GETTING HIGH AS A SIDE EFFECT OF MARIJUANA USE

Dear Editor - Re: 'U of G research show pot helps sick people cope'
(Guelph Mercury, July 29).

As a federal medical marijuana license holder who is also married to
one, I was thrilled to see this story about medical marijuana. Marco
Renda is a friend of ours, and he and his wife attended our wedding in
2005.

My wife has epilepsy, and I have fibromyalgia. Both of these
conditions bring with them a litany of symptoms. We have used cannabis
as our only medicine for about four years. The number and ferocity of
my wife's seizures have dropped by about 90 per cent in that time.

There is no doubt about pot making people "feel" better, aside from
any biochemical mechanism between human and medicine. That softening
of symptoms and mild euphoria makes all the difference sometimes.

What disturbs me is this insistence by many that there is a need for a
cannabis medicine that has no buzz or high.

About two weeks into our new medical regimen, we realized the "fun"
part of smoking pot all day wears off quick. The high is still there,
but it ceases to be "fun."

Getting high for the sake of getting high is called recreational use,
but getting high because it is a side effect of medicinal cannabis use
is something entirely different. That high is the measure of the
medicine's potency, and is necessary for correct titration of dose.

If one has weak pot, they need to use more. If the pot is very potent,
then they only need a little. The way to tell the difference is when
the high arrives. That high is the body's way of saying "OK, that's
enough for now."

Russell Barth

Ottawa