Pubdate: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 Source: Ocean County Observer (NJ) Copyright: 2003 Ocean County Observer Contact: http://www.injersey.com/observer/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1212 Author: Gary Storck Medical Marijuana WE NEED PROSECUTORS WHO HAVE A HEART After reading Ocean County First Assistant Prosecutor Terrence P. Farley's comments about Cheryl Miller and the efficacy of medical marijuana, "A lonely vigil" (Oct. 19), it is clear that it is time for him to go. Not only is Farley completely unqualified to weigh in on the medicinal benefits of marijuana as he does in the article, but defaming the late Cheryl Miller shows a complete lack of simple human compassion and decency, not to mention integrity. I was a friend of Cheryl Miller's, and I know marijuana eased her suffering and gave her back a little quality of life, despite being imprisoned in her own body for decades. To suggest that Cheryl Miller's medicine was "dope" is not only an insult to anyone who has ever faced serious illness, but also anyone who has cared for someone who was ill, as Jim Miller did so lovingly for Cheryl for so many years. Farley's choice of words is an intentional infliction of pain, and no apology can possibly repair the damage done by his cruel and ignorant statements. I attended Cheryl's memorial in Washington D.C., and while there, accompanied more than a dozen multiple sclerosis patients from all over the country, in various stages of MS, to the D.C. chapter of the MS Society for a meeting in which they all spoke of how marijuana was an essential medicine for them, easing symptoms, even halting progression of the disease, and, more dramatically, reversing paralysis from the neck down for one patient. But it is not just the personal stories of these and other multiple sclerosis patients that prove marijuana is medicine. Farley seems oblivious to reams of scientific data that leave no doubt, including recent results of clinical trials by GW Pharmaceuticals, which found that a sublingual spray made from whole cannabis is extremely effective in treating multiple sclerosis symptoms, chronic pain and other medical conditions. The spray is expected to be available to patients in Britain by the end of the year, and not long after for patients in the European Union, Canada and Australia. Thanks to prohibitionists like Farley, it will not be available to U.S. patients any time soon. Like Jim Miller, I, too, am sorry that New Jersey did not take action so Cheryl Miller could have had safe and legal access to medical marijuana while she was alive. There was plenty of time to do the right thing, and the Millers made no secret of her plight. But when public officials like Farley can't tell the difference between medical use and drug abuse, the result is years of suffering, a premature death, and a widower coping with the loss of the light of his life. Still, after seeing and hearing other multiple sclerosis patients tell how marijuana has helped them, it is clear it need not be too late for the "other Cheryl Millers" out there. The first step would be to replace Farley with someone with a heart. Gary Storck Madison, Wis. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman