Dan Asbury

I'm writing you today on behalf of myself and my fellow Ohioans, because of an urgent need, but first let me introduce myself, and tell you my story.

My name is Mr. Daniel G. Asbury, I reside in Oregon Ohio, and I’m 46 years of age with a medical condition called quadriplegia, caused by a spinal cord injury suffered 22 years ago. This injury carries with it many medical problems. Among them are constant pain, depression, nausea, lack of appetite, constant doctor visits, constant hospital stays, physical therapy visits, violent muscle spasms that have thrown me out of my wheelchair, kidney stones, and wound ulcers. I cannot even do simple tasks that people take for granted, like being able to work, enjoy a meaningful relationship (can you imagine not being able to have a normal sexual relationship with a woman for 22 years?) or taking my dog for a walk.

I'm going to tell you what kind of medications my doctors were prescribing, and the effect these dangerous drugs had on me. There were painkillers, sleeping pills, muscle relaxers, anti-anxiety drugs, and antidepressants. These dangerous drugs come in different colors, shapes, doses and are made by different manufactures. These dangerous drugs had a lot of nasty side effects, let me mention a few; Constipation, headaches, dry mouth, a constant "spaced out" feeling, and even thoughts of suicide. Those dangerous drugs hurt me more than they helped me. Then a change came into my life, for which I'm grateful and been truly blessed. Because without it there is no doubt I would likely be dead of an accidental overdose, or suicide.

At the suggestion of a fellow disabled person, I started using marijuana cooked in cookies, brownies, cakes, and cupcakes. Marijuana has been a wonder drug and a godsend. Please understand I'm not the only one out here who is using marijuana as medicine. Millions of my fellow disabled Ohioans are doing the same thing. In America, eight Americans get legal marijuana from the government, where's mine? In addition, a number of states in America have enacted marijuana laws to protect the sick, the disabled, and the dying. There is no better freedom in America than being allowed to treat a medical condition as a doctor and patient see fit. A number of recent studies have shown marijuana to be useful in medicine.

I have been arrested three times for marijuana. Soon Judges will have run out of options with me. It's only a matter of time before I get sent to state prison. That stay will cost you and every taxpayer in Ohio at least $106,000 per year.

I find it very sad that in America, a government that touts itself in front of other governments as the freest in the world would lock up sick, dying, and disabled people in prison. What would Thomas Jefferson think or George Washington?

We need medical marijuana laws in Ohio. These laws would protect me and others like me. Please help me and others by introducing a medical marijuana law.

[TOP]

Anon

About a year and a half ago I was diagnosed with pseudo-tumor cerebri, which means my spinal fluid is being produce too quickly for my body to get rid of it. It causes pressure on my eyes, which could make me go blind. In addition, I have severe pain in my lower back and my right hip. I also have anxiety attacks when I am in public, and marijuana helps relieve some of the pain in my lower body and helps with my anxiety attacks tremendously.

The problem is the government is treating it like other lethal drugs when in fact it's not lethal at all. There are many people who use it for pain and other illnesses. So why are medical marijuana patients treated like criminals?

I just wish for once that they would take their backwards ways and open their eyes to see the thousands or even millions who use it for medical use. If it weren’t for marijuana I would be suffering daily. Thank the lord I can still get by.

[TOP]

Kevin Aita

In high school and college I was a Varsity swimmer and rugby player. After graduating summa-cum-laude from St. Johns University in 1973 at the age of 22, I was overjoyed. However, my exuberance was short-lived.

I suffered an excruciating lower back injury. I spent three months in the hospital, and underwent two laminectomies. For a few years, the pain was always there, but I did not want to take narcotic analgesics. The pain eventually became extremely severe.

I am now 51 years old and in constant pain. Things such as taking a shower, using the bathroom and getting dressed are sheer agony. I have used extremely powerful pain medications, all to no avail. The O N L Y substance that affords relief is marijuana. I must make this note short, I have been sitting at the computer for a while, and I am in a great deal of pain

[TOP]

John Precup

I was diagnosed with secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis in 1986, after waking up on the morning of April 5th with the worst case of the "bed spins" imaginable. I was unable to keep anything down, even water. On April 6th I was admitted to the hospital for a seven-day stay during which the ‘spinning’ continued for six days straight.

