News (Media Awareness Project) - US WA: MMJ: PUB LTE: Medical Marijuana Can Help Cancer Patients |
| Title: | US WA: MMJ: PUB LTE: Medical Marijuana Can Help Cancer Patients |
| Published On: | 1998-10-28 |
| Source: | Herald, The (WA) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-06 21:45:35 |
MEDICAL MARIJUANA CAN HELP CANCER PATIENTS
I cannot remain silent any longer. The letter from Marvin C. Schuh prompts
me to write ("Medical marijuana: Why create more dangers?" The Herald, Oct.
20). I do not like the use of marijuana! I hate smoking! But what is even
worse is the feeling that one is about to spill ones guts from the inside
out. I have been there. I had breast cancer and colon cancer. The use of
marijuana would have made the treatments more bearable.
Mr. Schuh's letter brings out a couple of misnomers about the use of medical
marijuana. One of the things he mentions is that the use could add to health
problems because of smoking. First, one does not have to use it that often.
The amount of smoking done is in direct correlation to the number of
treatments, certainly not enough to cause health problems. And secondly, it
can be ingested in other foods and be just as effective -- no smoking needed
at all.
I don't think marijuana should be called a drug. Maybe it is just my naivete
to the drug world, but it is a natural plant found in nature that has been
cultivated and perfected just like the tomatoes and apples and other fruits
we find in the grocery store. To me, drugs are the cytoxin, and adriamyacin
and 5FU, which I took to cure my body of breast cancer. Another drug I took
to fight the nausea was ondansetron. But by the time I reached my fifth and
sixth go-rounds of chemo, it was no longer working and had other side
effects.
I hesitated in sending this letter, as I really don't want to scare anyone
with the horrors of breast cancer treatment. It saved my life. I will
celebrate my 53rd birthday and five years of being breast-cancer-free next
month. It would have been so much easier and healthier had I been able to
use marijuana through my whole treatment. Marijuana did not enslave me. I
would never touch the stuff today. But a patient undergoing chemotherapy
should have a choice as to whether or not to use a natural product that can
and has worked wonders.
ROSALIE DEVEREAUX Snohomish
Checked-by: Don Beck
I cannot remain silent any longer. The letter from Marvin C. Schuh prompts
me to write ("Medical marijuana: Why create more dangers?" The Herald, Oct.
20). I do not like the use of marijuana! I hate smoking! But what is even
worse is the feeling that one is about to spill ones guts from the inside
out. I have been there. I had breast cancer and colon cancer. The use of
marijuana would have made the treatments more bearable.
Mr. Schuh's letter brings out a couple of misnomers about the use of medical
marijuana. One of the things he mentions is that the use could add to health
problems because of smoking. First, one does not have to use it that often.
The amount of smoking done is in direct correlation to the number of
treatments, certainly not enough to cause health problems. And secondly, it
can be ingested in other foods and be just as effective -- no smoking needed
at all.
I don't think marijuana should be called a drug. Maybe it is just my naivete
to the drug world, but it is a natural plant found in nature that has been
cultivated and perfected just like the tomatoes and apples and other fruits
we find in the grocery store. To me, drugs are the cytoxin, and adriamyacin
and 5FU, which I took to cure my body of breast cancer. Another drug I took
to fight the nausea was ondansetron. But by the time I reached my fifth and
sixth go-rounds of chemo, it was no longer working and had other side
effects.
I hesitated in sending this letter, as I really don't want to scare anyone
with the horrors of breast cancer treatment. It saved my life. I will
celebrate my 53rd birthday and five years of being breast-cancer-free next
month. It would have been so much easier and healthier had I been able to
use marijuana through my whole treatment. Marijuana did not enslave me. I
would never touch the stuff today. But a patient undergoing chemotherapy
should have a choice as to whether or not to use a natural product that can
and has worked wonders.
ROSALIE DEVEREAUX Snohomish
Checked-by: Don Beck
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