LEGALIZE IT, GROUP SAYS, FOR THE SICK IT SHOULD BE OPTION, LOCAL PATIENTS SAY

Although Florida hasn't joined the bandwagon of states supporting the
medical use of marijuana, local residents forced to endure the reality
of painful diseases said every possible relief should be examined.

Butch McKay, executive director of Okaloosa AIDS Support and
Informational Services, said he's witnessed marijuana's medicinal
effect firsthand.

"I worked with another agency where I worked with only two AIDS
patients that were legally allowed to have medical marijuana, and it
did make a big difference in the quality of their life," McKay said.
"It stimulated their appetite and I know for a fact that it greatly
benefited them."

Niceville resident Alice Combs recently started her second round of
chemotherapy in her fight against cancer.

Although she said the chemotherapy causes her only slight nausea, she
said her daughter, who also undergoes chemotherapy to treat cancer,
suffers severe nausea.

She doesn't see why the medical community isn't allowed to investigate
every possible treatment for the nausea, including marijuana.

"I am for it if people feel that it is helpful for them," Combs said,
"but I don't see why they don't put it into pill form so people
wouldn't have to sit and smoke a grubby looking joint."

McKay said medical science already has produced marijuana in pill form
for medicinal use, but, for some reason, it's not as effective in
quickly battling nausea and stimulating appetite as in its more common
form.