Marijuana Policy Project

To the Editor:

Rhode Island took a big step forward two years ago when it allowed patients like me to use medical marijuana without fear of arrest when our doctors believe it will help. But the law has a major flaw that has put me and other patients in danger. The Rhode Island Senate has acted to fix the problem, and it's urgent that the House follow suit.

I suffer constant pain from fibromyalgia and chronic pain syndrome, exacerbated by Marfan syndrome, an inherited disorder of the connective tissues that hold the body together.

All of which was made worse in November 2001 when — while working as a counselor in a shelter for troubled adolescents — I fell down a flight of stairs while trying to stop one of the teens from hurting himself.

My physician suggested medical marijuana as an alternative to the large amounts of opiate pain drugs I was being prescribed, and it has indeed helped a great deal. It particularly helps the nausea that some of the other pain drugs cause me.

What I don't have right now is a safe way to get medical marijuana. More times than I care to remember, I've had to go to drug dealers on the streets.

Have you ever had to face the barrel of a gun in an attempt to get medicine? I have, on seven occasions, including by street-level drug dealers trying to harm me.

I have also been robbed, having all my medications and savings stolen, leaving me destitute for two months. Also, marijuana and my medications have gone missing from time to time because of the unsavory people I’ve had to expose myself to.

Because of my physical condition, I fear for my personal safety, and that of anyone who has to take these steps to obtain medicine.

A few months ago, trying to procure my medicine, I was sitting in my car on a dark street in South Providence, awaiting a person I barely knew to come to my car with my medicine. A number of things ran through my head: What was I doing on the street? Where was this money going? Was I funding terrorism to get my medicine?

This was a very sobering thought. Moments later, the transaction completed, I was on my way. But to this day, these troubling images will not leave my dreams.

Right now, the only legal mechanism for obtaining marijuana is for patients to grow their own, or have a caregiver do it for them. That works for some, but not for everyone. It is a much more difficult process for amateurs than one would think.

And even if you have the necessary space, equipment and physical ability to do gardening, the problems that all gardeners battle, like bugs and disease, can ruin an entire crop. Patients need an alternative.

The Compassion Centers bill provides exactly the alternative that is needed for both patients and communities: safe, regulated nonprofit centers where medical marijuana patients could obtain their medicine without fear. The Rhode Island Department of Health would oversee the centers, would issue regulations regarding security and record keeping and would be authorized to conduct background checks on employees and officers of the centers.

This bill would be a win for all concerned. Patients like me wouldn't have to risk danger and deal with criminals to get our medicine. Communities would benefit by taking business away from street dealers and giving it to licensed nonprofits.

The Compassion Centers bill is the right thing to do. The House should pass it immediately.

George H. Des Roches Jr., Warwick