FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 19, 2002
Contact: John Markes , Denele Campbell
Conway, AR: Navy veteran and Conway native John Markes will board a Southwest
Airlines flight Saturday afternoon at the Little Rock National Airport, bound
for Washington State and a legal supply of marijuana. With financial help from
his church, support from a friend in Washington State who has located John an
apartment, and tearful goodbyes from his family, John will leave Arkansas behind
in a move he says is forced on him by the government.
"I don't want to leave my mom and all my family and friends behind," John states
quietly from his tiny, empty apartment in Conway. Boxes sit stacked by the door.
"I'm afraid to go so far away from home, as sick as I am. But the government
leaves me no choice. I'm not willing to die because the government wants to wage
war on me."
John's troubles began while he served his country as a nuclear reactor
technician in the U. S. Navy. After a large nuclear reactor leak,this
large-framed, six-foot healthy young man started having unusual health problems.
Finally discharged for medical reasons, John continued on a frustrating life and
death struggle to regain his health. Doctors at the Little Rock Veterans
Administration Hospital tried every drug and treatment they could find, but
nothing worked. As John's weight continued to drop, the doctors told him they
had no other options and that he should consider making arrangements for his
death.
On one visit, as John's weight approached 150 pounds and he could no longer
travel outside his home except in a wheelchair, one doctor stepped into the
hallway with John and suggested that John consider marijuana. For reasons of his
faith as a strict Mormon, John did not immediately pursue this option. Two
months later, at 130 pounds and nothing ahead but a funeral, John finally tried
the illegal substance.
"It was amazing," he says, shaking his head. "Almost immediately, I had an
appetite. Food that I ate didn't come back up. In just two months of using
marijuana, I gained thirty pounds."
The complex medical condition John suffers is indicative of the non-cancer
effects of radiation exposure, according to online documents made available by
the National Organization for Rare Diseases and by Radiation Survivors, an
organization of 11,000 members. A complete analysis of John's medical history is
now being reviewed to determine if the federal government is liable for John's
radiation exposure. He has been enrolled in the VA's ionizing radiation exposure
study since the mid-1990s, but this program does not offer treatment.
John's biggest problem in the years since he started using marijuana has been
the illegality of the substance. He has been arrested once, and another time
police searched his apartment and took his marijuana. The arrest resulted in
fines but no confinement.
"They didn't want to deal with somebody as sick as I am in their jail," he
remembers. "But since then I've had to be more careful. I can't afford to become
homeless."
An even more problematic result of marijuana's illegality has been cost and
availability. When John can obtain marijuana, he spends approximately $600 or
more per month, about forty percent of his income. In the last year, his failed
efforts to obtain marijuana have cost him over $2000 of his meager income.
Strangers trusted with money to go purchase marijuana have instead taken the
money and disappeared.
"That's happened twice. Now, this last time, my friend got arrested with a
quarter pound. That was $600. Not only is she in a lot of trouble on account of
me, but I don't have any marijuana and my money is gone. If I could just grow a
few plants for my own supply, none of this would happen."
John was among the first Arkansas patients to take an active role in the state's
drug policy reform movement, which began efforts to legalize medical use of
marijuana in 1999. Two successive efforts to place an initiated act befores
voters failed for lack of sufficient petition signatures. Legislative action has
been more promising, with a study bill introduced in early 2002 sponsored by
Sen. John Riggs (D-Little Rock). Hearings on the study bill were conducted in
November.
"We're optimistic that we'll have bi-partisan support for a bill when the
Arkansas General Assembly convenes in January 2003," states Denele Campbell,
executive director for the Arkansas Alliance for Medical Marijuana. "We have
been talking with legislators who support this reform, working toward a
successful legislative action. We've heard from hundreds of people who have
either used it medically, are still using it, or from family members of those
who have had some respite from their suffering with the use of marijuana. The
public support is there -- polling in 2001 and in the fall of 2002 consistently
show that two-thirds of Arkansas voters want sick, disabled, and dying people to
have legal access to marijuana."
The Alliance proposal calls for a law in Arkansas that would allow patients with
debilitating medical conditions to apply for registration in a program conducted
by the state health department. The medical status of applicants would be
confirmed before the department issued identification cards. With such a card,
patients would be able to legally possess and/or grow a limited supply of
marijuana for personal use. Such a law would be similar to laws already enacted
by voters in eight other states: Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington,
Alaska, Nevada, Maine, and Colorado; and by legislative action in Hawaii.
"John has told us he has saved some money so he can fly back to Arkansas and
testify when our bill comes before the Legislature," Ms. Campbell added. "He has
testified twice at great effort -- he's been willing to risk arrest to speak out
about this controversial issue."
John dismisses any praise about his efforts on behalf of reform. He says he
feels bad about leaving the reform effort behind. But in the last few months, he
says he has lost over thirty pounds because he has been unable to obtain
marijuana.
"I'm not the only one in this situation, needing to use marijuana for medicine.
I was brought up to do the right thing. In a way, I feel like a deserter for
moving to Washington. But I can't fight for anything if I can't stay alive, so I
guess I don't have any choice. I had hoped that Arkansas law would change before
I had to do this. When I can get legal medical marijuana at home, I'll be back
on the first plane."
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Denele Campbell, Executive Director
Alliance for Reform of Drug Policy in Arkansas, Inc. - ARDPArk, Inc.
1155 West Sixth Street PMB A17 Fayetteville, AR 72701 479-839-2475 *
arkdruglawreform@mindspring.com * www.ardpark.org
Sponsor of the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Campaign