SOME CONSTITUENTS NEED ACTION, NOT CLIPS

A recent letter to the editor praised state Sen. Larry Bomke for being
a "people person" because his clipping service had sent a laminated
picture of her that had been printed in your paper. While it was a
nice gesture, I hardly consider it a proof of Bomke's care for his
constituents.

I am disabled due to a birth defect in my spine. This birth defect
forced me to have several vertebrae fused a few years ago.
Unfortunately, the surgery came too late to prevent me from developing
peripheral neuropathy, a condition where the nerves in my hands and
feet have started dying. While they die they scream their heads off,
causing a great deal of pain. This is a very slow-moving but incurable
disease. I will live in pain the rest of my life. My doctors have me
taking several opiates, including morphine, as well as a number of
other drugs, all of which debilitate me almost as much as the pain
does.

Cannabis has been found to be quite effective at relieving the pain of
neuropathy without all the debilitating side effects of the harder
drugs. Unfortunately, it is not available to me in Illinois unless and
until Senate Bill 1381 is made law. I wrote a letter to Bomke last
spring explaining my medical problems and politely requesting his
support on this matter. Bomke never even acknowledged receiving my
letter, let alone offered me any assistance.

I'm afraid Bomke is going to have to do a lot more than hire a
clipping service to make me believe he cares about his
constituents.

Dennis M. Garland

Chatham