MARIJUANA CAN HELP CRITICALLY ILL PATIENTS - 3 OF 3

I am a 52-year-old male with cancer (non-Hodgkins lymphoma) in remission
who is a participant in a vaccine trial. I am now back to work full time -
and pounding nails, learning salsa and paying taxes. I'm looking forward to
celebrating more birthdays.

While I received eight months of an experimental high dose of chemotherapy
in 2001, I smoked marijuana. The prescription sleeping pills I tried
wouldn't take the edge off of the 130 mg of prednisone I was taking.
Although I tried several types of medicines, I couldn't get more than 1 1/2
hours of sleep at night.

So I smoked pot. A puff or two at night, and I would get seven hours of
rest. And I maintained my appetite.

I know that if I hadn't gotten the rest and had not been able to eat, I'd
be dead.

Others who are in the situation I faced should be able to use marijuana
without fear of criminal sanction.

Lawrence Silberman

Burtonsville