One month from today, Florida voters will descend upon their respective polling stations. When casting their votes this year, voters will be asked to vote for or against Amendment 2, the Florida Right to Medical Marijuana Initiative. While the debate about medicinal marijuana has been around forever, it has really picked up steam in the last 5 years or so. And in just 4 weeks, the choice is ours. When I vote, I’ll be voting a big fat YES, and I’d like to share with you a few of the reasons why.
Amendment 2: Why I’m Voting Yes
After returning from the Gulf War, I developed testicular cancer and had to receive 3 very intense cycles of chemotherapy. If I remember correctly, each cycle was about 4-5 weeks long. The first cycle was a breeze, no problems at all. As I started the second cycle, everything went downhill fast. My hair began to fall out, my body was beginning to weaken and I was losing weight very rapidly. Not only did I not feel like eating, I began to get nauseous at just the smell of food. I was at the very beginning of this cycle, and still had one more to go. Two months of throwing up just about everything I ate, constant body aches and a severe depression wondering, why me? Yeah, that’s what I was facing.
One evening, just after arriving home from an 8 hour day of chemo, a friend came over. He’s the same friend who came over and shaved my head when I woke up with hair all over the pillow. He had noticed my weight loss and said he could see the life just being drained out of me. He knew I had been giving myself shots in the stomach to help with the nausea, but I was still throwing up most every time I ate. He suggested I try smoking marijuana to see if it would help. We had tried it in high school a few times, but hadn’t used it since. I thought to myself, “well you do get the munchies, and hey, it certainly couldn’t make me feel any worse.” He was out the door and back in 20 minutes.
He and I sat on the porch and smoked a joint. And for the first time in weeks, I was laughing. We talked about fun times we shared growing up, and for about an hour, I actually had forgotten that I even had cancer. After going inside, I told him I was hungry and we ordered a pizza. Although I could only eat one piece, I was hungry and not feeling like I was ready to barf with every bite. The pain that I was feeling was all but gone. I continued using marijuana throughout my chemotherapy, having to spend the last week or two in the hospital. I couldn’t smoke it at the hospital, and that sucked!
Fast forward a few years and as hard as battling Stage 4 cancer was, losing my daughter to something that even some of the best doctors in the world couldn’t tell us what had happened was tragic. All they could tell us was that she was having seizure activity, loss of body control and that they really didn’t know what was going on with her brain. I think about that every day. I think of Taylor every day.
Last year, I heard about a little girl named Charlotte Figi. I fell in love with her, and her story. Please, no matter which side of the fence you are on concerning the use of medical marijuana, please watch this video. Charlotte is a hero for many kids now, and will be for millions more in the future. I can’t help but to wonder what would have happened to my little girl had this treatment been available to her back then. One thing is certain, it wouldn’t have hurt her.
In closing, I’ll leave you with this fact to chew on. On one hand, the United States federal government officials have consistently denied that marijuana has any medical benefits. But on the other, the government actually holds patents for the medical use of the plant. Yes, you read that right! Just check out US Patent 6630507. Educate yourself on medical marijuana, as you yourself may be a patient someday.
For more information on Amendment 2, please go to the Ballotpedia page to read more about the Florida Right to Medical Marijuana Initiative, Amendment 2 (2014).
- Amendment 2: Why I’m Voting Yes - October 7, 2014
- Victor White III:Video Challenge - September 4, 2014
- Eric Garner, Not Forgotten - August 23, 2014
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