How one Conservative came to back Medical Marijuana

 
Hello everyone and I'm very happy to see you here and would like to thank you for reading my blog.  I hope you like it, as this is my very first attempt at this.  If you don't like it... umm, please keep your opinions to yourself! :) j/k
 
I first off should probably introduce myself as out of millions of members, still NONE of you have any idea who I am.  I'm a 52 y/o Happily married male from Arizona. (married my childhood sweetheart) My wife and I for the past 20 yrs (or as I like to say it... 4/20yrs.) have rescued Abused or Neglected Rottweilers.  We live very modestly, as 20 yrs ago I lost my job.  I might wish to clarify that...  I was injured at work and haven't been able to work for 20 yrs, not that I didn't try.  I'll get into that story a bit more as we go along.  My wife and I have a daughter in Colorado who lives with her husband and critters.  She's a Tattoo Artist and although I LOVE to brag, I won't.  But she's "Nationally acclaimed"...  THERE..... I got it out.  Please allow me to start MY story of how I came to be an Advocate for Marijuana.

HOW IT HAPPENED

I've always been supportive of Medical marijuana even when I didn't smoke. I voted for it 3 times in Arizona, which is a whole other story.  But, let me start by saying that I've never been one that opposed Medical marijuana, because I felt that IF it helped one person relieve their pain, it was worth it.  I had smoked it like most of us did when I was younger.  However as I grew up and became a responsible member of society as well as a Veteran of the military.  In the military, obviously  I was unable to use it as I was subject to Urinalysis at any time and I wasn't going to screw that up.  When I exited the military I got a job with a very Major Airline.  Again, I was subject to random urinalysis and was being compensated pretty damned well by them at the time, so I thought it wouldn't be smart to screw that situation up either. Therefore I didn't even smoke marijuana and voted for it 3 times.

I started off my career with this company in Texas.  But as I got into the job, I decided to move to AZ with my company.  So I transferred, purchased a nice home in a great neighborhood, great schools etc...  basically everything that a nice young Conservative could want.  Oh... I'm sorry, I haven't told y'all that I'm a registered Republican, have I?  Well, I'm not only a Republican, but I'm active in the Party as a PC.  Hold on now, just because I'm a conservative, you don't have to stone me to death... (hehehe or maybe you should)   Anyway, back to the story.


THE ACCIDENT

After I'd gotten settled into my home, my job etc... and just put my nose to the grindstone and worked and worked and worked.  Things were going GREAT until 9/7/94...  On that day, my whole life was altered forever.  That day at work, I became injured through NO fault of my own. I was in the hangar working and had to walk up and into the aircraft. There are stands that we use, to make this easier to do. The RULE is: Once that stand's in place, it's NOT to be moved for ANY reason until that aircraft was ready to push out the door.  Well, I walked into the aircraft and realized about 2 mins later that I didn't have the correct paperwork required for the job I was going to perform. I turned to exit the aircraft to go get the correct paperwork. I had my head down looking at the paperwork I had, to figure out what all I needed to retrieve from my tool box. (Please remember that stand is NOT to be moved for any reason!) As I exited the aircraft, I went to step out onto that stand, and as luck would have it, someone had moved it in order to work on the Entry door and didn't tell anyone. About mid-fall I realized I was really screwed and somehow better protect my head.  My head was fine, but 3 back surgeries later I was still in massive pain and had very limited movement.  After 13 months of intense Physical Therapy, I was able to go back to work. In order to be able to go back to work though, I was taking enough prescription pain killers to knock down a Rhino.  It utterly amazed me that every time I went for a random urinalysis, all I had to do was declare the Opioid medications as well as the Muscle Relaxers that I was taking that I had a prescription for and if they came up in my sample, everything was fine! I couldn't believe it.

As the months back to work would pass, it became more and more evident that I really was just physically unable to perform that job anymore.  I was having to take more and more medication in order to be able to continue working.  On top of that, I had just re-injured my back, while working on another aircraft. There were days that I'd come home and wouldn't be able to get out of the truck.  I was in tears because the pain was so great.  The final time, my wife had to pull me out of the truck and get me inside.  As hard as I tried I just couldn't do it anymore and ended up losing that job as well as the ability to be able to hold ANY job since.