When I was sent home, the dizziness had subsided a little, but I still could not function well at all. My neurologist prescribed the drugs Compazine and Antivert. They had little affect on the nausea and no affect on the appetite, even after the dosage was doubled. After a couple of weeks of feeling sick and not eating, I had lost 15 pounds and no medication was helping. I was truly in fear for my life. It was then that I decided to try smoking Cannabis/Marijuana.

At first, I felt worse, but after the effects of the smoke were gone I began to relax and get an appetite. I could finally eat again.

Since that time, I have used cannabis to maintain a healthy body weight and a decent standard of living. For years I left my prescription drugs setting on the counter, as Cannabis was more effective.

By November 1993, the disease had progressed to the point that I needed to use a cane and a wheelchair. The damage to the nerves that control the lower part of my body and legs caused my legs to be spastic and ache. Again, I saw a real benefit from using Cannabis; it allowed my muscles to relax. I was given a prescription for the drug Bacoflen in 1993 to help control muscle spasms. I experienced little benefit from the drug, it didn’t alleviate the pain in my legs. However, with cannabis, I got relief and, without the spasms, I could get a good night’s sleep.

I briefly discussed the benefits I had been getting from the cannabis with my neurologist, Dr. Vilnius S. Ciemins, upon my initial office visit with him in 1986. After learning of Ohio's medical marijuana defense law in December of 1996, I decided to talk him again about my use of the drug and the short-lived law. Dr. Ciemins, agreed that Cannabis is useful in the treatment of my condition.

He provided me with a handwritten recommendation that states, "Told patient that marijuana may relive nausea, realizing that as yet the drug is still illegal."

I feel the reason for the prohibition of cannabis is misinformation and the stigma that surrounds this medicine. So I have become active getting people informed and involved.

I am currently the president of the Ohio Patient Network, a member of the OPN speakers bureau, and on several committees for OPN. I am also a member of North Ohio NORML and the Ohio Cannabis Society.

Today I weigh 160 lbs. and use a wheelchair most of the time. Cannabis has no doubt, given me a better life than I would have had without it. I didn't ask for this. I would gladly give up using Cannabis and all the other drugs that are prescribed for me if I were miraculously cured.

I don't consider myself a criminal just for using the only thing I know that works to try to maintain what quality of life I have left.

[TOP]

Don & Ruth Snouffer for

Paula Mercer

Our daughter, Paula, age 41 asked us to write her medical history. Six weeks after her birth, we realized something wasn't right with her legs. Little babies have fat creases; she had two creases on her left leg and one on her right.

Our family Doctor ordered x-rays of her hips but found nothing amiss. This was in 1961. As she grew, her left leg became larger. At age eight, she began wearing a fitted Jobst custom fitted stocking on her left leg, below the knee to mid-foot. Varicose veins began showing up at this time. A boy in her school class told her that her leg looked like a road map.

A Doctor, who was recommended by a vascular specialist, told us that he "had a whole ward full of patients just like her and not to worry about it". Eventually, we realized that doctors do not want to see patients they cannot cure. One doctor had his staff call on the day of her appointment saying he would be tied up at the hospital until late and he would be unable to see her that day. I had already taken off work and had gotten her out of school early, so we went to see if we could wait until he was available.

When we got there, he was having office hours, as usual. He could not help her so he did not want be bothered. We never went back to him. She had pain in her leg then, but being a child, she didn't know that not everyone had such pain.

Later, she had a venogram and an arteriogram and we found out she was allergic to the dye they used. When she left the hospital, she was quite ill for a few days.

At the age of fourteen, she had a blood clot go to her brain. It knocked her to the floor and she had a seizure. Tests revealed that there was no brain damage but later we found she lost part of her childhood memories. At about this age, it was recommended we put blocks under the foot of her bed, to elevate it. Overnight her leg would drain and the swelling would subside.

What was happening was that the blood would go down the leg, through the arteries just fine but not returning via the veins, up the leg, because they were blocked. The fluid in the blood would leak out in the tissues, causing swelling.

After her marriage, she was told she should not have any children, because the weight of a baby would put more pressure on her leg. She and her husband decided not have children. She went for a tubule-legation. When they were ready to perform the operation, she found out she was pregnant.

She had a difficult pregnancy but the result was our little miracle. They had a beautiful, healthy baby boy who is now a college student.

