I am a
31-year-old woman living in the city of Chicago, Illinois. I have been living
with chronic back pain for the last 17 years. I have undergone 4
life-threatening spinal surgeries and numerous treatments for pain ranging from
spinal block injection, epidural injections, a number of medications from
Tylenol 3, Vicodin, Toradol, and even Fluoxetine (Prozac). Through all of these
treatments, there has been only one effective treatment for the sciatica,
arthritis and spasms...Marijuana.
When I am
in excruciating pain and smoke just a small amount (1/8 gram at most), not only
is the pain relieved by roughly 75%, but the anxiety caused by being in so much
pain is lessened as well. I would liken the effect of the cannabis' pain
suppression qualities as the difference between tossing a boulder into a pond
from a bridge (before smoking) to skipping a flat stone across the pond from the
water's edge (after smoking). I just wish there was another way to ingest the
cannabis without having to smoke it and without diminishing the effects by
preparing the adequate dosage other ways (i.e., brownies, cookies, tea, etc.) It
is an extremely expensive herb, and one must deal with a rather unsavory
character element in procuring the much-needed medication.
I would
like to find out if any medical research facility in the city or surrounding
area is or will be doing any studies about the effectiveness of treating chronic
pain with cannabis and/or any derivatives/extracts thereof.