FOR PARAPLEGICS LIKE ME, MEDICAL POT SAFER

Dear Editor: I'm writing in support of the Jacki Rickert Medical
Marijuana Act. There will be public hearings on Dec. 15 by both the
Assembly and Senate health committees. I strongly recommend that the
bill be passed to the floor for debate and possible passage into law
with the governor's signature.

I am a paraplegic. With my particular condition, the pharmacy drugs I
should take for muscle spasms and nerve pains would have killed me
from kidney failure.

Cannabis hemp has been the most effective agent in relieving both
symptoms of this ailment. It has proven far safer than any
pharmacological product or chemical preparations such as Marinol,
which can cause death.

I strongly urge the passage of this bill so that patients will no
longer be treated as criminals and we, as patients, will have a useful
and effective alternative to more dangerous pharmacy products.
Prescription drugs would not have given me the quality of life I now
enjoy, nor would I be as productive. For those reasons I believe the
Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act should be passed into law.

Jeffrey L. Smith

Brillion