MEDICAL MARIJUANA SHOULD BE LEGALIZED

Years ago, if you had asked me about how I felt about medical
marijuana, I would have laughed and asked what possible medical
benefit could there be.

Since then, I have seen and experienced a lot of stuff. I watched my
mother struggle with stage four lung cancer. They knew she wasn't
going to survive.

She suffered through a lot of pain and eventually stopped eating. I
can not help but wonder if maybe she would have survived longer with
medical marijuana.

Perhaps she would have been able to continue the treatment that she
eventually had to stop. Maybe she would have continued to eat, giving
her nourishment and strength.

Now, I suffer from a few conditions that are painful. My medical
insurance ran out, but even when I had it, my prescriptions weren't
doing much. I was in so much pain that I wasn't able to sleep at
night. Sometimes that is still the case. If I take a sleeping pill, I
end up sleeping way too much - waking up as late as 8 p.m. If I smoke
a little bit of marijuana every once in a while and once before bed, I
have a chance at getting a good night's sleep - and I am not suffering
in nearly as much pain as I am when I don't smoke. I urge voters and
the legislature to consider this. Besides, wouldn't it be silly to
give a ticket for smoking marijuana to someone who is suffering
through chronic pain?

Brett Weston, North Attleboro