STATE SHOULD ALLOW MEDICAL MARIJUANA

I respectfully request The Birmingham News support HB434 in the
Alabama House of Representatives and any companion bill that is
introduced in the Alabama Senate. This bill would change Alabama law
to allow certain citizens described in the bill to use marijuana under
the conditions prescribed in the bill to deal with their medical conditions.

In 1970, after more than 16 years in the military, I was medically
discharged because of a physical condition that rendered me physically
unfit for further service to our country. Before then, I underwent two
invasive surgeries to try to correct a condition in my lower spine,
neither of which brought relief for the pain I suffered. So, for half
or more of my life, I've lived with chronic pain that has gotten worse
over time.

As a law-abiding citizen, I have never used marijuana, even though
I've read and heard that using it might give me some relief. If HB434
changes the law to make medical marijuana legal, at least I will have
the opportunity to use it legally to see if it will ease my pain, as
it reportedly has for so many other people around our nation.

Don Seibold

Wetumpka