I'm an Illinois nurse suffering from chronic pain, recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia. As a clinician and now patient, I'm urging Gov. Bruce Rauner to advance the medical cannabis program so patients have access to a natural and effective medicine that has been living in the shadows of less effective, highly addictive and sometimes deadly prescription drugs for far too long.

I am a breast cancer survivor. One of the side effects of the medication I was taking was joint pain. It affected my daily life and my ability to work. I couldn't sleep and was constantly nauseous because the discomfort was so extreme. For me, cannabis was not a first line of defense. I was forced to illegally treat myself with cannabis out of pure desperation when all other treatments failed - and it worked. In fact, it was the only remedy that helped me resume my daily activities and has given me hope for returning to a normal life.

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