EYE IRRITATION UVEITIS or IRITIS -- 20 year old south Arkansan woman who definitely identified with the front page story of the man with ulcerative colitis. I was diagnosed around 2000 with this illness. I didn't start using marijuana until two years ago, and it is not the colitis it helped me so much with, but rather, severe eye discomfort.

I had some form of uveitis or iritis (inflammation of the iris, the colored part of the eye). It is characterized by swollen teary eyes with redness around the iris and severe sensitivity to light. I think if it wasn't for marijuana it would have drove me insane. The fact I had to wear glasses frequently, after 6 years of contact lenses, was bad enough. When a flare up came around, I would use marijuana and the pain and irritation would dramatically decrease and I could actually function normally. It also helped my swelling, as marijuana relieved inocular pressure. Both of these illnesses (colitis, iritis) are associated with the genetic flaw genotype HLA-B27, as is ankylosing spondylitis, reiters syndrome, and certain types of arthritis.

I have not had another colitis flare up since my episode. My iritis comes and goes and just recently for a few months I could not wear contacts for more than three days. However, I have had this pair in for a week and am doing fine so hopefully the eye problem is in remission also. Ever since I started using marijuana my eyesight has not gotten any worse, the degeneration has seemed to come to a halt. Like the guy said, it is NOT the devils drug. Why people  believe this I do not know. Oct 2004