Marijuana Policy Project

I have been the owner of a successful small business for 16 years, and am a parent of three small children. I also served, for five years, as a leader for my church, helping to run its affairs smoothly. Many people don’t know this, but I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis seven years ago. I would like to be able to use medical marijuana to get some relief from my symptoms.

I am very thankful that compared to others my remittent recurring multiple sclerosis is mild. For now at least, I am still able to walk and go about my daily life, and I have not yet been completely disabled by my condition. However, I must still deal with numbness and pain every day that makes my life more difficult. My hands, feet, and abdomen often go completely numb, and the neuropathic pain caused by my MS gives me pins and needles in these areas as well. My condition also causes Lhermitte's syndrome, which feels like a bolt of electricity shooting down my back every time I bend my neck forward to look down. These symptoms are almost always present on some level, and they significantly intensify due to heat and stress, making me feel very uncomfortable.

Right now, I have decided, in consultation with my doctor, not to take any significant medication for my MS, since it is not currently getting worse.  When I was diagnosed, I researched all the possible medications I could take, and their possible side effects were often worse than the effects of my condition itself. Some of these medicines, such as Betaseron, slash and burn the body much like chemotherapy, even causing flu-like symptoms, depression, and suicidal tendencies! For instance, Avonex can cause bruising or bleeding, frequent infections, and chest pain. Copaxone, which requires a daily injection, has caused psychiatric disorders, autoimmune disorders, and renal failure. Further, since all of these medicines are intravenous drugs, they create a serious risk of infection and reaction at the injection site.  

Instead of risking these side effects, my doctor and I decided to monitor the progression of my disease with an MRI once a year. Then, we will continue to re-evaluate. In the meantime, it would help so much to have some relief from this pain using a much less intrusive medicine.

I have never used marijuana for medical purposes. At my job, I find myself working hard in the heat of the day and even in attics where temperatures can exceed 135 degrees F.  Heat causes my neuropathic pain to severely flare up, but I push through it because I must. I have heard and seen studies suggesting that medical marijuana would be just the thing for me to take. When I get home from work with my pain flaring up, marijuana might help to dull the constant buzzing in my hands and allow me to fall asleep. While we haven’t discussed it yet, I think my doctor would be supportive of my use. However, I have chosen not to try it because it remains illegal, and therefore, I would have no legal protection. Additionally, because it’s illegal, I have no secure place to get safe, quality medicine that I know will work, and I don’t trust the illicit market. I cannot believe that I can be prescribed invasive, chemo-like drugs that will destroy my body in trying to treat my MS, but not marijuana, a relatively benign medicine with few side effects. Delaware’s medical marijuana bill would change that, and would provide me with a safe way to access quality, uncontaminated medicine. Please help me get relief by passing S.B. 94.