I read with interest your article on medical marijuana [see “Medical marijuana,” by R.L. Nave, IT, Feb. 26]. I then read the letters to the editor in the March 5 issue and I take
issue with one writer, who states that he doesn’t smoke but he knows all about marijuana and is certain there is no medical use
for the drug. How fortunate he is to know intrinsically the value of a drug
that he doesn’t use and hasn’t studied.
I was born with a defect in my spine [spondylolisthesis] that bothered me all my
life and finally, when I was 55, it required a surgery to fuse several of my
vertebrae. At this time I also developed peripheral neuropathy. At the age of
58 I was declared totally disabled and am currently surviving on a meager
Social Security check.
There is no cure for my neuropathy. It just keeps steadily getting worse. The
pain level is impressive. I am in pain every hour of every day of my life and
will be as long as I’m alive. I am taking six different high-powered drugs, all of which have the side effect of putting me to sleep. The main pain relief
prescribed for me is morphine, a terrible drug that steals your life away.
At this time I spend most of my waking hours sitting in one room. I leave the
house perhaps twice a month, once to get my prescriptions refilled and my wife
tries to buy me lunch at least once a month just to get me out and let me see
the world. I wake up each morning knowing that today is going to be worse than
yesterday but not as bad as tomorrow, as I slowly lose the use of my feet and
hands.
A friend gave me a half ounce of marijuana for Christmas [I can’t afford to buy it any more.] and I found that it helped me in a number of ways.
It acts as a painkiller but it also greatly eases my despair and the depression over my medical condition. I don’t smoke much, just a small bowl in the evening, which is the time of day when
the pain is the worst. I find that no matter how depressing my day may be, the
thought that come evening I’ll be able to get some relief, both emotional and physical, does me a world of good.
Legalizing medical marijuana would be a godsend to me. If I could either have
access to an affordable supply or at least be able to grow my own, it would go
a long way towards helping me cope with my situation.
I do not write this letter seeking sympathy. I do not like discussing my
situation and I have never asked “Why me?’’. Each life has its ups and downs and this just gets to be my experience. The
only reason I have written today is to hopefully educate folks like your letter
writer, who badly needs to get a clue about medical marijuana and the suffering
it can lessen.
Dennis M. Garland, 60, of Chatham has been disabled since 1987. Before that he
was a parts manager at Heritage Chevrolet in Auburn. In the 1970s and early ’80s he worked as a bartender in several Springfield establishments, including
the Wooden Nickel, O’Malley’s, and Baur’s Opera House.
This article appears in Mar 12-18, 2009.
