MARINOL WAS OF NO HELP TO STRICKEN MCWILLIAMS

Letter writer W. D. Allen Sr. should seek out more information before
commenting on a subject he obviously is terribly misinformed about
(McWilliams had option for alternative medicine, Letters, June 30).

Peter McWilliams' use of marijuana was not for the "ethical relief of
pain." McWilliams used marijuana to suppress nausea brought about by taking
the "cocktail" of prescription drugs necessary to sustain his life while
suffering from AIDS and cancer.

Without marijuana he would vomit up his prescriptions within a short period
of time after taking them, rendering them virtually ineffective. The use
of Marinol is effective about a third of the time, at best, but still would
not help much in allowing his life-saving drugs to help keep down his
"viral load".

Not that using Marinol even mattered, as McWilliams was also prohibited
from using that drug so that his court-ordered weekly drug testing could
determine if he was using marijuana. When McWilliams was able to use
marijuana as a medicine, he was able to take his prescriptions and keep
them within his system without vomiting.