And yet another fabulous medical marijuana letter in today's Opinion pages round up. This one is a masterpiece from Don Seibold of Wetumpka and appeared in today's Anniston Star. Don is 74, a war veteran and suffers from chronic pain. However, he will not break the law in order to see if medical marijuana would alleviate his suffering.
Way to go Don!!
Readers, please read the letter on the Anniston Star website, leave a comment and then write your own letter to the Star at speakout@annistonstar.com
Marijuana Nonsense
Marijuana nonsense
by our readers
Feb 08, 2010
Re “Drugs lead to more drugs” (Speak Out letter, Jan. 28):
Tonya Curvin wrote in her recent Speak Out letter to The Star, “There are other ways to live a painful life without drugs: Therapists, chiropractors, counselors, pastors and exercises are examples. It’s also sad to say, but some chronic pain sufferers got hurt under the influence of drugs and that’s why they are now in chronic pain.”
Note that she said “live a painful life” instead of “alleviate their pain.”
I’ve tried most of the examples she cited plus prescribed pain relief drugs, and none of them helped me. The only relief I get is from a non-prescribed legal drug called alcohol, which probably does more harm to my body than marijuana ever could, and I imagine it costs more, too.
My chronic pain didn’t come about as a result of being under the influence of drugs. It came about while I was serving in the military protecting Curvin’s freedom and her right to spout her nonsense.
Don Seibold
Wetumpka
Veterans Pay Attention
14 minutes ago
2 comments:
You are so right, some do not know what they are talking about. Pain and Chronic pain are not the same. I think that is one thing many do not understand. I have hit my thumb hard enough to loose the nail. The good thing about that pain is I know it would end. Even though it hurt much more for the moment than my normal chronic pain, I know my thumb will not hurt long. With chronic pain you do not know how bad it is going to be and for how long (you are happy when it is just a low level pain and you can go to sleep or rest). Pain that keeps you from doing things with your spouse and children makes it that much worse, a pain worse than the physical pain. You are right, alcohol cost more and does not do a good job as a pain killer. It does damage to you body more than marijuana would. From what I have read using a vaporizer (safer than smoking) you know in about 5 minutes if you have enough and last about 3 hours. Then you can do task normally as I understand. Alcohol takes longer to get in your system and takes longer to get out. If you can grow your marijuana the cost over time would be very low. Most people with chronic pain that lands them on disability have limited funds and medical marijuana could save them and the insurance companies $1000.00's a year.
Thank You so much for your service to our Great nation.
I would like to say to Ms. Curvin that I am someone who KNOWS what chronic pain is about. I have a medical background, which I pursued BECAUSE of my chronic pain, searching for relief.
You wake up every day feeling drained, every nerve on fire - and that's IF you managed to get 3 or 4 hours of sleep.
I have 3 neck fractures, 6 spinal fractures, & numerous others. I was hit by a drunk driver in 1983. I was not under the influence of anything. Since then, I have developed fibromyalgia (FM), a debilitating nerve & muscle disorder.
My body is classified as "opiate-resistant," meaning now matter how huge a dose of morphine or whatever they give me, my pain does not lessen.
In 1983, I discovered marijuana. While it does not eliminate my pain, it creates a kind of "brick wall" between my body & my brain, which allows me to be able to function & take care of my family.
Before I became completely disabled, I relied on continuous daytime & nighttime use of marijuana. I did not smoke to get "high;" rather 2 or 3 puffs would allow me to work at my medical transcription for another couple of hours.
I managed to be an excellent mom & raise an extremely intelligent & gifted son.
After my botched neck surgery (performed by a surgeon I trusted, a CLIENT of my company, whose operative notes I typed), I was prescribed 40mg of MS-Contin per day. I had NO LIFE, only intervals of pain between dreams. I made the decision to get off pharmaceuticals & pursue nutritional, holisric & herbal healing. I have never looked back.
Yes, I still deal with chronic pain & migraines that last for days... but my quality of life is so much improved that I feel it is WORTH THE EFFORT.
I have continuously used both edible & smoked marijuana for over 25 years & it has not killed me yet. However, 6 months on Vioxx & later morphine nearly did the trick.
Now that my son is grown, I have dedicated the rest of my life to get this valuable, healing plant moved from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3 so more who need it have access to it. By doing this, it is my belief that it will take money out of the hands of black-market dealers when it is taxed & regulated by the State. This will also result in increased, lab-tested quality which a patient can rely on, as well as new jobs for farmers, caregivers, medical researchers, & a host of other businesses (computer software, etc.).
Please don't preach on subjects you know nothing about, Ms. Curvin.
Post a Comment