After our family Doctor retired, she went to a Doctor who ordered a Doppler image of her torso and leg. This was the first time any kind of study had been done. The findings were that the veins in the left side of the abdomen were "like a tangled skein of yarn" and her left kidney and spleen were undeveloped because of lack of circulation, and her left kidney was enlarged

Because of the small, underdeveloped spleen, her immune system is very poor. Consequently, whenever she gets exposed to a illness, she usually gets it, like strep, pink eye and all those nasty little bugs.

Paula graduated from nursing school and became an RN-C, with a specialty in orthopedics and medical surgery nursing. Because of the lifting and being on her feet a lot, she had to retire, medically, from nursing, even before her school loans were paid off.

She now lives in constant pain; Some days, it's not too bad, other days it is unbearable. It just depends…

I cannot imagine how it would be to be 41 years old and know your health can only get worse but after many years of wondering why this happened to our youngest child and much research, we have concluded that this is likely a result of her father being exposed to radiation in the U.S. Army in 1953.

Her Father, Don, was in the 82nd Airborne Division. In 1953, the U.S. Government was conducting atomic bomb tests at Camp Desert Rock, Nevada. A group of men traveled by troop train, from North Carolina to Nevada to participate in the tests – remember, at this time, not much was understood about radiation.

During the detonation of the bomb, the soldiers were in a deep trench about six miles from ground zero. They then marched to ground zero, 10 minutes after the bomb went off. They also camped out in the area for ten days before returning to North Carolina.

At the time, I was pregnant with our first child - I have read that radiation goes through the glands of the body. Our first child has no birth defects but has had both sides of her thyroid gland removed because of benign tumors. There is no history of thyroid problems on either side on the family.

Our oldest son was slightly tongue-tied. When he was in his thirties, he was injured in a work-related accident. X-rays of his spine showed that his spine was offset and had been that way, since birth. This has caused arthritis. His orthopedic doctor told him at age 35, he had the spine of a 65-year-old man. He predicted that he would be in a wheel chair by the time he is 60.

Our second son has a heart valve problem. At this time, it has not caused any major problems but who knows what the future will bring?

Paula was our last child and the subject of this article; she was born with the circulation problem and has a heart valve problem. She also had half of her thyroid removed and has problems with the remaining half. She takes medication for it. How do you deal with the pain of the arthritis and a severe varicosity? As the pain increases the muscles tense, causing more pain. It is cyclic, and it does not stop. The pain medication dulls the mind and causes depression.

There is a natural way to diminish this pain. It is against the law. Medical marijuana can be the logical answer, but what might the consequences be if you’re caught using it? Is it worth the risk?

It is time for lawmakers to change the marijuana laws so it can help those who need it. It is not fair to outlaw something that can give relief from pain.

People abuse prescription drugs but they are not taken off the market. Lawmakers need to deal with the abusers. Make medical marijuana available to those who need it.

If something is natural, God made it for a purpose. That purpose may just be for those experiencing severe pain. Please do not make criminals out of those who need pain relief!

[TOP]

Dee Dee

I don't have a "warm, feel-good" story. In fact, three years later, every time I tell it, I begin to cry. However, it is MY story, and I need to tell it, and you need to hear it.

My story begins at the start of 1999; I had just turned 27 years old. My husband and I had been married for seven years. Our son was five. We had moved out of our apartment, into a house with a yard. I had the perfect little family, a house I loved, and a job that I adored.

I had been working out with weights and doing aerobics for years, and had the body every girl dreams of. My life was perfect, albeit for a very short time.

In March, I slipped on spilled salad dressing at work, and hurt my arm. After a trip to the emergency room, a referral to a respected orthopedist, and a reassurance that it was only a minor, soft tissue injury, I had no reason to worry.

However, as the days wore on, my arm was hurting more and more, instead of getting better, it got worse.

A cast had been put on my arm because of this. It felt worse every day. One day, I awoke to the feeling that my arm was being crushed. (If the arm were swelling in the cast, it would cause that feeling, right?) I went to the doctors, and insisted that they immediately remove the cast. (My doctor seemed to treat people like numbers, so this was really going over well.) Underneath the cast, was an appendage the size of my son’s. It had black, 2-3"hairs all over. It was like a dead limb on a tree - dead, all except for the pain. The bones felt like they were being crushed in a vice. I had a fiery burning sensation underneath the skin, and electric shock-like pains were radiating from it. The thick layers of dead skin caked on it smelled. The room fell quiet, the doctor, the nurse, and I could only stare at my arm.

