A few weeks ago, I sent this letter to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. I gave them my full name and address to show that I'm a real person. But I asked them not to print my name, because I had broken the law by giving marijuana to a dying man. They chose to not print my letter.
Last summer my friend was diagnosed with cancer.
He said that his doctors told him they would be able to control the
nausea, and other side effects.
But after a few months he was not getting relief and he could not hold any food down, or pills.
After 11 days of dry heaves, his wife got some marijuana for her husband. At this point he was vomiting blood all the time.
He wasn't able to inhale the smoke, but he was able to sniff the smoke off the end of the marijuana cigarette. She told me that he was able to sleep a little for the 1st time in many days. The next morning he was able to eat and hold it down until afternoon.
Unfortunately for him, he had to be admitted to the hospital 2 days later, and he died in the afternoon. He was too far gone.
Can you imagine the effect all those 11 days of dry heaves had on his insides?
He had surgery only a few months before to remove some tumors from his abdomen.
To me, it's obvious that if his doctors were able to prescribe medical marijuana to him, he would have benefited greatly from this illegal herb.
It's not been a month yet, but I think about him and the torture he endured. It's well known that marijuana helps cancer patients eat and feel better.
The drug companies are rushing to make pills so the "stigma" of smoking a joint isn't a problem. But how can a pill help if you can't even hold down a glass of water?
Can our state change this? YES!
Talk to your friends and family about this. Cancer patients should NOT be forced to disobey the law.
--February 2000