Yes on Measure 33:

MEDICAL MARIJUANA FROM A PATIENT'S PERSPECTIVE

I became a medical marijuana patient about five years ago, not long
after the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act (OMMA) program started. John
Sajo, director of the medical marijuana advocacy organization "Voter
Power" explained how easy applying for the OMMA program was, and gave
me the two simple forms I needed: one for the patient, and one for the
physician.

Fortunately I had an enlightened doctor who is knowledgeable about
alternative medicine, and he agreed to help me after I explained my
situation. He already knew that I had problems with cachexia (no
appetite) and chronic pain, both qualifying as "debilitating
conditions" for the OMMA program. After I told him how much marijuana
relieved my suffering from these conditions he was glad to recommend
medical marijuana for me.

Chronic pain is the most common condition qualifying patients for the
OMMA program. Like me, many OMMA patients have previously taken
opioids for their chronic pain; and like me they discovered that, over
time, the effectiveness of opioids to control pain gradually declines.
Additionally, opioids can have some nasty side-effects. Medical
marijuana answers these problems.

Becoming a medical marijuana patient allowed me to considerably reduce
my dose of the opioid pain medication I take, and I feel better as a
result. The arthritis I suffered from for many years has totally
disappeared since I began using medical marijuana, and I no longer
suffer from arthritic pain or stiffness.

Medical marijuana also lifts my depression and eases anxiety. It also
seems to improve my libido and allows me to sleep better.

Dependence on drugs and alcohol is a severe problem for many and it
certainly was for me during the years that I used them to
self-medicate my depression and pain. Being hepatitis-C positive, it's
doubly important to abstain from using them. The good news is that,
with medical marijuana I no longer crave drugs or alcohol.

Medical marijuana has improved the quality of my life dramatically
this past five years. For me, cannabis (the Latin name for the
marijuana plant) has been nothing short of a miracle!

In the six years since OMMA was passed in 1998, patients' experiences
have exposed some flaws in the original law. The OMMA2 initiative was
designed to correct those flaws and to make the OMMA program more
user-friendly. The OMMA2 petition, known as "Measure 33", is on the
November ballot.

The most obvious flaw with the current OMMA program is that it does
not provide patients with an immediate legal source of medical
marijuana, seeds, or starter plants. As a result, OMMA program growers
currently have to use ingenuity to figure out how to get their gardens
started. It takes up to six months to get a garden established and
grow the plants to maturity, which leaves patients without a source of
medicine during that period. Many patients are unable to grow their
own medicine for various reasons, so they need to find a "caregiver
grower" to supply them, which adds even more waiting time for medicine.

OMMA program patients need a reliable source of legal, good quality
medicine at a reasonable price, and Measure 33 will meet that need
through a system of dispensaries, which will function like medical
marijuana pharmacies. The dispensaries will be run by non-profit
organizations regulated by the Oregon Department of Health Services.
The dispensaries will also supply OMMA growers with small starter
plants they can continue growing themselves.

Measure 33 will add naturopaths and nurse practitioners as health
professionals authorized to recommend medical marijuana, in addition
to doctors. This will help patients find health care pro-fessionals to
recommend medical marijuana when medically appro-priate. Additionally,
the qualifying conditions will be expanded from the current narrow
list to also include "any other medical condition for which...the
medical use of marijuana would be beneficial". Only a few conditions
are now considered "qualifying conditions". This will allow more
patients who are legitimately helped by marijuana to qualify for the
OMMA program.

Measure 33 will make it much easier for OMMA program growers to have
enough medicine. Instead of only allowing 7 plants of which only 3 can
be flowering, Measure 33 will increase the limit to 10, with no
distinction between vegetating and flowering plants. Small plants
under 1' tall (which often don't even survive) won't be counted
anymore. Measure 33 increases the amount of medicine patients can have
at home from a few ounces to a pound, and those who register to grow
only one outdoor crop a year will be allowed to have 6 pounds. Many
patients have found it difficult to maintain an adequate supply of
medicine while following the current OMMA restrictions, but the
changes made in Measure 33 will make it much easier for patients to
have enough medicine.

I sincerely hope Oregon voters will give medical marijuana patients
their support by voting YES on Measure 33 in November. It will lead to
a better life for many thousands of Oregonians who depend on medical
marijuana for their health and well-being.

Dave Currie is a medical marijuana patient living in Portland, Oregon. For
more information, see www.voterpower.org online, or call 503-224-3051.