Twenty years ago, Steven Butler was prescribed Marinol for pain relief from a variety of ailments.
Butler, 43, said the medicine, which includes the active ingredient in marijuana, did what injectable narcotics such as morphine could not – relieve the pain and allow him to live his life.
"I didn't become a zombie," the retired corrections officer from Adrian said. The medication, he said, didn't affect his mental acuity.
Now he wants Michigan voters on Tuesday to approve Proposal 1, which would legalize marijuana use and possession for certain medical purposes. He said smoking marijuana is a more effective means of ingesting THC than taking it in a pill like Marinol, such as when someone can't swallow a pill. He said it is easier to regulate the dosage by smoking marijuana.
Supporters of the proposal say marijuana helps ease pain and nausea from cancer, chemotherapy, HIV, AIDS, glaucoma and other conditions. The proposal would allow doctors to recommend medical marijuana as a treatment.
"There is simply no doubt that medical marijuana can relieve suffering," Barbara Davis, a registered nurse and a member of the Michigan Nurses Association board of directors, which supports the proposal, wrote Thursday in a commentary in the Detroit Free Press. "In a White House-commissioned study released in 1999, the Institute of Medicine reported, 'Nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting, and all can be mitigated by marijuana.' "
In his situation, Butler said, he had cluster headaches, polyps from his esophagus to his intestines and vasculitis, which caused his toes and fingers to swell and sometimes even burst. He also had two strokes.
Before being prescribed Marinol 20 years ago, he took prescribed, injectible narcotics for pain control, he said. At work at the Southern Michigan Correctional Facility in Jackson, he had to lock up the drugs in the prison's arsenal.
Meanwhile, his doctors at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and a hospital in Chicago were telling him marijuana would work better for him than the other drugs, but that he would have to go overseas to get it.
"I was so depressed," he said. "We're supposed to be the best medical in the world, and (the doctors') hands are tied."
Butler said he would rather listen to his doctors' advice on treatment than to legislators. He was able to acquire marijuana from "compassionate people," he said.
"I have not smoked in a long time," Butler said.
He eventually was prescribed Marinol, which at the time was generally limited to certain cancer and AIDS patients.
Once on Marinol, Butler found he was able to function, not only at work, but socially.
"It took me off the morphine," he said. "I was able to continue my job in law enforcement and raise a family. ... If it were not for Marinol and THC, I wouldn't be alive today to see my grandkids."
The medicine eased his nausea, which would lead to him vomiting blood. While his nausea is under control, he still carries plastic bags with him just in case.
The proposal is opposed by a number of medical, law enforcement and anti-drug organizations under the name Citizens Protecting Michigan's Kids. They say the proposal will make it easier for children to access marijuana, which they say is a "gateway" to using harder drugs. They claim it will allow "pot shops" to open where patients would be able to buy marijuana.
"There is not a single paragraph, sentence or word within Proposal 1 that prohibits pot shops from opening in Michigan, just like they did in California," Citizens Protecting Michigan's Kids co-chairman Bill Schuette said in a news release. Schuette is a Michigan Court of Appeals judge. "Proposal 1 is a loophole-ridden proposal that brings dangerous, unintended consequences that put our kids and communities at risk."
"What (opponents) don't tell you is that Proposal 1 is nothing like California's law, which was the first of its kind and was indeed too loosely worded," Davis wrote. "They never mention that the 11 other states with more tightly regulated medical marijuana laws have had virtually no problems at all."
Michigan's proposal spells out how patients would qualify for medical marijuana, how much marijuana they could possess, where it could be smoked and how patients would work with caregivers. It does not, however, address how patients would acquire marijuana.
"I'm sure there would be a seed bank," Butler said.
He said he only learned of the proposal a week ago.
If Michigan were to join other states in legalizing marijuana, it would still be at odds with federal law, which lists marijuana among the most tightly controlled kinds of narcotics.
But the Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal agencies are focused on battling large-scale drug trafficking operations, not small-scale users, said DEA Detroit office spokesman Rich Isaacson. Medical-marijuana patients typically would not be targeted by the DEA, he told the AP.
Butler said he has not been in touch with federal legislators about legalizing medical marijuana.
"I sure plan on it, though," he said.
Some doctors say legalizing marijuana for medical use is unnecessary because there are other treatments for nausea and pain, including Marinol.
"I just don't think there's much medical cause for" the initiative, Republican State Sen. Tom George, a medical doctor, told the Associated Press.
Another concern is that the proposal does not call for marijuana to be approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration like other medications. Butler said those concerns are unfounded.
"If you look at other cultures that have used it for thousands of years without regulations, there haven't been any problems," he said.
Others say the proposal is a step toward legalizing recreational use of marijuana.
"It's not about that at all," Butler said. "We're not a bunch of liberal potheads."
He counters that he does not take Marinol as often now as he used to and he has no cravings for it.
Legalizing medical marijuana would lift a psychological burden from patients who now acquire the drug illegally, Butler said.
He is also willing to meet with police and medical professionals to discuss their concerns about the proposal.
"I'll tell them how it's been a life-saver for me," he said. "I hate to see undue suffering."
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Daily Telegram
Author: David Panian
Contact: Daily Telegram
Copyright: 2008 GateHouse Media, Inc.
