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<H3>The essay below was originally posted by Susan Engle of the Lewiston Tribune
on her blog at the Tribune website, and then reprinted in the Tribune itself on
page 8C today (June 1) on the best of the blogs page. This is the most
powerful statement I have yet read on this issues of pain, suffering, and relief
(and medical marijuana).....thanks Susan....BL</H3>
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<H3><A title="Permanent Link to I would have risked the arrest"
href="http://www.lmtribune.com/blogs/2011/05/25/pop-culture/i-would-have-risked-the-arrest/"
rel=bookmark><FONT face="Times New Roman">I would have risked the
arrest</FONT></A></H3>
<P class=posted><FONT face="Times New Roman">Posted on 25 May 2011 by </FONT><A
title="Posts by Susan Engle"
href="http://www.lmtribune.com/blogs/author/susan/"><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Susan Engle</FONT></A></P>
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<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">If I had known 12 or 13 years ago what I know
now about medical marijuana, I might have ended up doing time. And it would have
been well worth it.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">On June 20, 2000, my mother, Patty Engle — then
a young 58 — died of breast cancer after battling the disease for nine years.
For the final four years of her battle, I had a front-row seat for the horrific
effects of cancer, pain and chemotherapy. It is not an exaggeration to say I
would have literally given my right arm if I could have alleviated even a
fraction of her suffering. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">There’s a scene in the movie “Terms of
Endearment” that is recognizable to anyone who’s ever watched someone suffer
through cancer treatment. The character, played by Shirley MacLaine, is standing
vigil as her daughter suffers through a breast cancer death. When the time comes
and goes for her next pain medication, Aurora Greenway goes on a memorable
rampage (see clip at bottom), ending with a shouted order I’ve never
forgotten:</FONT></P>
<P><EM><FONT face="Times New Roman">“It’s past ten. My daughter is in pain. I
don’t understand why she has to have this pain. All she has to do is hold out
until ten, and IT’S PAST TEN! My daughter is in pain, can’t you understand that!
GIVE MY DAUGHTER THE SHOT!” </FONT></EM></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">I’ve been there. I’ve felt that way, even though
the nurses and other hospital staff were wonderful and caring and did everything
within their power to make her as comfortable and pain-free as they
could.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">See, cancer treatment does a real number on the
body. In the final couple of years of her life, mom was on heavy doses of
narcotic pain killers. They worked, sometimes, and sometimes they didn’t do
enough. They also depressed her respiration and slowed her disgestive system to
the point that it would grind to a halt, resulting in terrible stomach and bowel
pain. That was secondary, of course, to the steady, unrelenting pain in her
bones, hips, chest and extremities as the cancer raged out of control.
</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">If the pain happened to be particularly strong,
it would “get ahead” of the pain killers and it sometimes took hours or even
days to get it back under control again.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Then there’s the nausea and lack of appetite.
For much of the last year of her life, it was tough to find food that mom could
keep down or even had any appetite for at all. At one point, the only thing she
could eat was Chef Boyardee Beefaroni. Don’t ask me why. Later it was tapioca
pudding and for a while it was beef broth. Just that. Beef broth. She said her
lack of appetite was not just not being hungry, but rather the complete lack of
interest in food on any level. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Of course, now I know that marijuana could have
alleviated some of that pain and nausea. For a cancer patient, lack of appetite
can be just as deadly as pneumonia. The patient withers away, depressing the
immune system and depleting the body of the vitamins, minerals, proteins and
enzymes so necessary to battle diseases and illness.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">If I had known back then that scoring mom a
doobie would have made her crave a cheeseburger and allowed her to sleep through
the night without throwing up every five minutes or crying out in pain when she
tried to roll over in bed, I’d have been on the corner looking for a dealer and
the divil, and the law, take the hindmost if they didn’t like it. It’s sort of
my Aurora Greenway moment, “GIVE MY MOTHER HER MEDICINE!” </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">It’s time this country came to terms with
marijuana as a drug that could be useful in treating cancer, chronic pain and
other illnesses. Regulate it, tax it, put it in the pharmaceutical pipeline,
sell it at your local Walgreen’s and have the DEA keep the records. And stop
acting as if doing so would cause the fall of the Roman Empire.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Can we, just for once, stop being so
schizophrenic when it comes to marijuana and alcohol? Other than the occasional
glass of red wine, alcohol serves no useful purpose as a medical treatment and
yet it’s available to anyone old enough to buy it, in whatever quantities they
wish. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s a gateway drug too. It just happens to
be legal and marijuana isn’t. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Frankly, I have little use for the opinions of
people who have never watched someone they love suffer from chronic illness or
pain, or who have never experienced the same for themselves. You may think you
know how bad it can get, but you would be wrong. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Get back to me when you experience your own
Aurora Greenway moment. Then we’ll talk.
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