cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Faces Legal & Cultural Challenge





Medical Marijuana Faces Legal & Cultural Challenge
Posted by FoM on July 24, 2000 at 10:34:05 PT
By Ricardo Vazquez
Source: Latino.com 
After a head-on collision in which Juan Carlos Mesen said he lost part of his upper lip and nose and 70 percent of his left eyebrow, the Costa Rican-born San Francisco Bay Area resident claims he became extremely depressed and suicidal.“I had pins in my knees, unbearable headaches and constant lower back pain,” said Mesen. “I was on anti-inflammatory medication and anti-depressants, but I felt like a walking zombie. I didn’t sleep and I didn’t even want to eat.”
Then he started using marijuana.“It was like night and day,” said Mesen. “I was finally able to sleep and eat.”Mesen said he also stopped thinking of suicide and his depression lifted.He is one of thousands of patients in California who use marijuana for medicinal purposes and who will benefit from a recent federal court decision that could clear the way for certain clubs to distribute pot to the seriously ill.The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Charles R. Breyer applies specifically to the Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative, the only one to challenge a federal lawsuit intended to shut down that establishment and five others in Northern California.But medicinal marijuana advocates like Wayne Justmann, director of the San Francisco Patients Resource Center -– the club where Mesen gets his medication –- think the court’s ruling establishes a precedent for other organizations whose patients qualify to receive the drug for medical use.“As a patient and director of this facility, I’m ecstatic,” Justmann said. “I’m a 55-year-old man who’s HIV positive. People like me and others need this relief.”Justmann went on to say that the injunction against the distribution of marijuana to seriously ill people attempted to nullify the will of Californians who in 1996 approved Proposition 215, legalizing the use of the drug with a doctor’s recommendation.However, it wasn’t necessarily the legal restrictions that kept Mesen away from trying out the treatment that finally made him feel better.He hesitated using the drug because of the stigma associated with marijuana has in the Latino community.“I didn’t want to use it because I was afraid,” Mesen said. “Whenever we talked about it in my family, or from what I saw in the media, I thought I would react like some crazy drug addict.”Even after he started treatment, Mesen said he kept it a secret from his family -- especially his mother -- for several months.“It was afraid of my family finding out,” Mesen explained. “They link marijuana to drug addiction and to criminals and thieves, and I grew up with a mother that was very tough.”But last year, Mesen mustered the courage to tell his mother about the treatment he credits for saving his life.“I told her: ‘Mom, I have something to share with you. You may not approve, but I’ve started using marijuana for my ailments.’”Her reaction was much more positive than Mesen had anticipated.“I don’t want a Carlos who wants to kill himself,” Mesen said his mother told him. “You do whatever is necessary to get better.”Justmann added that trepidation over using the marijuana is especially common in patients who come from minority backgrounds, many which stigmatize pot smoking. “There is tremendous peer and cultural pressures against it,” he said.As for the clubs, they hope the restrictions placed by the courts on dispensing marijuana will ensure that those who absolutely need it for medical reasons will have access to it.Patients receiving the drug must meet the following criteria:Suffer from a serious medical condition. Face “imminent harm” if they do not have access to cannabis.Need cannabis for the treatment of a medical condition. Have no reasonable legal alternative to cannabis for effective treatment.However, even when the appellate court has modified the injunction that prevented the Oakland club from dispensing the drug, the legal wrangling over the medicinal use of marijuana is far from settled.What do you think of the medicinal use of marijuana?Email us at: latino latinolink.com Published: July 21, 2000 © 1995-2000 Latino.com, Inc. Related Articles & Web Site:Oakland Cannabis Buyer's Cooperativehttp://www.rxcbc.org/Oakland Pot Club Ready To Reopenhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6478.shtmlPot For Painhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6477.shtmlWhat Hath Breyer Wrought By Richard Cowanhttp://marijuananews.com/news.php3?sid=259CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #1 posted by jay on July 26, 2000 at 05:09:34 PT
legalize it
I believe they should legalize dope all around the world even if it is only for medical purposes.my grandmother was dying of cancer and could not even eat to bring herself some strength to fight the long battle so we gave her some hash cookies and she got the munchies and started eating again. This prolonged her life for a few more months but she did eventully die.At least i got to have a grandma for that little bit longer.this could help some one else aswell so i think they should legalize it.
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