Website: Adrian Man Campaigns For Marijuana Proposal
Butler, 43, said the medicine, which includes the active ingredient in marijuana, did what injectable narcotics such as morphine could not – relieve the pain and allow him to live his life.
"I didn't become a zombie," the retired corrections officer from Adrian said. The medication, he said, didn't affect his mental acuity.
Now he wants Michigan voters on Tuesday to approve Proposal 1, which would legalize marijuana use and possession for certain medical purposes. He said smoking marijuana is a more effective means of ingesting THC than taking it in a pill like Marinol, such as when someone can't swallow a pill. He said it is easier to regulate the dosage by smoking marijuana.
Supporters of the proposal say marijuana helps ease pain and nausea from cancer, chemotherapy, HIV, AIDS, glaucoma and other conditions. The proposal would allow doctors to recommend medical marijuana as a treatment.
"There is simply no doubt that medical marijuana can relieve suffering," Barbara Davis, a registered nurse and a member of the Michigan Nurses Association board of directors, which supports the proposal, wrote Thursday in a commentary in the Detroit Free Press. "In a White House-commissioned study released in 1999, the Institute of Medicine reported, 'Nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting, and all can be mitigated by marijuana.' "
In his situation, Butler said, he had cluster headaches, polyps from his esophagus to his intestines and vasculitis, which caused his toes and fingers to swell and sometimes even burst. He also had two strokes.
Before being prescribed Marinol 20 years ago, he took prescribed, injectible narcotics for pain control, he said. At work at the Southern Michigan Correctional Facility in Jackson, he had to lock up the drugs in the prison's arsenal.
Meanwhile, his doctors at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and a hospital in Chicago were telling him marijuana would work better for him than the other drugs, but that he would have to go overseas to get it.
"I was so depressed," he said. "We're supposed to be the best medical in the world, and (the doctors') hands are tied."
Butler said he would rather listen to his doctors' advice on treatment than to legislators. He was able to acquire marijuana from "compassionate people," he said.
"I have not smoked in a long time," Butler said.
He eventually was prescribed Marinol, which at the time was generally limited to certain cancer and AIDS patients.
Once on Marinol, Butler found he was able to function, not only at work, but socially.
"It took me off the morphine," he said. "I was able to continue my job in law enforcement and raise a family. ... If it were not for Marinol and THC, I wouldn't be alive today to see my grandkids."
The medicine eased his nausea, which would lead to him vomiting blood. While his nausea is under control, he still carries plastic bags with him just in case.
The proposal is opposed by a number of medical, law enforcement and anti-drug organizations under the name Citizens Protecting Michigan's Kids. They say the proposal will make it easier for children to access marijuana, which they say is a "gateway" to using harder drugs. They claim it will allow "pot shops" to open where patients would be able to buy marijuana.
"There is not a single paragraph, sentence or word within Proposal 1 that prohibits pot shops from opening in Michigan, just like they did in California," Citizens Protecting Michigan's Kids co-chairman Bill Schuette said in a news release. Schuette is a Michigan Court of Appeals judge. "Proposal 1 is a loophole-ridden proposal that brings dangerous, unintended consequences that put our kids and communities at risk."
"What (opponents) don't tell you is that Proposal 1 is nothing like California's law, which was the first of its kind and was indeed too loosely worded," Davis wrote. "They never mention that the 11 other states with more tightly regulated medical marijuana laws have had virtually no problems at all."
Michigan's proposal spells out how patients would qualify for medical marijuana, how much marijuana they could possess, where it could be smoked and how patients would work with caregivers. It does not, however, address how patients would acquire marijuana.
"I'm sure there would be a seed bank," Butler said.
He said he only learned of the proposal a week ago.
If Michigan were to join other states in legalizing marijuana, it would still be at odds with federal law, which lists marijuana among the most tightly controlled kinds of narcotics.
But the Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal agencies are focused on battling large-scale drug trafficking operations, not small-scale users, said DEA Detroit office spokesman Rich Isaacson. Medical-marijuana patients typically would not be targeted by the DEA, he told the AP.
Butler said he has not been in touch with federal legislators about legalizing medical marijuana.
"I sure plan on it, though," he said.
Some doctors say legalizing marijuana for medical use is unnecessary because there are other treatments for nausea and pain, including Marinol.
"I just don't think there's much medical cause for" the initiative, Republican State Sen. Tom George, a medical doctor, told the Associated Press.
Another concern is that the proposal does not call for marijuana to be approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration like other medications. Butler said those concerns are unfounded.
"If you look at other cultures that have used it for thousands of years without regulations, there haven't been any problems," he said.
Others say the proposal is a step toward legalizing recreational use of marijuana.
"It's not about that at all," Butler said. "We're not a bunch of liberal potheads."
He counters that he does not take Marinol as often now as he used to and he has no cravings for it.
Legalizing medical marijuana would lift a psychological burden from patients who now acquire the drug illegally, Butler said.
He is also willing to meet with police and medical professionals to discuss their concerns about the proposal.
"I'll tell them how it's been a life-saver for me," he said. "I hate to see undue suffering."
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Daily Telegram
Author: David Panian
Contact: Daily Telegram
Copyright: 2008 GateHouse Media, Inc.
Website: Adrian Man Campaigns For Marijuana Proposal
