cannabisnews.com: Wants System for Medical Marijuana Wants System for Medical Marijuana Posted by FoM on May 03, 2001 at 07:48:03 PT By Rebecca Sentementes - Times Record Contributor Source: Times Record I am the daughter of the late veterinarian Dr. Mike Lindey and an advocate for LD 611, An Act to Create a Pilot Project to Fully Implement the Maine Medical Marijuana Act of 1998. This act would create a distribution system for medical marijuana.My father was known to many people as a cancer survivor. He was also a proponent of medical marijuana use for the alleviation of the effects of cancer therapies that had weakened him and caused him to feel depressed and lose weight. To my family and to me, he was Dad or Doc or Papa. We watched him lose his hair, weight and strength as he tried to enjoy our company from his bed in the living room. Often, he would fall asleep from exhaustion in our midst – and anyone who knew Dad knew how long he could normally sustain a conversation! It was really hard to see him go through this lonely, painful process.The first time I saw a marijuana plant at my Dad's house I was amused. Had someone given it to him as a joke, knowing that he probably wouldn't recognize what it was? He looked away sheepishly when I questioned him and didn't answer me then. That was at the beginning of his second round of chemotherapy.The irony for me was that my father had always been a man who saw the world in black and white. He was never a man who considered breaking the law lightly.As a result of smoking marijuana, my father's second round of chemotherapy was much more successful than the first had been. He held his weight because he felt less nausea and as a result, had a better outlook and felt stronger at the end of the treatment.When Dad was cured, he shunned all of the things that he associated with his illness: from the fresh pineapple that he had craved to the sofa bed that he had lived on during the sickest period. He also stopped smoking marijuana, choosing instead his old standby, Marlboro. He lived for nearly five more years as a healthy man and loved every bit of it. He became ill again last spring and left Parkview Hospital in February to go home to die. As soon as we got to his house, he asked me to get hospice support for him. He asked that I procure two drugs to help him relieve any discomfort that might face him. One was marijuana and the other was morphine.While both are controlled substances with known side effects, only one has been proven to be highly addictive and that one, morphine, I was able to buy in a pharmacy. Purchasing the marijuana was much more covert, and I could tell that it made my Dad feel bad to have to ask me to do it. I was uncomfortable with the fact that I didn't really know where it came from or how pure it was.He never needed the marijuana, but he did need the morphine. We talked candidly about many personal issues during that week. He expressed two regrets that he had about dying before the spring. One was that he would miss his college reunion and all of his dear friends, and the other was that he wouldn't be able to support LD 611.After Dad's first round with cancer, I saw him change. He became a more caring, giving person with greater empathy and a will to be compassionate.It was his wish that patients shouldn't suffer unnecessarily or feel guilty trying to procure marijuana. Having the distribution above board would help make so many patients who endure illnesses like my Dad's more likely to feel less pain.Please support LD 611, in memory of my Dad.Rebecca Sentementes lives in Yarmouth. Source Times Record (ME) Author: Rebecca Sentementes - Times Record Contributor Published: May 1, 2001Copyright: 2001 Times Record Inc., ASC Inc. Contact: news TimesRecord.com Website: http://www.timesrecord.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Mainers For Medical Rightshttp://www.mainers.org/Panel Backs Medical Pot Supply Planhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9579.shtmlGroups Oppose Pot Distribution Planhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9516.shtmlControl Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9512.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #1 posted by lookinside on May 05, 2001 at 12:19:26 PT: congressmen, TAKE NOTICE! your drug warriors would have preferred this man spend thatlast week in prison...support of the war on drugs iscriminal, and the electorate won't forget the criminals... [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: