WHY DO PEOPLE THE GOVERNMENT SAYS DON'T EXIST KEEP WRITING US?

According to the federal government, 53-year-old Deborah Palmer (not
her real name) doesn't exist. A grandmother and former California
corrections officer, Ms. Palmer suffers from chronic spinal pain (the
result of a pair of botched back surgeries) and fibromyalgia. Because
her body is allergic to opioid medications, she recently began using
medical marijuana to obtain relief from her daily suffering. That is
until federal and state law enforcement officials raided the
California dispensary that provided her medicine.

"What am I going to do?" she lamented in one of our recent
conversations. "If I have to live in this amount of pain 365 days a
year without access to my medicine, then I'm not going to stay on
this Earth very long."

Having worked in drug-law reform for decades, we personally know
hundreds of patients like Deborah Palmer. Unfortunately, those in the
federal government who oppose the therapeutic use of medical
marijuana appear to be unaware of even one.

Speaking last month to the Associated Press, Tom Riley -- spokesman
for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy --
launched into an all too common ad hominem attack against medical
marijuana and those who advocate for its regulation. "There is a
charade going on here," he charged. "[P]eople who are interested in
drug legalization using genuinely sick people as pawns to get
sympathy to get their agenda through."

This critique bemuses us. After all, we actually know medical
marijuana patients -- yes, real live medical marijuana patients. We
interact with them at conferences. We help them organize protests.
Some of us lobby with them in Congress or the state houses. Others
help coordinate their legal defenses when they've been arrested. Many
of them are our friends and colleagues too. Sure, we also want
legalization, not just for medical use. But while the drug war
continues to rage, we desire to have the sick and dying taken off the
battlefield. Who wouldn't?

Meanwhile, we keep getting these letters from the people that our
government claims don't exist.

"I have had multiple sclerosis and a seizure disorder for 13 years
now. I tried treating my disease the legal way and just got sicker
and sicker - to the point of staying in bed all day. Then I tried
marijuana, and it's like a wonder drug for me! I do not get high from
the marijuana; it helps relax my muscles and takes the spasms away.
Not to mention it's the only way I have an appetite to eat anything.
How could someone tell me, 'no medical marijuana for you?'"

"Six years ago I was literally struck down with fibromyalgia. I
simply couldn't get out of bed one morning. I crawled versus walking
most of the time as it was less painful. I was of no use to anyone,
including myself. I also had no appetite whatsoever. I lost 20 pounds
in a matter of weeks, leaving me a frail 100 lb 50-year-old. My
husband thought maybe marijuana might help with my appetite, so he
'scored' some for me. It not only restored my appetite, it also took
a lot of my pain away. It makes me sick to think we both could [be]
arrested. When is this country going to wake up?"

"I am a six-year ulcerative colitis patient who quit all prescribed
medicines and only took to cannabis. It worked faster and more
effectively than standard medications and had fewer side effects. Now
I can't have cannabis for job purposes and my symptoms are returning."

"I have Crohns disease. I do not smoke anymore because I'm afraid I
could lose my job. My health has suffered because of quitting and I
have suffered greatly. My own doctor has told me that cannabis can
greatly benefit my disease, which has left me with the intestines of
a 75-year-old person even though I am only 38."

"I've moved back home to a state that does not allow the medical use
of marijuana, and it is very hard for me to find relief from my pain
now. My doctor has increased my medications twofold, and I [still] do
not get the pain control I had with [marijuana]. I just hope some day
the government will stop demonizing a very useful tool."

"I am a highly qualified physician with years of experience in Africa
and Asia, as well as seven years at the World Health Organization in
Geneva. In 1991, I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. I now have
a serious form of the disease with marked rigidity, loss of balance
and tremor. Medication has proved useless or worse. At present I take
none. About ten days ago I tried marijuana. After a delay of several
hours there was an amazing improvement. Rigidity and loss of balance
were much milder. I 'got my body back,' and could do things that had
been impossible for five years."

"I was recently diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor inside the
left the temporal lobe of my brain. I had surgery, and I've just
started chemotherapy and radiation. The surgeon actually apologized
for the fact that he could not write me a prescription for marijuana,
but he told me it was safe to smoke. My prescriptions make me very
dizzy and nauseous and I have ever-present headaches that top any of
the worst hangover headaches anyone could possibly have. My brain is
still so badly swollen. The swelling has actually gotten worse and is
exacerbated by the radiation. Marijuana is saving my life right now;
it has helped to kill my seizures, nausea, dizziness, and calm my
headaches. If marijuana can help me with all my other problems in
addition to possibly reducing the size of my tumor and extending my
life, then why on earth would our government not allow me to have it?"

Despite the venom of Tom Riley and his ilk, this issue is not about
us. It is about these real Americans, from all walks of life, who are
desperately in need, and who are desperately seeking help and looking
for answers. They deserve the freedom to manage their serious medical
travails as best they can -- with medical marijuana, if that's what
works best for them. At a minimum, they deserve an acknowledgement
from the Tom Rileys of the world that they are alive -- and living in pain.

Perhaps to finally receive that, instead of just writing to us, they
will need to confront those government officials who think so little
of denying them legal access to a plant that can improve their health
and well-being. Maybe then politicians and bureaucrats will stop
cynically bashing "our agenda," and finally start responding to needs
of the citizens it is their duty to serve.