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Crohn's Relief Brought Pot Activist To Cause
Pubdate: Fri, 09 Sep 2005
Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Vancouver Courier
Contact: http://www.vancourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474
Author: Cheryl Rossi, staff writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?196 (Emery, Marc)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
CROHN'S RELIEF BROUGHT POT ACTIVIST TO CAUSE
When Michelle Rainey was two years old she told her parents she was
going to be Canada's first female prime minister.
At age 34 she's awaiting possible extradition to the United States to
face charges of conspiracy to produce marijuana, conspiracy to produce
marijuana seeds and conspiracy to engage in money laundering along
with Marc Emery and Greg Williams.
Rainey turned herself in to police July 29 upon learning the B.C.
Marijuana Party Bookstore she and Emery operate had been raided and a
warrant issued for her arrest. The money that covered her $25,000 bail
was meant to cover the costs of printing a new issue of Cannabis
Culture magazine.
Life has thrown Rainey curve balls before.
At 17 her plans to complete high school in New Westminster, go to
university and make her mark in politics changed after she developed
an incurable inflammatory bowel disorder. At first doctors thought her
pain, nausea and diarrhea stemmed from an ulcer and anxiety. It took
them three years to diagnose Crohn's disease.
Rainey abandoned plans to attend university and took a job with a bank
in Dawson Creek. After returning to the Lower Mainland, she married a
high school friend, and the two built a home on the Sunshine Coast.
She was suffering with agonizing symptoms and side effects when an old
friend recommended marijuana to ease her afflictions. She said it
worked and she hasn't used prescription drugs or had surgery since
1996.
"Marijuana made me feel alive and healthy where I felt like I could
function without feeling like I was going to throw up every five
seconds." She said it made her chronic diarrhea less painful and she
felt less dopey and sleepy.
"The unfortunate part is during the day, I couldn't just go out and
take a quick break when I was feeling ill and have a few puffs.
Whereas anyone in that bank, of course, was allowed to take their
prescription drugs," she said. "That's why the rules and regulations
of our society have to change. Marijuana is not an evil, evil drug.
And I think the majority of Canadians are well aware of that."
Rainey met Emery six years ago, having long regarded him as her hero.
They built the B.C. Marijuana Party and its bookstore together and now
she manages the finances for Cannabis Culture and the online Pot-TV.
She said she is not involved with Emery's seed company.
Although she regained her health and a sense of purpose, Rainey lost
her marriage two years ago, a side effect, she says, of her pot
activism. But she felt too strongly to give it up.
"I felt it was my duty to educate and prove to the world that you can
look this good, and I don't mean to be egocentric, but I do look
great. I'm 34 years old, I'm 129 pounds and I look healthy," she said.
"I think it's extremely unfair and against any doctor's oath to not
inform patients that there are alternative ways of healing, one of
them being cannabis. I'm at the point where I want to sue my
gastroenterologist and my doctor for putting me through this all these
years."
Rainey believes marijuana should be regulated and available only to
those older than 19 or those who need it for medical reasons.
Rainey wants people who use prescription drugs and or alcohol to stand
in support of marijuana users at a rally outside the U.S. Consulate at
105 West Pender Street on Sept. 10 at 2 p.m.
Her next court date is Sept. 16.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin