I've been doing a lot of writing about flashbacks recently. It's been 10 years since the founding of DrugSense, which has provided so many Web services to organizations like OPN. One hundred years since prohibition came to Westerville, Ohio, my hometown. (Please see: http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/2005/ds05.n430.html#sec6)

There's one more important anniversary on the horizon: the Ohio Patient Network turns five in January.

I know that OPN was a sparkle in the eyes of John Precup and Ken Schweickart years before I came along. One of my first impressions of the medical marijuana movement in Ohio was the evening news in January 1997, which showed rain-soaked protestors outside of the statehouse decrying Governor Voinivich's signature on a bill striking the medical necessity defense from Ohio law. Surely, that represented a pivotal moment for those two who would later congregate on January 6, 2001, at The Ohio State University's Ohio Union in Columbus for an afternoon seminar designed to build a patient network and secure support for an earlier version of the Ohio Medical Marijuana Act (OMMA).

That's when I entered the picture.

I had been working for DrugSense just few months when an e-mail message announcing this seminar passed through one of our e-mail discussion lists. New to the movement, I felt apprehensive about attending, being so public. When I asked my husband if I should go, he responded, sure, but if you don't like it you can always leave. Flash forward five years, I haven't left yet!

Ken Schweickart has a talent for staging events, and this cold, snowy Saturday in early January proved to be no exception. Around 30 attendees listened attentively to presentations by OPN President John Precup, Don Wirtshafter of the Ohio Hempery, and Al Byrne and Mary Lynn Mathre of Patients out of Time, among others. Hearing each of their stories, I felt like John Belushi in the Blues Brothers. Do you see the light? Yes! Yes! I see the light!

I didn't bound down the aisle, hands over feet, but I did speak up and volunteer, leaving business cards with each panelist and collecting theirs as well.

Shortly after this conference, I began corresponding with John Precup and Jean Taddie. My husband and I met them for lunch - I think they needed to check us out and ascertain if we were for real.

With this reality check, a number of us began to meet online to formally create OPN. If my memory serves me correctly, these individuals participated in those first meetings, held initially in a DrugSense chatroom and on Paltalk shortly thereafter: Eleanor Ahrens, Mary Jane Borden, John Hartman, Richard Lake, John Precup, Chad Rea, Ken Schweickart, Jean Taddie, Jim White, and Don Wirtshafter.

In February of 2001, we began to formally establish OPN. We elected officers (2/19/01), opened a post office box (2/23/01), registered the Ohio Patient Network tradename (3/1/01), and obtained a federal Employer ID Number to open a checking account (4/2/01). Board members Dee Dee Zoretic and Dr. Norman Jentner joined us mid-year. We incorporated in September 2002, received 501(c)(3) approval in June 2003, and formed our lobbying arm, the Ohio Patient Action Network in May 2005 to push for SB 74 (a newer version of the 2001 OMMA), which was introduced into the Ohio Senate in February of 2005.

As we look at our first five years, we see positive change. Joe and Dee Dee Zoretic, though prosecuted for felony marijuana cultivation shortly after SB 74's introduction, received only $100 fines for a misdemeanor conviction in October 2005. Our group has engaged in numerous media appearances about medical marijuana, becoming the go-to experts on the subject in Ohio. We've produced a wealth of collateral material (http://www.ohiopatient.net/v2/content/view/31/53/), including the groundbreaking analysis of public opinion, "The People Have Spoken: Medical Marijuana Polling 1996-2002."

Looking forward to 2006, an important anniversary year for us, we hope that all of our dreams - and yours - come true: safe, legal access to medicinal cannabis for patients in the State of Ohio. With your help, we'll make that vision a reality to celebrate five years from now.

To all of our supporters, we wish a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

P.S. Here is a photo of John Precup (right) and Eddie Smith (left) at the January 2001 conference

(From left to right) Mary Jane Borden, Dee Dee Zoretic, and John Precup sign OPN's Articles of Incorporation at the OPN Annual Meeting in September 2002.

Mary Jane Borden in a writer, artist, and activist in drug policy from Westerville, Ohio. Along with serving as the Business Manger for DrugSense, she along with several others co-founded the Ohio Patient Network in 2001.