earlier statements in support of legalizing cannabis for adults and regulating it like alcohol.My point in bringing my Mom into this (I have done so in the past, and I may well do so in the future) is to say that people change, and even the former (notice the word "was" in that first sentence) "substance abuse counselor" in this story deserves some credit for being willing to challenge her preconceptions.In short, I want to practice what I have been preaching. It's time to find reasons to love one another. I'm sick and tired of all this anger and hate.Dan B
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Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on January 14, 2002 at 00:19:13 PT

OH REALLY NOW????
As an addiction professional, she knew marijuana isn't physically addictive, she says. So she agreed to try it. Well then pray tell my dear, what are the professional standards and ethical practices in your field that allows your colleagues to agree to participate in court ordered marijuana treatment programs enforced with urine testing?
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