RETIRED TEACHER ADVOCATES MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Former English teacher Eleanor Spencer has never been an advocate of
legalizing marijuana -- at least not for recreational use.

"I think we have enough trouble with the recreational drugs that are out
there," said Spencer, who retired in June after teaching at a Coos Bay high
school for 34 years.

Medicinal use of marijuana is another matter, said Spencer, who has become
a card-carrying proponent of medical marijuana.

"Medical marijuana is no different than any other medicine," said Spencer,
who takes capsules of the herb for painful arthritis, bursitis and muscle
spasms.

"They call me the charlie horse queen," jokes Spencer, who just got her
permit to use medical marijuana a month ago.

Spencer was prompted to try medical marijuana by her son Daniel Dinkins,
who suffered disabling injuries in a 1992 accident.

A paramedic, Dinkins was the passenger in an ambulance broadsided by a
drunk driver in Medford while on his way to a medical emergency.

Crippled by a broken back and other serious injuries, Dinkins has been left
in so much pain that he has been prescribed powerful and addictive narcotics.

"(Marijuana) keeps the muscle spasms down, (and) keeps me from throwing up.
It's done wonders for me," said Dinkins.

"I've been able to withdraw myself from four medications since I began
using it," continued Dinkins, "and I feel better than before."

Dinkins and Spencer will appear tonight on Bob Walker's 8 p.m. show on
KBSC-TV, cable channel 9.

Walker directs the Southern Oregon Medical Marijuana Network (SOMM-NET),
which helps people with debilitating illnesses get certified to use medical
marijuana.

Both Dinkins and Spencer turned to SOMM-NET after their own doctors
declined to authorize treatment with marijuana.

Both have appeared on Walker's show before in an effort to counter a
mindset Spencer said keeps doctors and their patients away from a useful
medical treatment.

"It's scared doctors and patients away, and created a political hot potato
that has put states with medical marijuana laws into direct conflict with
federal laws," Spencer said.

"There are a lot of people my age or older who are in a strong discomfort
zone," said Spencer. "They would benefit from its use, but they want to be
assured they're not supporting something illegal."

That's why Spencer and Dinkins both emphasize they are law-abiding citizens
who want nothing to do with marijuana's black market.

"If it's black market, you don't know how it's been grown or what's in it,"
said Spencer. "That becomes a real quality control issue."

Spencer would like to see state-regulated dispensaries for medical
marijuana, to reassure patients as well as law enforcement the herb has
been grown legally.

"I should be able to march right down to a police station and say I have a
card without feeling nervous about it," said Spencer.