Efforts are underway to clarify and strengthen the state’s 1998 medical marijuana law. This is a good thing, long overdue. But we ought not to forget why Washington, along with 15 other states, moved to legitimate the use of cannabis as medicine in the first place. And why 10 additional states are poised to do the same.
We all know someone who has struggled with intractable pain, or faced a terminal illness. Many of these patients cannot tolerate conventional “painkillers.” They live narcotized lives, suffering a wide variety of side effects: itchiness, constipation, sleeplessness, waking up to drug hangovers, around-the-clock grogginess, overall impairment. Even when conventional narcotics relieve pain, many patients are concerned about becoming habituated or addicted to them.
Our state allows selected health care providers to recommend marijuana for terminal or debilitating conditions such as cancer; HIV; multiple sclerosis; epilepsy or other seizure disorder; spasticity disorders; intractable pain; glaucoma; Crohn’s disease; hepatitis C; and diseases, including anorexia, which result in nausea, vomiting, wasting, appetite loss, cramping, and seizures.
It’s not my purpose, certainly not my place, to suggest specific pain relief treatment for anyone. But, through my research, I have become acquainted with many patients whose personal stories highlight the positive effects of marijuana in helping to restore appetite, keep food down, and reduce incapacitating, painful effects of disease.
Tragically, some of these patients live in constant fear of arrest or litigation. That’s the last thing they need as they battle persistent pain, or imminent death.
While federal law trumps the states in matters of drug classification and drug enforcement, the Attorney General has made it clear that he will not pursue cases in which local residents are in compliance with their own states’ medical marijuana laws.
A recent ABC News poll shows that 80 percent of Americans believe medical marijuana should be legalized. As we work our way toward inevitable changes in federal law, sensible regulatory models, and greater clarity for all, qualified patients must be able to obtain and use this medicine without fear of stigma or arrest.
Norm Stamper
Orcas Island
