cannabisnews.com: Cancer Survivor Used, Advocates MJ To Ease Pain Cancer Survivor Used, Advocates MJ To Ease Pain Posted by FoM on November 08, 2000 at 07:33:23 PT By Kevin Flynn, DRMN Staff Writer Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News Martin Chilcutt is a retired psychotherapist and a cancer survivor. Both shaped his drive to legalize marijuana for medical use. Chilcutt, 66, successfully fought cancer seven years ago, using marijuana to ease the nausea brought on by the treatment."I have used it medically and I have found it to be quite effective," he said. As a psychotherapist in California, he saw many terminally ill patients in great pain. He became a believer after watching their discomfort eased by smoking marijuana, he said. Chilcutt reasoned that if smoking worked, it should be an option.Opponents who argue that the initiative is a foot in the door to legalize all drugs haven't reckoned with Chilcutt. "To me that's the old War on Drugs mentality speaking, and that's been a complete failure," he said."I remembered something Ghandi said," said Chilcutt. "'Make the injustice visible."'Chilcutt, who is retired, moved to Colorado six years ago.He fought to get Amendment 20 on the ballot from 1996 until gaining enough signatures for the 1998 vote, but saw it thrown off, on, off and then on again — too late for counting — from opponent challenges.Worn out by that effort, he left the campaign in 1998 to others while he formulated the next step. Chilcutt is organizing a Cannabis Cooperative to help gather and distribute the still-illegal substance to patients covered by a medical exception.Such cooperatives are under fire in California, where a medical marijuana initiative passed four years ago."We're going to do everything legitimate and above board," Chilcutt said.He lives in Denver's Capitol Hill neighborhood and devotes his retirement time to community involvement including volunteering as a counselor with the Colorado AIDS Project and with the senior citizen activist group Gray Panthers.Complete Title: Cancer Survivor Used, Advocates Marijuana To Ease Suffering Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO)Author: Kevin Flynn, Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff WriterPublished: November 8, 2000 Copyright: 2000 Denver Publishing Co.Address: 400 W. Colfax, Denver, CO 80204Contact: letters denver-rmn.com Website: http://www.denver-rmn.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Coloradans For Medical Rights http://www.medicalmarijuana.com/Voters Approve Medical Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7601.shtmlMarijuana Measure an Apparent Winnerhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7594.shtmlMedical-Marijuana Issue Has Narrow Leadhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7592.shtmlMarijuana Amendment Passing http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7591.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: