cannabisnews.com: Local Activist Grieves Loss of Husband To Cancer





Local Activist Grieves Loss of Husband To Cancer
Posted by CN Staff on June 14, 2002 at 17:02:35 PT
By Ron Bain 
Source: Boulder Weekly 
Laura Kriho of Rollinsville, known in Boulder County and nationally for her jury nullification and cannabis legalization activism, is grieving the loss of her husband, Timothy Mark Bailes, to cancer on May 27. Bailes, 46, died at the International Biocare Hospital in Tijuana, Mexico, at 4:20 p.m. on Memorial Day. A memorial and wake is scheduled for Saturday, June 15, near Nederland. 
While mourning, Kriho is contemplating a new-for her-form of activism: advocating a healthy, cancer-preventing diet consisting mostly of "lightly steamed vegetables and brown rice." That was the type of fruit and vegetables diet that the IBC Hospital in Tijuana immediately placed Bailes on when he checked in: the nutritional regimen eliminated sugar and salt, and limited animal proteins. The IBC doctors stopped the chemotherapy he had begun in Colorado. As a younger man, Bailes had worked around farm chemicals, had been a pesticide applicator and had removed asbestos as a construction worker. He also smoked tobacco and ate processed foods, like sugar. "Tim smoked cigarettes his whole life, and it didn't help," Kriho said. "But I don't think cigarettes caused his cancer. It all came back to diet. Cancer is cancer." Bailes' cancer began in his lungs and then metastasized throughout his body. In Colorado, doctors recommended chemotherapy, but Kriho thinks the highly toxic treatments shortened Bailes' already short life. "Traditional chemotherapy destroys your immune system," Kriho said. "You'd live longer if you didn't treat cancer in the traditional way at all." Bailes initially responded positively to the new diet and Laetrile treatments, gaining weight and strength. But his lungs were producing too many fluids and phlegm, and he succumbed to heart failure after about a month of hospitalization. The months-long ordeal has definitely changed Kriho: She gave up eating red meat. "Yeah, I went back to Chicago (after Tim's death) and had some red meat, and got sick to my stomach," she said. "We uncovered a lot of information in the last three or four months. Cancer thrives on sugar and animal protein." The only medical treatment Bailes was denied in Mexico was cannabis, Kriho said. "Eating pot definitely helped Tim. The pot-laced cookies were helping him to reduce phlegm." After the 2000 election, Kriho had decided to limit her activism. Over the past 12 years, Kriho has made local and national headlines advocating hemp legalization, medical marijuana and jury nullification. In 1996, she was convicted of contempt of court for talking about jury nullification during jury deliberations in a Gilpin County drug case; in 1999, her conviction was overturned. "Tim's constant, unconditional support was a tremendous help that allowed me to be an activist," Kriho added. "Now we've got this issue-this medical freedom of choice issue," she said. "Why should we have to run to a Third World country to get decent medical care?" Even in other nations where alternative medicines are used, "medical cannabis is illegal," she complained. Before leaving for Mexico, Bailes consulted with Boulder herbalist Brigitte Mars, obtained some relief from acupuncture and tried supplements intended to reduce cancer. But it was ironic that Mexico-a major supplier of marijuana to the U.S.-denied Bailes access to the one additional treatment that might have prolonged his life. Stroke victim Marie Matlock of Weed, Calif., recently e-published a cookbook titled Krafty Cannabis Eatables featuring recipes for a range of marijuana-based foods from lasagna to mayonnaise intended for medical marijuana patients such as Bailes. She wanted more than the traditional brownies and cookies or smoked marijuana to alleviate her intense pain, and developed the cookbook's recipes to make cannabis an everyday part of her diet. Fifty cents of each book she sells at www.1stbooks.com will go to support the medical marijuana movement in America. Kriho will return to work at the National Center for Atmospheric Research after Bailes's memorial service on Saturday. She said she hopes she can speak and make it through the memorial service without breaking down and crying. "Sometimes it just hits me, how alone I am. I'm sure it'll hit me when all my friends are around." Note: Advocates healthy improvements in diet for all Americans. Source: Boulder Weekly (CO)Author: Ron BainPublished: May 13 - June 20, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Boulder WeeklyContact: letters boulderweekly.comWebsite: http://www.boulderweekly.com/Incompetence: Feds Haven't Done Their Jobhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10920.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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