RX: DAILY WEED

Dear eye,

Re: Nate Hendley's "Medical pot back in court," Street Level, Oct. 16.

Like Lynn Harichy, I do not get stoned after my morning ablutions, which
includes smoking pot from a clay pipe bought in Glasgow. I smoke it for the
same reason thousands of others do relief from pain and nausea caused by
a similar degenerative nerve disease and the sideeffects from chemical
medications. I don't give a rat's arse about double blindtesting,
endorsements or anything else. My health, my wellbeing, is positively
affected by partaking of the weed daily.

At present, I'm fortunate enough to have a reliable, inexpensive source.
Before that I was being ripped off, in danger of being arrested and scoring
a criminal record or, at worst, not having any marijuana to smoke. My
alternative during these times was morphine, enthusiastically prescribed in
any quantity and strength I requested. Morphine is toxic when ingested or
given IM or IV. So too are numerous other prescribed chemicals that I would
rather not take.

My choice is to rely on good old grass for dealing with the acute pain and
insufferable nausea. I also learned to perform selfadministered
acupuncture from a maverick doctor who was, incidentally, the same one who
encouraged me to try pot as a solution to what she termed a
lifetimelasting degenerative condition. She advised against the
antiseizure and antinausea drugs I was currently taking, telling me that
they would help minimally but with very nasty side effects. I took her
advice and my only worry now is availability. My source is out of business
for safety reasons.

I will now be forced to deal with the creeps I had to before. What is to
stop a pharmacy from dispensing marijuana along with all the poisons they
do each day? Yokimbi bark and thousand of other plant derivatives are used
in medications. Why not grass? Reason: The pharmaceutical lobby. This
industry is the fastest growing market in the world and has the biggest tax
writeoffs for research reasons, you understand.

Imagine how we feel when we hear of a grass bust and you see them carting
off the weed to be burned. We see our lifeline our source of comfort and
wellbeing destroyed. How would diabetics feel if they were denied
insulin? The criminalization of marijuana is wrong, folks.

I'll try and write a letter in about two weeks when I'm fried on morphine
and other nasties and can't cook or care for myself or my son. (I'm a
single parent.)

At present, I am able to be a good father, I am president of a property
management board and I have published many writings and acted in prominent
plays in Toronto. I will not be able to continue if I am forced back to
chemical meds. I'll be back in my bed shaking and vomiting, wishing I was
dead.

Anonymous, Toronto