Hi, I'm Mikeee, a medical cannabis patient from Ohio.

I'm 5 months into my 11 month stay in prison for possession of less than 1/4 gram of marijuana. I call it prison, because pain is a prison and I have been virtually bedridden and housebound since October 18 2006, the day a couple of highly motivated cops decided to end all crime in my town by busting me for medical marijuana. When the people say in the media that Ohio has decriminalized marijuana possession, they are wrong. Ohio just exchanged one type of prison for another. Today, I begin the really fun part of my incarceration, the six month driver's license suspension that Ohio mandates for simple possession. Had I been promptly tried (read "Right to a speedy trial") I would be but a month or so from completing my suspension. Foot dragging on the part of my "Court appointed attorney" dragged this case out so long it overlapped a series of needed medical procedures that conflicted with court scheduling. His extended Christmas vacation and ensuing regular vacation took precedence over my civil rights, and I wouldn't have required these expensive procedures had the police and courts let me use my medicine as I have for more than 10 years. I am essentially immobile, so the judge in my case has allowed me liberal driving privileges, pending my passage of a urinalysis. Ohio already has one of the most stringent duid laws in the nation, but I am being held to a higher standard. I don't have to meet the pre-employment standard of 50 nanograms per milliliter of urine, or the tougher 15 nanogram level that is Ohio's duid standard: I have to meet the zero tolerance level of 0 nanograms per milliliter that was recently repealed in Ohio as an unfair standard and is most often applied to convicted felons.

I have used medical cannabis 5 times in the last 5 months, the most recent was 3 weeks ago after a relapse of my back condition did not respond to my pharmaceutical medications, which were also recently increased by 50%. I used less than a gram of cannabis to medicate, yet three weeks later, I still test at 50 nanograms. Thc apparently has the same effective half life as uranium. I am now undergoing a series of "Radio Frequency Ablations", meaning the doctors are forced to burn sections of the nerves coming from my spinal cord to relieve my pain. I have had two back surgeries already,and have had sprains and broken bones frequently, but these "nerve burning" procedures are the most painful thing I have ever experienced in my life, and I have 3 more to go. Not to mention the cost, which is exhorbinant and paid for by the taxpayers of Ohio. The next time your medicare or other insurance premiums go up, you can thank your local law enforcement officers.

I am disabled and receive just $631 per month in social security disability insurance, but that didn't keep the judge in my case from levying a $100 fine, $75 court costs, and a whopping $425 license reinstatement fee. $425 for a clerk to press a few keys on a computer doesn't seem quite equitable, but the state of Ohio is in it for the money and compassion is found only in the dictionary in this state, right between callousness and crap. Although governor Ted Strickland has said off the record that he will sign the medical marijuana compassionate use act into law when it reaches his desk, many of our state legislators are too afraid of hurting their political careers to sponsor or co-sponsor this vitally needed piece of legislation. Meanwhile, the ill, injured, and dying of Ohio continue to be thrown under the wheels of the justice garbage truck. This poor treatment of the disabled is only perpetuated by people like Steve Steiner of "Dad's and Mom's against Drug Dealers" (DAMMADD) when he blames marijuana for the oxycontin overdose death of his son, a young man that obviously lacked proper parental guidance and supervision. The supreme court supports such misinformation and criminalization of medical cannabis when they disallow cases like Angel Raich's when hers is an obviously life threatening instance.

To the justices on the supreme court: You are appointed for life so you do not have to worry about getting voted out when you do the right thing. Perhaps the supreme court and Steve Steiner of DAMMADD should leave medicine to the doctors, and politicking to the politicians. Perhaps these bodies should concentrate on truth, compassion, education, and the right to choose.

As a short afterword, I believe that polygraph tests ought to be mandatory for any police officer that does not have audio or video comfirmation of cases and charges brought against individuals suspected of breaking the law. I listened in wonder while the prosecutor read a statement by the officer that busted me and thought "This must be another case". It was so full of misrepresentations (read LIES) and wrong facts that I thought the judge would dismiss the case. Even the inventory of what was confiscated did not match what they actually presented as evidence against me. I also believe that vindictive prosecution of individuals for expressing their first amendment right to free speech ought to result in lifetime disbarrment for the prosecutor involved.

Please support the OHIO Patient Network, you could be next!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmmotJWfPyw

Keep it GREEN
Mikeee