MARIJUANA AS MEDICINE

On April 3, the Drug Enforcement Administration formally accepted an
administrative petition seeking federal recognition of the accepted medical
use of cannabis in the United States, activating a federal review of
marijuana's status under federal law that could eventually result in its
medical availability. The petition by the Coalition for Rescheduling
Cannabis was filed in October 2002 and seeks establishment of a legal
production and distribution system for medical cannabis in the United
States under existing provisions of the federal Controlled Substances Act.

Marijuana is regulated but unavailable for medical use in the United States
because it is a Schedule I substance, as is heroin. The federal government
insists that cannabis has a high potential for abuse, is unsafe for use
under medical supervision and has no accepted medical use in the United
States. The coalition argues that all three of the government's claims are
incorrect and that each is contradicted by scientific research and medical
convention.

I believe it's amazing how the DEA has the power to keep medicine from me
that keeps me alive. I have four neurologists who believe this is the best
medicine for me.

I have ALS - Lou Gehrig's disease, I was diagnosed in 1986 and was given
three to five years to live. I feel God led me to Florida and I had the
good fortune to run into some Myakka Gold. I smoked this back in 1989 and
my disease stopped. Now it takes years, not months, for my disease to
progress. I have educated some neurologists on this, but I cannot remove
their fear of the government. They could lose their license by just
agreeing with me. Until you're in this situation where you're dying, you
have no idea how frustrating it is for me and others. To have to break the
law every day just to live. Cannabis is a medical issue, not a political one.

Catherine E. Jordan is President of Manatee Cannabis Action Network