I used to be a hairdresser from New Castle, DE, but now I’m a medical marijuana patient & activist, living near Tampa, FL. I was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”) in 1986 (I was 36), was told by my doctor not to smoke anything, standard advice for a new ALS patient, suffered typical deterioration of my body over the next two years and prepared for my death – ALS is a terminal illness and I probably had only another year or two. Cannabis (the scientific name for marijuana) works for me by drying up my saliva (ALS patients often drown in their own fluids), helping me cough and stimulating my lungs through its bronchodilation action.

“Eight years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was in stage I when they found it. She underwent the lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy. “If I hadn’t had the cannabis to get through the nauseousness, I would have lost weight and, I don’t know, who knows what would have happened. ”“Cannabis gives me a lift. It doesn’t lay me back or anything. I want to do things, and it gave me the energy that I didn’t have at that time. I could eat. That was the important thing.”

I am originally from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. That’s where she grew up. She got her degree from the University of Northern Iowa. She has a degree in Art Education. In 1986, I was riding horses with a friend. Her horse fell on her and she suffered a TBI, (traumatic brain injury), which landed her in a coma for over a week. Beth’s doctor approves of her using cannabis to offset her symptoms. So much so that she is willing to write a letter stating so. Beth also believes that cannabis is helping her seizures. “…it feels like the sides of my brain are relaxing.”

John Collins’s doctor approves of her using cannabis to offset her symptoms. So much so that she is willing to write a letter stating so. John Collins also believes that cannabis is helping her seizures. “…it feels like the sides of my brain are relaxing.”

“I didn’t know how bad my arthritis was until a few months ago. …I ran out of cannabis. I thought my arthritis was just some aches and pains here and there. But when I ran out of cannabis, slowly, over time, my body began to stiffen up.”She discovered that the stiffness in her joints rendered her almost completely incapacitated. “I called my doctor. He asked me what I was taking for anti-inflammatory and pain. I told him cannabis. He said to go get more. That was the best thing there was. He couldn’t give me anything better. He talked a little bit about the side effects and the side effects of contemporary (pharmaceutical) medications. I would much rather do the cannabis.”