I read Peter March's column with interest because, like Wilson Hodder,
I use cannabis for medicinal purposes. I am quite frustrated by the
fact that my doctor is unable to prescribe this drug for me, as is
she. I am prescribed Tylenol 3s, as codeine is the lowest level
analgesic I can be given, due to interactions most painkillers have
with a drug I must take for the rest of my life.

After eight years, Tylenol is losing effect as a painkiller on me, and
having increasingly powerful side-effects. The next lowest painkiller
that I can be safely given is demerol, which is too potent to allow
for day-to-day functioning. I am also using prescription muscle
relaxants

This has been going on for years now, and for the past year I have
been forced to use cannabis more and more, despite the cost of the
drug, and more importantly, the risk of being sold cannabis laced with
another drug. If I were able to get it through prescription, I
wouldn't have to worry about the problem, which, given my health, is
not a small risk or fear.

It should be noted that cannabis supplements and replaces both the
painkiller and muscle relaxants. When I have steady access, my usage
of the prescription drugs drops by about 80 per cent.

I feel pushed into a corner by the system in regards to a drug that is
less harmful to me than the ones prescribed by my doctor, which she
has also noted. I will be forced to use certain medications for the
rest of my life, so I want to take the most cost-effective - in terms
of the damages and gains for my body-medications available. I can
easily get a prescription for Valium, codeine, demerol, and the like,
but not cannabis. And cannabis is less destructive, addictive, and
disruptive than the drugs I just mentioned.

Think about it. And also think about the savings effective treatment
means to the health-care system.

David Charles Macdonald
Beaver Bank, N.S.