I spent the next few weeks with increasing pain, and increasing pills, which were as effective as placebos. Within a couple of months, I had a diagnosis. Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, the injury at work sent my nerves into a never-ending cycle of the Fight or Flight Syndrome. In the process, destroying all tissue in its path. Incurable, unstoppable - and it had begun to spread.

While this was happening, my company stopped Workers' Compensation benefits. At one point, I went off of my morphine-equivalent pain relievers cold turkey because of losing my benefits. That is when I found on the internet, a story about a man with RSD. He had participated in the 1999 Institute of Medicine research on medical marijuana. It was the best thing anyone had ever given him.

I read the report, and continued my research. I began to play with an idea. I kept reading, I discussed it with my husband, and I got on my knees about it, too.

When life gets rough, I go back to the basics. What was my Number One Priority? My son - I could risk jail, and take a chance to live a more normal life, take care of my son, and myself or, I could let my body wither away in front of my kindergarteners' eyes. - No child should witness such suffering. I should be able to hug him.

I finally won my Workers' Compensation hearings, and all three appeals. I was granted one consultation visit at a pain clinic. Things were finally going to get better I thought.

I went to the appointment, and met a doctor that informed me he had never seen or heard of my disease. He told me that I could probably teach him about it. Discouraged, I went home. To find my street blocked off, fire trucks and police all over the place. The house next door had caught fire.

While trying to evacuate my house, they found my pot plants. After being screamed at, called names, and had false accusations leveled at me by the detective, which was all witnessed by neighbors, my husband and I were arrested, and charged as felons.

The worst thing on my record before this was a seat belt ticket. At the hardest time in my life, my government was punishing me for trying to alleviate my suffering.

Today, I spend my days fighting the government for the right to fight my disease, and ease my pain. I fear what the government will do. Let me be clear, though. That fear, pales in comparison to my fear of not waking up at all, when my RSD attacks a vital organ.

[TOP]

Linda

My husband is only 39 years old. He is a veteran who suffers from PTSD, Gulf War Syndrome, and has broken his back three different times. He has severe nerve impingement.

Our lives consist of dealing with old nightmares, bouts of unexplained illnesses that consist of muscle cramps, chills, fever, vomiting, and severe pain. Some days he must use a cane to get around and there is a wheelchair standing ready in the corner for the really bad days.

Without the use of medical cannabis, we go back to the nights I am awakened with his hands around my neck, fighting the unseen enemy soldier. The kind and gentle man I married almost 16 years ago no longer exists during these times.

PTSD is a living hell for him and our family. The days he awakens early and begins throwing up and has muscle spasms that bend his 6' frame in half, when he sits with tears streaming down his face because he is so sick and the pain he lives with daily.

He now takes methadone and oxycodone to combat it, has tried the dangerous spinal nerve blocks and morphine patches are next, but it is never completely relieved. The medical cannabis calms his nightmares, it stops the vomiting and it helps to ease his pain. Marijuana gives us back some semblance of an ordinary life.

I also use this God-given miraculous herb. I have several maladies that include neuropathy pain from diabetes, CHF, asthma, severe depression and glaucoma. I was on 17 different medications daily, five of which were for the depression alone. I have been able to discontinue those five because of marijuana.

We are not criminals or second-class citizens! Yet, we live in fear, our government says our medication is illegal; our small organic garden would put us behind bars if discovered still, the relief obtained outweighs the fear. It is a sad irony that the same government that he gave so much for would prosecute him for so little.

[TOP]

John Spofforth

In April 1996, Dr. Lester Grinspoon wrote to me saying, "I would be delighted to write a prescription for cannabis for you when it is legal to do so."

After suffering clinical depression and therapy, I started smoking cannabis in 1994. I found that within seconds I could "break out" of the depressing ruminations that I would get into -- going over and over about the past – and get on with my life.

At age 71, I also suffer from vocational (mason) osteo-arthritis, and military injuries. Cannabis relieves the chronic and constant aches and pains of muscular-skeletal problems those conditions produce. With cannabis, relative wellness returns for me.

I've tried Marinol, It doesn't act for 20+ minutes. A "5mg" dosage does nothing and a larger dosage drains my energy. Its cost is also simply out of my range.

Qualifying patients for medical marijuana ought to be able to home-grow their own medicine.