<snip>
And that's exactly the problem. Dealers want to make money so they mix a
teaser drug into soft drugs and ... kaboom, brain's almost fried. This
is how a guy whom I knew died. Several others are permanently mentally
disabled, and very seriously.
But Joerg, that isn't the only side. There are so many
others, as well. Just to add some balance, I'll talk about a
few.
The near trillion dollar a year business bribes everyone in
our gov't systems. Corrupt police, corrupt judges, corrupt
politicians, and a great deal of violence as well because
there is no court system that can be used to adjudicate
disputes. (So folks take 'justice' into their own hands, as
there is no other option except walking away.)
The destruction caused to society is profound and spreads
across every part of it. Our own US gov't was involved in
transporting cocaine into the US under the Reagan/Bush
administration as part of a larger plan to circumvent the
Boland amendments. It was horrible what that did in our
society. (If you need some names to look up, check up on
Donald Gregg, the senior advisor to G Bush sr and a daily
advisor to him; and Felix Rodriguez who met regularly with
Donald ... as just a very tiny sampling.)
We _must_ be able to trust our police and judicial system, if
it is to function well for all of us. You don't mention any
of this. And it is a cost that is both personal to those who
are dealt injustices by it as well as general.
And there is more. My daughter suffers from grand mal
seizures. Just about had one today and I spent a large part
of it holding her and helping her get through the risk. We
have tried nearly every viable drug for controlling these
seizures over the last 14 years. Many of them have serious
side effects, such as significant enhancement of tooth and
gum decay, listlessness and lack of life during the day,
liver and kidney damage that can be measured by the year,
profound and difficult personality changes, and other medical
risks. Some years ago, our neurologist decided to have us
try marijuana under the OMMP program and we measured the
impact (we keep daily records.) It was promising. We went
off of it, while trying still other drugs for a few years
since. We've only just started returning to marijuana
perhaps 6 months ago under the OMMP program in Oregon, when
her seizures increased to a rate of one every 6-8 days. Over
the last six months, we've experienced three seizure events.
It was a sudden and dramatic reduction and we are as certain
as one can be under the circumstances.
I cannot tell you how important this is in our lives. It
affects everything about our ability to cope and deal with
her seizures. And her personality has bloomed, as well. She
is drawing pictures every day, attempting to talk more with
us, and able to cope much better with the sounds that she is
so sensitive to during each day (bird calls outside can drive
her nuts, but do so much less now, for example.)
Time will tell us more. We are doing this entirely under the
control of both our neurologist and our general practitioner
-- the first we've been working with since 2003 (8 years now)
and the 2nd has been her doctor for almost 20 years. They
know our situation as well as any professionals may. And
they were taking care of her and trying to help us for many
years before we decided to try this, so it's not only our own
judgments here. It's the opinion of well trained
professionals who have had long experience with our
particular case and know where we have been over the years.
You may not appreciate just what this means. Our daughter
broke six teeth in one event over the bathtub. Just one
event. There were many others where she broke more in
differing situations. She broke both her radius and ulna in
another seizure. Clean through. She trapped an electric
heater between her legs in another and in the few seconds it
took for one of us to run down the hallway to get to her
room, she suffered 3rd degree burns to her inner thighs. She
will eventually die in one of these.. perhaps by falling
through some plate glass.. perhaps by falling at the top of
some stairway in some random moment we aren't immediately
present and can grab her. Something will get her. And the
more frequent the seizures, the more potential for that event
happening sooner than later.
It makes a HUGE difference. And so far, it is the very best
impact we've seen on her seizures. Others may have other
experiences. But in her case, there is no longer much
question that we are unaware of anything close to as good.
And we've been through every appropriate drug on the list
(large chart, large list, some not appropriate, but all
appropriate ones tried by now.)
There _are_ medical uses. But we are at risk every single
day because the Fed's consider it a crime. We are at risk
every day because someone may decide to invade our home
because of the black market. We are at risk for no good
reason. Our doctors are monitoring our use, we keep daily
records, and our federal system refuses to lower the
classification so that properly compounded and controlled
quantities can be prepared and used under medical
supervision.
There are many sides. You don't have to believe or agree
with any one part of it, but I think you need to understand
that there is much damage done by an industry that is illegal
and due to the huge moneys involved extremely corrupting at a
variety of levels. (There is a set of Congressional
testimony available in the Congressional Record, if you like,
that would scare most people because of how pervasive and
sweeping these effects were found to be during the Kerry
'drug hearings' in the late 1980's.) And it is very personal
to me, as well, as it places my family at personal and
continual risk and prevents my doctors from doing their job
as they should be able to do it.
It means something to me. One day, some time back, my wife
and I got to do one of the few 'dates' (maybe two a year, if
we are lucky?) where we got to go together to the grocery
store for some shopping and holding hands together. My
oldest son stayed back to watch Athena. When we arrived back
home, gone no longer than an hour, Becky wouldn't get out of
the car. She just sat there. I said, "What's up?" She
said, "You go in, see if she is still alive, and let me
know."
That's what our life is like, Joerg. And we now have
something that materially impacts that in our lives. You
know me. I'm telling you. You need to understand the
difference this makes in OUR lives, as well. Perhaps you
need to hear a different story from someone else you know so
that you can balance this a little better?
It's not just a little bit personal, Joerg. Just so you
know.
Jon
