Pubdate: Wed, 25 May 2005
Source: Crossroads Chronicle (Cashiers, NC)
Contact: http://crossroadschronicle.com/forms/letters.php
Copyright: 2005 Crossroads Chronicle
Website: http://crossroadschronicle.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3814
Author: Katy Owen, Staff Writer
Cited: Americans for Safe Access http://www.safeaccessnow.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

GLENVILLE MAN CONTINUES FIGHT TO LEGALIZE MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN N.C.

Most people can't turn on the television without seeing a commercial
for a prescription drug that lists the many uncomfortable - and
sometimes painful - side effects that may occur while taking the drug.

But one Glenville man believes a natural medicine cures all of his
ailments without any side effects, except for one - it's illegal.

Ken Locke, 39, is an advocate for medical marijuana and is a state
spokesperson for Americans for Safe Access, a grassroots coalition
working to protect the rights of patients and doctors to legally use
marijuana for medical purposes.

In 2001, Locke suffered from serious head injuries when a tree limb
fell on him when he was cutting trees in Highlands, shattering his
skull.

Not only did he receive 12 screws and six plates in his head during
reconstructive surgery, but he also experienced severe pain, had nerve
twitches around the face and had two seizures afterwards.

His doctor prescribed Dilantin for seizures, as well as the pain
reliever Hydrocodone, which Locke said contained morphine.

He said the pills worked, but the side effects almost made taking them
unbearable.

"The medicine made me feel horrible," he said.

He woke up every morning feeling nauseated. "It felt like after a
night of drinking," he said, and he wasn't able to keep much food down.

Locke also said he was "in a fog" every day, preventing him from
socializing with his family or efficiently working his outdoor jobs.

"There's no way I could run a chainsaw on morphine," he said. "And I
couldn't stop working - that's my bread and butter."

He approached his doctor about trying medical marijuana after finding
out it can prevent seizures. "But my doctor said, 'I'm not going
there,'" Locke said.

Locke stopped taking the prescription drugs two years ago and, he
said, tried marijuana to alleviate his pain. Since then, he said, not
only is he out of pain, but he is also alert and clear-minded.

"It's allowing me to be a good husband and dad," he said. Locke has a
14-year-old daughter.

Since he discovered the positive effects of medical marijuana, Locke
has joined thousands of people and organizations across the country to
legalize the herb in order to not have patients be treated like
criminals for using it, he said.

Medical marijuana has been used to alleviate pain in some of the
following medical conditions: AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, multiple
sclerosis, arthritis, severe pain, epilepsy and Crohn's Disease, among
others.

Only a handful of states in the country have legalized the use of
marijuana.

Currently, laws that have removed state-level criminal penalties for
growing and/or possessing medical marijuana are in place in Alaska,
California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Nevada,
Oregon, Vermont and Washington, according to www.drugpolicy.org.

Ten states, plus the District of Columbia, have symbolic medical
marijuana laws, which are laws that support medical marijuana but do
not provide patients with legal protection under state law.

But North Carolina is not one of them.

In 2003, House Rep. Paul Luebke (D-Durham) introduced the bill H.J.R.
1038 in the N.C. General Assembly that would establish a research
commission to study the legal possession and use of medical marijuana.

Although it was tabled in 2003, this bill was carried over to the 2004
legislative session. But again, the bill died.

This was the first medical marijuana bill introduced to the N.C.
General Assembly in more than two decades, according to the Marijuana
Policy Project Web site, www.mmp.org.

On Feb. 21, Haywood College in Clyde hosted the 11th District Democrat
Convention, which serves the 15 westernmost counties of Western North
Carolina, including Jackson County.

Democrats at the convention passed the following resolutions with a
vast majority: They are in support of experimental cultivation of
industrial hemp, and they are in support of medicinal use of medical
marijuana in North Carolina.

These resolutions will then go to the state level of the Democratic
Party to be voted on again.

Jackson County Sheriff Jimmy Ashe said the possession, use and
manufacturing of marijuana is still illegal in the state, whether it's
for medical or recreational use.

He said growing marijuana in the home is considered a felony, and
purchasing it is a misdemeanor.

No doctor can prescribe the drug in its natural form, Ashe said. The
tablet form can be prescribed, but only under specific conditions.

However, Locke said the tablet form isn't as effective as smoking it,
and many patients who have a hard time taking pills can't take the
tablet form, either.

Some community members haven't been happy knowing that Locke is a
medical marijuana advocate.

He said a social worker from the Department of Social Services has
visited his house twice this year. But no allegations were found both
times, and the social worker reported that she had spoken with an
officer who "did not have any concerns."

Locke said he will continue to fight for the legalization of medical
marijuana, no matter what consequences it brings.

"I know I'm traveling through choppy waters, but somebody's got to go
out and do it," Locke said. "There are other generations depending on
us."

"We are the generation we've been waiting for."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake