Crohn's Disease by Anonymous
I am a patient with severe Crohn's disease as well as irritable bowel syndrome and the beginnings of ankylosing spondylitis. I have a number of things that I would like to discuss; in fact, I would ideally like to discuss them in person- I could possibly make the drive, because Harvard is not that far away (about an hour/hour and a half). I want to obtain as well as provide important information; I am however very afraid of contacting-- it would of course require my real name. I suffer so much from my disease; I cannot afford to be prosecuted for trying to gain the information I need about this medicine, which I credit with saving my life. Suffice it to say, even this email/post puts me and my family at risk, and I know it. I'm not a criminal. I'm just sick and trying to remain a husband and father the best I can. Cannabis has given me some of my life back, and I feel compelled to know why; I feel compelled to help others that endure this horrible disease which practically "shuts off" for hours with only a few puffs.
There is real medicine here, better than all the Prednisone, Librax, Vicodin, Levsin, Pentasa, Emetrol, Megace, Bentyl, Cipro, Methotrexate, Flagyl, Lotomil, Atropine, and everything else LEGALLY in my medicine cabinet. I want to know why. I want to feel better, to use this medicine and not be afraid of being jailed and my family destroyed, just so I can sleep at night and occasionally eat a meal with my wife and kids without agonizing pain and nausea. I'm not a bad person for smoking pot. I'm sick, and I want your help.
Maybe it's just a pipe dream- pardon the pun- but I want your help to either find a better (read legal) alternative to using pot, or at least use it in the least harmful/most beneficial way possible.
Thanks for any response. Please keep helping those of us that can't stand up and help ourselves. With people like you fighting for us, doing the research, trying to simply help suffering patients- well, Thoreau had nothing on you in terms of understanding what "good" government is.
I try to visit Walden once a year.
For those of us who need to reject the law simply to survive with some degree of dignity and not live in agony, “Civil Disobedience” and its author's little shack down the street from you mean an awful lot. At least to me.
My best to you. You do the work of a physician, which by today's standards are a far cry from what most "doctors" do. Bless you.
-Sick And scared