MEDICAL MARIJUANA COULD HELP MANY

Editor:

Have you ever seen someone you love -- perhaps your mother or
grandmother -- vomiting into the toilet bowl because of the side
effects of chemotherapy and radiation? Have you seen her try to eat
but fail to swallow a bite because of her pain, nausea and loss of
appetite? Have you seen her soil herself because her cancer treatment
left her too weak to get to the bathroom? Caregivers of cancer
patients see this every day.

On the other hand, have you ever seen a cancer patient take three
puffs from a marijuana cigarette and then be able to eat an entire
meal, gain weight, and revive an interest in being alive? Have you
seen her then sleep through the night without vomiting or soiling her
bed and return to feeling like a human being? Caregivers of medical
marijuana see this every day, too, but they must live with the fear
that the police might storm into their homes, handcuff their ailing
mothers or grandmothers, and haul them off to jail because they
possess medical marijuana.

Luckily, there is a bill in the Legislature, H.B. 5355, that would
protect these patients and their caregivers from arrest. The
Legislature should pass this bill and allow these patients to spend
their remaining time in peace, quiet and with some sense of dignity.

DANIEL J. WULFE

East Hampton