THE ADDICTION

I've spent 18 years on a quest to curb my pain.  Pain is very subjective and people will do anything possible to relieve it.  If you told me to "... stand on my head and drink milk at the same time, that my pain would go away..."  You and I'd be having an upside down conversation..  Although the pain subsided slightly, the surgeries were largely unsuccessful and over time the pain continued to worsen.

As the pain levels rose, so did my Opioid intake. It got so bad a couple of times that I was constantly contemplating suicide to make the pain go away.  I wondered if this was as good as it was going to get.  I wasn't sure that I actually wanted to live anymore.  If the pain I was enduring, was going to last  I thought my wife and daughter would be better off without me screwing up their lives.  My wife unbeknownst to me had the pistol removed from the house.  We got through that one, but it wouldn't be the last time we'd have to take that ride.  I ended up in more ER's than ever imaginable over this time frame.  Even though I was a legitimate pain patient, whenever I'd go to an ER, they'd ask my wife, "...when's the last time he used?" as if I was a STREET JUNKIE!  My wife went NUTS on the RN who shouted that across the crowded waiting room to her. My pain was so bad and I was taking prescribed doses of Opioids to relieve it.  However, I literally was not able to carry on a conversation with anyone, without falling asleep, slobbering on myself, or busting out bawling. It was so bad that I lost EVERY friend I had.  No one wanted to be around me, and I couldn't blame them. Neither my friends or my family would even call me anymore.  Hell, I didn't even want to be around me.

At this time in my life, my self esteem hit the pavement.  I'd never been fired from a job in my life, yet now I couldn't KEEP a minimum wage job because I can't guarantee an Employer that I'll make it to work 5 days in a row and be able to stay for 8 hours every day. 


THE FINAL STRAW

In early May 2010, I woke up one morning and it felt like I had indigestion that I couldn't get to go away.  I put up with that for like 3 days in a row and it seemed to last most if not ALL day..  I was a little concerned but not much because we didn't think it was any big deal as I've never had ANY problems with my internal organs up until that time.  On Friday of the week that I had the heart burn/indigestion it seemed to have worsened so I told my wife to call 911.  EMS showed up and took me directly to the hospital sirens blaring horns a blowing.  I was admitted with heart arrhythmia.  My wife had already left for the evening and I was sleeping when I went into "A fib"...  When I came to, I was sweaty as hell and I didn't know why?  It felt like I'd just gone 2 rounds with "The Champ".  I didn't understand why I was sore and sweaty when my Dr. said "...welcome back... wasn't sure I was gonna be able to keep you but you pulled through." to me.  The next day, I was in surgery having a Pacemaker/Defibrillator installed in my chest. After numerous tests, I was told that I had to get off of the massive doses of Opioids, that I was taking or I was going to die, and that's not too far away!  It was the Opioids that were responsible for breaking my body down.  I have been on a mission ever since to drop my Opiate intake.


THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL


Around came November of 2010, when during the election, the citizens of Arizona passed a Medical Marijuana law for the third time...  It only passed by 5000 votes, but that's ALL we needed and in April of 2011 the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act came into effect.  It was at that time that I said, I'm going to see if Cannabis could help relieve MY pain.  I had no job and had no leads on anything that I could actually do, so I wasn't worried about repercussions.  So I got my card, and as weird as it felt... purchased my first somewhat legal marijuana.  I got home and for the first time in years, I rolled up a fatty (it wasn't pretty but it smoked) and the wife and I smoked away...  I was RIPPED, but that was because I hadn't smoked in so long.  But I could also feel after a couple of weeks that it actually does help with my pain.  It was at that very moment that I knew that I'd made the right decision by turning to cannabis to relieve my pain.  During this period of awareness... literally, I noticed that I was taking less of my Pain medication.  I was asking for refills MUCH later than when it was normally due.  My Pain Management Dr. noticed the Opiate cut and mentioned it to me.  I've been with this Dr. for 14 yrs. now, so he knows my body and could see that I was much more aware, alert, etc..  For the first time in years, I wasn't going into his office and crying like a baby because my pain wouldn't go away, like I had done for years.  I was open and honest with him and told him what I'd done. 


