OREGON MAN WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR FIGHTING A LOST CAUSE

Dan Asbury wanted a normal life.

He wanted to walk his dog, pay bills, go grocery shopping and fight
for a cause.

Unfortunately, the cause Dan chose was a losing one--the legalization
of marijuana for medical use.

Dan was uniquely qualified for this fight. He was a quadriplegic who
used marijuana to quell the pain in his legs and control violent
spasms that more than once rocketed him out of his wheelchair. Pot
did for Dan what prescription drugs did not. It also brought him into
the public eye and led to a felony conviction.

Dan's story begins in 1980 when, at age 24, he fell over a fence and
broke his neck. For seven years, he took prescription muscle relaxers
and painkillers. But, the side effects included lethargy, depression,
dizziness, blurred vision, mouth ulcers and thoughts about suicide. A
fellow patient urged Dan to try marijuana. The difference was
dramatic. I interviewed his mother, Elizabeth, a Licensed Practical
Nurse, 10 years ago. She said, "When on drugs he was nasty, irritable
When he went to marijuana, he was more mellow. When on drugs, he had
trouble sleeping and he had a lot of spasms that threw him out of his
chair. Couple of times I found him on the floor and I had to call
someone because I couldn't pick him up."

Once Dan felt normal he sought a normal life. He walked his dog,
Cujo. He wheeled the streets of Oregon picking up recyclables. He
studied at the library. And, he fought for his causes. The two
closest to his heart, besides the legal use of medical marijuana,
were the care of Willow Cemetery, where many Civil War veterans are
buried, and improving city sidewalks. He was among those who
threatened to sue the city to reduce the slope of curb cuts to comply
with federal guidelines.

Dan was successful in these two efforts, but it was the lost cause
that most remember.

Dan was charged with growing marijuana and trafficking. His case
attracted media attention when the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) helped pay for Dan's defense and
sent an expert on the medical use of marijuana.

The prosecutor offered probation for a guilty plea to the trafficking
charge, but Dan wanted his day in court. He got it on December 21,
1995. Dan woke up at 4:30 a.m. His wife fed him, washed him, bundled
him up and fastened a yellow flashing light to his stocking cap. Dan
hit the road in his wheelchair. It was 6:00 a.m. It was dark. It was
29 degrees. There was a dusting of snow on the road. Forty minutes
later, he reached the bus stop. When he arrived at the Lucas County
courthouse in downtown Toledo, Dan prayed for a Christmas miracle.
But, it was not to be. Ironically, he was eventually convicted of
trafficking, a crime he denied, and acquitted of cultivating, a crime
he admitted.

The judge sentenced Dan to two-years, suspended the sentence and
granted probation. She ordered 75 hours of community service, random
drug screening and drug counseling.

Dan was unrepentant following his release from probation. He wrote in
a letter to the editor to The Press, "I recently completed two years
of probation for growing my own medicine. The important thing is, I
went to my backyard and resumed my activities. Because of seeds, my
water bucket, God's good earth, His sunshine, and his rain, I now
have medicine. Anybody want to come see them?"

Dan justified his marijuana use in a statement to the court. He told
the judge he watched his younger brother struggle with cancer and
waste away from 220 to 65 pounds. He told her how marijuana helped
him ease the pain of chemotherapy. He told her he sent 551 letters to
government officials in an effort to allow him to treat his condition
as he thought best. He pleaded with her not to turn him into a
criminal. He told her the difference marijuana made in his life.
"Your honor, since I threw away my pills of poison, I have been one
highly motivated, highly talented and highly intelligent individual."

Dan told her about his plans to become a volunteer in occupational
therapy and attend college. He never turned that dream to reality. He
did, however, train for a job as a customer service representative,
but he never finished the training.

Paul Abbey, his cousin, remembers Dan like this, "He stood for many
values. He was a great person. He loved life and sticking up for
what's right for America."

Dan Asbury died Wednesday, September 13 of complications from a heart
attack. He was 50. One doctor predicted he wouldn't live past 46. He
proved him wrong just like he proved those wrong who underestimated
his tenacity. Oregon motorists will remember seeing Dan wheeling down
the sidewalk, or when that was impossible, wheeling down the road
risking injury, frustrating drivers to complete his mission. Those
who follow in Dan's tracks will be safer because of him and the
others who forced the city to change its curb cuts to allow easier access.

Dan inspired those of us who knew him not because of what he fought
for but because of how he fought. Each day he overcame the pain and
limitations of his condition and went about his daily business.