Thank you for raising awareness of marijuana's medicinal properties with Kim Goggins' excellent article. Not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients, but adult recreational use should be taxed and regulated. Hazardous marijuana grow operations are a result of prohibition, not the plant. Legitimate farmers do not steal electricity to grow produce in the basements of rented homes. As it stands, the drug war distorts market forces such that an easily grown weed is literally worth its weight in gold. Rather than continue to subsidize organized crime, policymakers should consider regulating the sale of marijuana. Pot prohibition is far more dangerous than pot. Robert Sharpe, Drug Policy Alliance Washington, D.C. [end]
For Lorna, (not her real name) the debilitating pain began in her mid-20s. Surgery on her spine when she was a teen and the ensuing degeneration of the discs in her back constantly cause nerve pressure and muscle spasms that can leave her virtually incapacitated for days. "When I get muscle spasms, it's as though someone is squeezing me really tight and I can't breathe," she says. "I also get pain from the nerves shooting down my legs. You know when you hit your elbow and you get that shooting pain? Well, it's like that, but more severe and longer. Then I'll get a numb foot all day, as a result." [continues 1252 words]