THE RESURRECTION

I honestly was a little apprehensive about telling my Doctor, because I had heard the horror stories about patients telling their Doctors that they're Medical marijuana patients and the Doctors flipping out like you just killed their dog!  I was so relieved when my Doctor looked at me and said.... "Really?"  Explain to me how this works for you, would you?  I was floored when he stopped me and called in 2 Med Students to listen to my story.  He knew it was the truth because HE had been treating me for so many years.  Again, he was well aware of my body and pain.  He had seen how hard cutting down my Opiates was for me, prior to cannabis.  We'd tried it before, numerous times to no avail.  All that happened was, I was in terrible pain and sick from trying to wean myself off of the opiates.

As time went on, he noticed that I was cutting my intake  more and more and more.  I've gotten to the point now where I've cut them by about 50%.  I'm being told that more than likely, I'll always be required to take SOME opioids because my injury was so bad.  But cutting my intake that much, made me want to shout it from the mountain tops how cannabis SAVED MY LIFE.  For the first time in years, I could think clearly, my personality came back, my vocabulary changed, I could remember things that would make my wife shake her head.  Things were looking up for me and I attribute it all to Cannabis.  I told you this was a work injury, so it fell under the wonderful care of the "Workers Comp" system.  For 18 yrs, all they wanted to do to was pump me full of Opioids.  No more physical therapy, no more treatment to get my addiction under control, etc... and I wasn't going through another back surgery under any circumstances!  They refused every type of treatment that my Doctor would order, even though it fell within the normal scope of treatment for my injury.  

A couple of months ago, the Workers Compensation system, decided that my "permanent disability" actually wasn't so permanent to them and they weren't going to pay for my medications/Dr.'s appointments every month, in which I'm required to go to every month by law.  Just a year and a half ago, that would've sent me into a depression so deep that I wouldn't have been able to handle it.  We'd have been back to the "Suicidal" thoughts running through my mind again.  This time, instead of fighting them (Workers Comp) like I have for 18 years, it actually felt like a Ton of bricks were lifted off of my shoulders!  Cannabis has given me my life back. My relationship with my family's improving, I'm back to my Sociable self again.  My brain feels like it's working for the first time in years.  I'm able to take my dogs for walks regularly now.  I'm able to DRIVE again.  Therefore I have decided that it's imperative that I get involved in telling MY story to everyone I can.  People need to know that they've been lied to about Cannabis.  The many products that it can be used for.  I'm going to tell everyone I can what it's done for me.  But ya know, it's like I can't find enough knowledge about Cannabis to satisfy me. I peruse the internet daily for canna knowledge. I want to know everything I can about the viability of Cannabis being reintroduced to American society.

Previously I told y'all that I'm active in the Republican party.  I believe that representing the cannabis culture in the correct manner is extremely important, in order for Conservatives to come on board.  We cannot be seen in the light of "Steven Spicoli" anymore.  We MUST change that perception and that starts at the grass roots level.  I myself won't even say the word "pot".  I think that word enforces the stereotypes that have been placed on us.   At District meetings, I like to say that, I've become the "Green Elephant" in the room!  I'm NOT afraid to tell anyone I'm around, that we're actually on the wrong side of this issue and why.  That if they were truly the Constitutionalists they claim they are.  They'd be FOR repealing the prohibition of Cannabis in ALL forms.  Pointing out that they're for selective prohibition.  Depending upon the issue.  This is a Constitutional and Personal Liberties issue.  My favorite saying is "Medical Marijuana is not a Law & Order issue, but more so a Health & Human rights issue! The District Chair said she LOVES me because I make the "Ole Guard" squirm, and she said it's fun to watch.  

Therefore, I've decided to take my talents to the Cannabis cause!  I know I will be an asset to the cause because I am a living testimonial to the positive effects of Medical Cannabis and I can't seem to find enough information about what all this plant can do.  Both Medicinally as well as Industrially, would be nice to see our Economy turn around.