PUB LTE: MEDICAL MARIJUANA BRINGS RELIEF TO SUFFERING

David Shapiro's March 11 diatribe against medical marijuana, and his
implication that Big Island marijuana growers are behind the medical
marijuana bills at the Legislature, is insulting.

In June 1998, I went through surgery for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of my
spine, then almost six months of chemotherapy. I tried prescription
remedies for nausea and loss of appetite, but they didn't work.

Then I told (not asked) my doctor that I would try marijuana. This was
frightening for me because, as an attorney, I knew my use of the
illegal substance could jeopardize my license to practice law. I used
minute amounts of marijuana and found it not only relieved my nausea
and loss of appetite within seconds, but alleviated my anxiety as well.

I kept taking small amounts of marijuana, even when I wasn't nauseous.
It kept me calm through a scary and difficult time. When I was cured,
I stopped taking the herb without any withdrawal symptoms. I haven't
used it since.

Shapiro has the right to think whatever he wants about allowing
medical use of marijuana, and if he chooses not to try it for his own
multiple sclerosis symptoms, that's his call. But if others with MS or
other debilitating conditions find relief from marijuana, why deny
them?

Six other states have approved medical marijuana and the sky hasn't
fallen. Give sick people in Hawaii this option.