END THE WAR AT HOME

The War On Drugs Is A War On People

There are a lot of marijuana smokers in Eugene and Lane County. In the
rest of Oregon too, for that matter. Doctors, lawyers, politicians,
cowboys and Indians, and just plain Joes. I would guess we all know at
least one person who consumes marijuana (cannabis, ganja, reefer, herb, bud).

According to the report "The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana
Prohibition," from Harvard's Jeffrey Mirons and endorsed by the late
Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman and 500 other economists in
the U.S., there are estimated to be some 300,000 adults in Oregon who
at least occasionally use pot.

Suffering from a painfully crippling form of rheumatoid arthritis, I
know the medical benefits of marijuana. I'm genuinely thankful for the
relief it provides me -- a relief no amount of prescription pills can
provide. This relief isn't just physical, but is potential economic
relief as well. I need to use only half of one of my most expensive
prescriptions medications when I have an adequate supply of medical
marijuana. That adds up to an annual savings of $8,000 to $10,000 per
year, in my case.

But there are still those who tell me "No, it is not medicine. You
sir, are a criminal." But I'm not. I'm a 55- year-old man in a
wheelchair in constant excruciating pain. Marijuana diminishes that
pain to a barely tolerable level. I have many friends with even worse
medical conditions who also find cannabis extremely beneficial. In
fact there are nearly 15,000 patients now registered in Oregon's
Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) and more than 2,500 Oregon-licensed
physicians who have signed recommendations for patients. I say that is
a very good start. I hope more new patients will soon enjoy
marijuana's relieving properties this next year and beyond.

For nearly 80 years marijuana's reputation has suffered under the
weight of a prohibition built upon lies. Yes, it is true (cover the
children's ears): Even today, the government continues to lie about
cannabis.

The chief obstruction for me -- and all patients nationwide -- is a
lack of accessibility to medical marijuana. The federal government,
primarily the DEA, stands firm in opposing cannabis use and is willing
to use paramilitary tactics against marijuana-using patients, even in
states that have allowed its medical use.

Conversely, the government is also the only federal legal source for
marijuana. Interesting to note is that "Uncle Sam" grows it for
medicine at the University of Mississippi. They provide about one half
pound per month to patients in the form of pre-rolled cigarettes,
packaged 300 per can. Sadly, there are now only five patients left
receiving this marijuana allotment under the Compassionate
Investigational New Drug (CIND) program.

One of those five is Eugene resident Elvy Musikka. Elvy suffers from
glaucoma and has proven the remaining vision she does have is due to
her use of pot. Elvy is the contradiction in federal policy, the
villager who points out that the King is wearing no clothes.

Elvy and the two dozen other CIND program participants had to prove
the effectiveness of marijuana as medicine to the FDA, DEA and NIDA
with extensive medical records from doctors who were pre-approved by
the government. Yet they still had to fight in court to prove, as
Elvy's judge ultimately stated, "that marijuana is the safest, most
reliable, most efficient part of her treatment."

Because of her work, and the efforts of patients and activists around
the country, we are being lead to a broader medical understanding of
how cannabis works and the variety of ailments it can help alleviate.
For instance there is strong evidence emerging showing it likely has
anti-cancer properties.

Essential, rapidly growing support is finally coming from our elected
representatives in Washington, D.C., and local elected officials
around the country. Eugene is proudly joining the ranks of progressive
thinkers and other compassionate communities around the country by
proclaiming Saturday, May 5, as Eugene's "Medical Marijuana Awareness
Day."

I ask Lane County and Eugene residents to join Elvy and other notable
and/or notorious MMJ activists between 11 am and 2 pm Saturday at the
Federal Building, 7th and Pearl. Help us, with over 200 other cities
worldwide, to end a policy that has pitted the government against some
of our sickest neighbors and family members. Help us end a policy that
has become a war at home where armed men, dressed in black, can steal
a patient's medicine.

Get educated, and lend your voice. It is time to end this war at home,
a war pitting the government against against we, the people.