MEDICAL MARIJUANA, MISSOURI

I was born with cerebral palsy and discovered early on that cannabis
mitigated the most painful physical and emotional manifestations of my
disorder. I later learned that cannabis can help stutterers speak more
clearly and that decades ago, doctors discovered the herb's ability to
alleviate muscle spasms, from which I also suffer.

A year ago my children and I reluctantly fled our home in Kansas City
and headed for the sanctuary of California's Compassionate Use Act.

Although 12 states have enacted medical cannabis laws that protect
patients against state penalties, patients in the remaining states
risk losing their careers, their freedom and even their families
because they use a natural, nontoxic medicine to treat illness rather
than expensive and addictive pharmaceutical drugs.

Now that a bill to protect medical cannabis patients has been
introduced in the General Assembly, Missouri has an opportunity to
step up and do the right thing.

Patients all over the state are anxiously awaiting the assignment of
House Bill 1830 to the Health and Public Policy Committee. Please
contact House Speaker Rod Jetton and ask him to open his heart to
Missouri medical cannabis patients so that they may stop living in
pain, fear and misery.

Jacqueline Patterson,

Bolinas, Calif.