MEDICAL MARIJUANA: PRO VS. CON

Klingbeil Prefers Using Marijuana To Dull The Pain

The Daily Record Editor's Note: This is the final part in a weeklong series
examining the facets of medical marijuana.

There are 21,625 registered medical marijuana patients in the state as
of Oct. 31, 2009, according to the Colorado Department of Public
Health and Environment, which is tasked by statute with issuing
medical marijuana licenses.

Katy Klingbeil, 36, of Buena Vista, is one of those
patients.

Klingbeil suffers from Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy, FHS.
The disease has caused her to lose muscle in her upper arms,
shoulders, jaw and back.

"I've known about it for 15 years," she said. "I was a normal standing
human for 21 years."

Klingbeil, who now spends most of her time in a wheelchair because of
the sway in her back caused by her loss of muscle, went to college on
a full-ride ski scholarship.

She said she had pneumonia and when she recovered, she could not lift
her arms. Now, she has trouble carrying items and walking is painful.

Klingbeil said if she were to stay on pharmaceuticals, her next step
would be oxycotin -- a move she is not willing to make.

"I've seen people on oxy, and I don't want to act like that," she
said. "I don't want to hurt, and I don't want to sit on the couch like
a zombie."

Now, with marijuana, which she said dulls the pain, Klingbeil is on
one vicodin a day.

When she was younger, she said, Klingbeil used marijuana
recreationally. Now, she smokes it, eats it and uses it as a tincture.

In 2000, Colorado voters approved Amendment 20 providing protection
for patients and caregivers who grow a limited number of plants. Those
suffering from cachexia, cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, muscle spasms,
seizures, severe pain and severe nausea qualify for licenses under the
amendment.

Klingbeil and her partner, Ed Norton, run Alpine Colorado Co-op,
acting as caregivers to 16 patients in Fremont, Chaffee, Park and Lake
counties.

They started out as caregivers for a few friends and the co-op
developed as a way to keep costs down and quality up.

Because no doctors in the area will make the recommendations,
Klingbeil and Norton set their patients up with a doctor via Oovoo --
an online video conferencing method -- to reduce their need to travel.
They send the doctor the clients' medical records, and he conducts a
personal interview with them.

They also teach those who want to know, how to grow their own
marijuana, buy the excess, and sell back into the co-op.

"We respect law enforcement," Klingbeil said. "It's nice to feel like
you can do it without breaking the law."