ACCIDENT RESULTING IN BACK PAIN -- 62 year old Male, I was injured on the job in 1978 but continued to work until 1982 with excruciating pain. [I had] spinal nerve damage for which there is no technology to repair. Since living in Arkansas, I have seen a pain specialist and for some time was taking hydrocodone (Vicodin) for my chronic back and leg pain. Before this, I took Vioxx and found myself in the emergency room at the hospital - no pulse and couldn't breathe. The Vicodin was making my kidneys burn, so I quit taking it [also].
The only thing that has ever helped me is marijuana. However, I don't use it now because it is legal here to kill me with chemicals but [not legal] to use marijuana. I used medical marijuana with excellent results and no ill effects.
My wife and I raised six children who are all productive and a credit to our society. Until I became disabled, I was the best at what I did. I've always been self-sufficient and on my own from the time I was 13 years old. I am now 62 and live in North Central Arkansas. I left a state where medical marijuana is legal because my disability social security just isn't enough to pay the bills. The cost of living (housing) is much less here than where we were, so we had to leave our children, relatives, and friends in order to have a decent place to live. Nov 2004