LOCAL VETERAN HOPES LEGALIZATION OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA DOESN'T GO UP IN SMOKE

When a seizure strikes, Joshua Cook typically hits the ground.

His hands clench spastically into fists. His torso contorts. His body
shakes uncontrollably for several minutes.

The condition first struck the 25-year-old National Guard veteran
while he was serving in Iraq three years ago. After receiving a
medical discharge, he was prescribed a slew of drugs that either made
him sick, caused headaches or simply didn't prevent his convulsions.

Then he tried a notorious herbal remedy that's more widely known as a
recreational escape.

"Nothing had ever worked. At one point, I was having six or seven
seizures per week," said Cook, now a Gastonia resident. "Once I
started smoking weed, I didn't have a seizure for seven months."

Cook is one of many North Carolina residents who hope their illegal
use of marijuana might soon become acceptable in the eyes of the law.
N.C. Reps. Kelly Alexander Jr. and Nick Mackey, two Mecklenburg
County Democrats, are co-sponsoring legislation that would make North
Carolina the 15th state in the nation to legalize the medical use of the drug.

House Bill 1380 would legalize marijuana for people diagnosed with
debilitating conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and
rheumatoid arthritis, who are prone to symptoms such as nausea, pain
or epileptic seizures. Producers and dispensaries would be licensed
to grow and distribute it.

When the General Assembly reconvenes for its short session in May,
the bill's sponsors hope to give it some traction. It is now in the
House Committee on Health, whose membership includes three Gaston
County Republicans: N.C. Reps. William Current, Pearl Burris-Floyd
and Wil Neumann.

The Only Remedy?

Supporters of the bill say medical marijuana use is becoming more
prevalent here. Mackey hosted a town hall meeting at UNC Charlotte
last week where users described how the long debated drug has reduced
their pain and suffering.

Cook wasn't able to attend, but fully supported the spirit of the gathering.

"I can't help that I have seizures," he said recently. "I can't help
that marijuana controls my seizures."

A South Carolina native, Cook enlisted in the Army National Guard in
2006. He served as a military policeman in Iraq, helping to conduct
room raids and provide convoy security, he said. Though he was never
near any major explosions, it was during that time that he
experienced his first seizure.

Cook had more episodes once he was discharged and returned home.
Since 2007, he said he's experienced between 40 and 50 seizures in all.

Veterans Affairs hospital physicians prescribed an array of
anti-seizure medications such as Dilantin, with no success. Then
about eight months ago, a friend of Cook's suggested marijuana.

"I'd never done any (recreational) drugs before," he said. "I always
looked down on people who did drugs because I thought it made them
look stupid."

But soon after he tried the drug, the seizures stopped. So Cook
continued using what worked. He said he now smokes a thin marijuana
cigarillo, or small "blunt," when he wakes up each morning, followed
by a second in the late afternoon, and sometimes a third just before bed.

"Two to three times per day keeps me good," he said.

Facing Long Odds

Fourteen states now allow the use of medical marijuana, though few
deal with the supply. Under the proposed legislation, North Carolina
would actually license growers.

Sponsors say the bill eventually would raise $60 million a year
through taxes and licensing fees, which could come in handy in a
bleak economy. Critics question how much of that revenue would be
eaten up by higher law enforcement costs for preventing abuse of the
system, such as what has been seen in California.

The three Gaston County representatives on the House Committee on
Health say the bill will face long odds this year. When the bill
emerged last summer, Burris-Floyd and Neumann both said the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration would have to approve marijuana for medical
use before they would consider an exemption to the state's cannabis
ban. And their opinions haven't changed.

"The FDA is the gold standard for approval of medications in this
country," said Burris-Floyd. "If they're not going to stand behind
it, it tells me there's not really a sound, consistent basis for what
some of these (medical marijuana) proponents are saying."

The potential medical application of marijuana was discounted by the
FDA in a 2006 review. That went against a 1999 study from the
National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine that found the
drug "moderately well suited" for treating certain conditions.

Current said he doesn't have enough facts to form a firm opinion yet.
But the prospect of a windfall in revenue will have no influence on
his stance, he said.

"What we need to do is ask if this will help people," he said. "I
would make my decision based on whether it's good for the majority of
the people to have this medicinal drug available."

Neumann said most voters, and therefore legislators, are focused on
improving the economy and creating jobs right now.

"I don't get the feeling that there are a lot of legislators who want
to deal with it right now," he said. "They're asking us to take an
illegal product and modify it, and I really feel like that should be
a medical issue."

Desperate for Legal Treatment

Cook said he's been honest with doctors about his alternative remedy.
On another visit to the VA hospital last month, a physician
prescribed him with Depacote. He said he began taking the
prescription and cut off his marijuana usage, and within a day and a
half suffered his first seizure in more than seven months.

His girlfriend held his head and comforted him during the painful,
10-minute ordeal.

"I can hear you talking to me and see you," said Cook, describing
what a seizure feels like. "I just can't control myself."

In January, on two separate occasions, Cook was charged with
possession of up to a half-ounce of marijuana and possession of drug
paraphernalia. He is scheduled to appear in court in March on the
four misdemeanor charges.

Cook said he cannot get a driver's license due to his history of
seizures. He is unemployed and fears his job options may be limited
if he continues to smoke marijuana, due to the prevalence of drug
testing. He has begun to feel more depressed about his future options.

"It seems like when I came back (from the service), life became more
of a hell for me," he said.

But he said avoiding the pain of seizures is more important right now
than abiding by the law.

"I'd rather keep smoking and be persecuted then to keep having
seizures," said Cook. "I'm tired of being discriminated against just
because I need this medicine."