cannabisnews.com: Medical Pot Helps Him Cope With Pain Medical Pot Helps Him Cope With Pain Posted by CN Staff on March 06, 2003 at 15:00:35 PT By Dan Hilborn, Record Reporter Source: Royal City Record He looks more like a librarian than someone at the leading edge of the battle to make medical marijuana available to Canadians. Yoram Adler, the licence holder for the Marijuana Factory grow operations in New Westminster, is a 40-year-old father with wire-frame glasses and a knitted wool vest. An admitted marijuana smoker for all of his adult life, Adler says that pot provides relief for both his arthritis and chronic pain. But two years ago, when he was diagnosed with deterioration of his liver, Adler also discovered that marijuana was one of the few pain relievers that did not affect his ability to fight off other infections. "I can't take ibuprofen, Tylenol, Motrin or other pain relievers because that would damage my liver," Adler told The Record during a tour of the Marijuana Factory pot growing facility in Queensborough last week. "But marijuana is working for me," he said. "For the past eight years, I've been using it as a replacement for other (prescription) drugs." Adler, a Vancouver resident, is the full-time deputy director of the Merlin Project, the umbrella organization that is trying to help other pot smokers obtain their legal marijuana possession and cultivation licences. While the Merlin Project has about 3,000 members, no more than 20 of those people actually have their marijuana possession licences issued by the federal government's Office of Medical Marijuana Access. While the laws are changing in favour of marijuana, there are still many obstacles to the total legalization of cannabis. For starters, Adler said many Canadian doctors are still leery of prescribing marijuana. "When I first went to my general practitioner to talk about cannabis for my chronic arthritis and pain control, he cited political concerns," Adler claimed. "He said he was worried about the reaction from the Americans, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons." Rejected in his first attempt, Adler was later diagnosed with a more serious condition that his family doctor was unable to treat. Once he was referred to a specialist, Adler received the doctor's note that stated marijuana was in fact aiding his condition. With that note, he was able to apply and obtain his marijuana possession licence. Today, Adler spends most of his time helping other people apply for their own marijuana possession licences. He believes that of the estimated two million marijuana smokers in Canada, Health Canada has received over 80,000 applications for the licence to possess cannabis, but only 800 licences have been issued. (The Office of Marijuana Medical Access Web site, last updated on Feb. 7, states that only 541 licences have been issued.) Not surprisingly, Adler encourages anyone who smokes marijuana or who believes the drug can provide relief for a medical condition, to apply for their own license. "Unless people stand up for their rights, those rights will continue to deteriorate," he said. "That's why we're standing up for our rights. We are here to protect people, not hurt them." Adler and the Marijuana Factory can be found on the Internet at: http://www.themerlinproject.orgSource: Royal City Record (CN BC)Author: Dan Hilborn, Record Reporter Published: Thursday, March 06, 2003 Copyright: 2003 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc.Contact: editorial royalcityrecord.comWebsite: http://www.royalcityrecord.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:The Merlin Projecthttp://www.themerlinproject.orgMerlin Project Launches Web Sitehttp://freedomtoexhale.com/merlin.htmPot Factory Sprouts Two New Locations http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15642.shtmlChecking Out The Pot Factory http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15634.shtmlB.C. Marijuana Factory Opens To Produce Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14308.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment