DUSTIN COSTA STRUGGLES AGAINST INVISIBILITY

Thomas Jefferson O'Connell, MD, perused a front-page story on in the
Times and said, "I'm glad the torturers are being exposed, but I
can't help thinking that the prisoners at Guantanamo get a lot more
attention than Dustin Costa." Costa is a patient of O'Connell's who
has been imprisoned in Fresno since August 2005 on cultivation charges.

According to O'Connell and attorney Bill McPike, Costa thought he was
protected by state law. But state law won't apply when he goes on
trial (in November, he hopes), since the U.S. Attorney took over his
case from the Merced County DA. Costa won't even be allowed to tell
the jury that the plants he was growing on the family farm were
intended for medical users. Nor will his own story be allowed. This
is how he told it to Dr. O'Connell:

My first encounter with marijuana came in the fall of 1968. I was a
22-year-old Marine nearing the end of my four-year enlistment. It was
during this time that I was diagnosed with an anxiety/depression
disorder and prescribed Librium. The Librium seemed to help, but I
didn't like the way it made me feel. A friend turned me on to
marijuana, and to my amazement, my depression disappeared and
gradually, as I continued to use it, I found that I was able to focus
on tasks much better. I'd had a lifelong problem with focus that
plagued me particularly in school. I always scored well on IQ tests,
yet try as I might I barely made it through high school with a D
average. Electronics School in the Marine Corps was similarly difficult.

After my honorable discharge I enrolled in a community college. I
also became a regular pot smoker. Two years later I graduated with
honors. That was one of the proudest moments of my life.
Unfortunately, I also had a drinking problem. When I drank, generally
daily, I became abusive and violent. I was only able to quit drinking
in 1999 when, as a condition of receiving my first medical marijuana
recommendation from a doctor in Marin County, I agreed to give up
alcohol. It worked! I've been alcohol-free since 1999.

It was a revelation that marijuana could be an effective substitute
for all kinds of addictions. Up till then, because of all the media
hype, I was under the impression that only those with a catastrophic
illness like cancer or AIDS could receive a doctors recommendation.

Costa made an annual drive from Fresno to Marin to get his letter of
approval renewed. In 2002 he switched doctors to shorten the drive
and saw O'Connell in Oakland. "My entire perspective on medical
marijuana was about to take a giant leap forward," Costa recounted in
a letter from prison. "Doctor O'Connell is a retired thoracic surgeon
who once was a Lt. Colonel in the Army Medical Corps during Viet-Nam.
He, too, asked me detailed questions about my alcohol and drug
history. He showed great interest in my troubled childhood and in my
work history. He explained that he had discovered a relationship
between mental health and substance abuse. The key was that substance
abusers were self-medicating most often to treat anxiety and stress.
He explained that self-medicating with marijuana was a far safer and
more effective choice. 'Safer than aspirin, more effective than Ritalin.'

"He said most of his patients had anxiety/stress issues and pot
worked better for them than pharmaceutical alternatives or illegal
drugs. I had suspected so from my own experience, but now I had
confirmation from a medical doctor I left the office with a diagnosis
of a 'mood disorder.' This was different than for relief of
alcoholism, though similar. It seemed more in tune with my core
problem. I would learn later that 'mood disorder' covers a broad
range of anxiety and depression-related disorders, including ADD,
ADHD, BiPolar disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, autism, and so on.

"Even though medical marijuana is unavailable at present for
prisoners, there is tremendous interest. I've interviewed more than
100 [inmates] so far and found that almost all have suffered from
debilitating mental disorders. About 75% of those interviewed suffer
from serious substance abuse of hard drugs or alcohol. Others had
anger management issues. In every case, I was told that based on
their prior experience and knowledge, they could successfully replace
the offending substance, or better manage their anger with marijuana."

Costa forwards a clipping from the Fresno Community Alternative on
the racist nature of drug-law enforcement. Although only 22 percent
of illicit drug users are black or Latino, 80 percent of those in
prison for drug offenses are black or Latino.

More than 2.2 million Americans are behind bars--a third of them for
selling or possessing marijuana. Prohibitionist flacks reassure the
public that most of those convicted of possession are "dealers" who
have pled down to possession, but this is misleading. The line
between evil dealers and benign users is very vague. Many working
people who want to smoke high-grade marijuana but can't afford $400
for an ounce will buy, say, a half pound for $2000 from an
acquaintance, sell six ounces to friends for $350/per, thus getting
their own two ounces for free (in exchange for the labor involved in
distribution, and the risk).