Twelve years ago I had my most serious Exacerbation to date and lost full use of my body from the waist down.  After many years off and on a walker utilizing a wheeelchair more often than I liked, and some wonderful therapists, I am happy to say I now walk everyday with a cane.   :o)

After being assessed by some of the TOP PAIN SPECIALISTS in this end of Canada, being prescribed every Opioid (short of Methadone they told me), trying numerous Epileptic medications and  following various Alternative Therapies from Acupuncture to Infra-Orbital Nerve Blocks, in 1995 I was introduced to MARIJUANA for relief from the pain in my face.  Soon after, I investigated all avenues trying to find help with the COST and SUPPLY of this drug that was giving me so much RELIEF and so FEW side effects.  (I have been on FULL disability since 1995 so affordability was a KEY FACTOR in my being able to use this MEDICATION ).  Enter the Canadian Government...   To find out more regarding my Application for an "Exemption from Section 56 of The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act", please read on...

I have been smoking MARIJUANA through my Doctors for 10 years; I have had face pain for 9 years. I smoke half of a small Marijuana cigarette every 1/2 hour to hour to relieve the excruciating pain I experience in the left side of my face around the clock. Marijuana has helped me to come down from almost 600 - 2000 mg. of Morphine/day. It has helped my leg spasms. It has helped other symptoms that I wasn't expecting.  I am alert and functional after smoking and am NOT addicted to it.  When will people understand that this is NOT a hard drug and that it DOES BENEFIT some of us MEDICINALLY !!!???   I have now come down from over 30 pills per day for symptoms ranging from Nerve Pain, to Bladder Dysfunction, to Muscle Spasms to a third of my total and now try to rely mainly on Marijuana for relief.  I cannot stress how much my quality of life has improved since being introduced to this WONDERFUL, NATURAL plant !!

I wish those of you luck who have approached your Doctors.   I did and with their help, I am now one of just more than 700 people in Canada to be given an Exemption to be LEGALLY ALLOWED to smoke, grow and possess a restricted amount of this MEDICATION  anywhere in the country.  This issue has just been recently acknowledged by the Canadian Government and they have been reviewing applications for ill people for this Exemption as they are submitted.  Once word gets out about HOW to approach the Government for this Exemption, their offices will be flooded !!  PLEASE, those of you that believe in this as MEDICATION, talk to your Doctors -  that's how things change !!   Ask them to fill out the forms in support of this as MEDICATION for YOUR HEALTH ISSUES

There are some WONDERFUL LINKS to the many diseases that Marijuana has been said to help, including: Multiple Sclerosis, Hepatitis C, Aids (effects from wasting syndrome), Epilepsy, Cancer, Glaucoma, Chronic Pain, Depression, Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, to mention some that I have read.

If I have given one person an alternative to some of the NEGATIVE  PHARMACEUTICAL DRUGS that are out there, then MY WORK HAS ALL BEEN WORTH IT.  I understand your frustration and respect your need for a more comforting approach to the many health issues we face in our daily lives.  I am asking the Government for a SAFE, CLEAN (fungus/pesticide-free), AFFORDABLE SOURCE of this MEDICATION now that they are handing out EXEMPTIONS.  How can they give us a "PRESCRIPTION" that we have to go the STREETS to fill ??  This has been my battle since coming out to the MEDIA in APRIL 2000.  I am now helping people including fellow exemptees, to fight this as their health is failing and I believe they have ENOUGH to deal with.!  I am going to make sure that no one else has to risk THEIR health in fighting this same issue.  I am making it easier for YOU and I need YOUR HELP !!  I DO NOT want someone I  LOVE to have to deal with THESE ISSUES in the future !!  Look out Canada, I'm here to stay !!  :o)

Here is my Story of how I got this Exemption from the
Government of Canada...

Good Luck and Good Health to All !!

Please Sign the Guest Book - I would love to hear what YOU have to say !!

Thank You for stopping by.  Please wipe your feet and
make yourself at home !

Alison :o)

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My Medical History which led me to My Exemption

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The reason I looked into getting an EXEMPTION from Section 56 of "The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act" or what is now called a "License under the Medical Marijuana Access Regulations" (MMAR) started like this …

In 1995 I started getting a sporadic stabbing pain in my left face. This was controlled for a period of time with medication. First I tried a short course of Solumedrol IV that relieved the pain. I continued with Prednisone for about ten days. October 1995 my pain was episodic and was kept under control with Tylenol # 3's prn basis. Next came a regular dose of Tegretol. This was increased in February '96 to 200 mg tid. Pain returned and 25 mg Dantrium was added, increasing to qid. This was probably due more to leg spasms. In March '96 Tegretol was increased by 200 mg because I was describing pain 8-9 out of a scale to 10.

April '96 I was started on Dilantin, increasing this while decreasing Tegretol. June '96 I was on 100 mg qid with relief for a few weeks. July '96 pain came back full force and Dilantin was increased to 500 mg/day. There was still trouble with breakthrough pain. Late October '96 pain increased, therefore increased Dilantin 50 mg more and added Demerol 50 mg q4h prn as per my Doctors.

November '96 tried MARIJUANA for the first time as medicine and was pain free for almost 24 hours after ONE cigarette. This I have continued with and now smoke on average 30, one to two gram cannabis cigarettes/day - night AND day - with relief most days for 15 minutes to an hour after 1/2 a cigarette (depending on the strain, as so few strains give me relief from the excruciating pain I experience around the clock). My pain has increased dramatically over the last ten years and so has my cannabis usage. This is where I first started noticing the expense as my widowed mother was paying for it!!

I also noticed my pills were becoming less and less.. I was not taking 32 pills a day and up to two thousand milligrams of morphine daily for relief anymore. I found I was getting relief from all of my symptoms from MS with copious amounts of cannabis and no longer required all of those pharmaceuticals! Life was becoming more bearable - AND I was experiencing fantastic qualithy of it - by using mainly high quality fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants AND cannabis the last twenty years. I am blessed that physically I walk with a cane for balance, and only use my wheelchair for long distances or big city blocks while I am out in the Public eye fighting the horrendous global problem we call the "Drug War".

December '96 I tried Stadol Nasal Spray with some relief but this made me very groggy and extremely nauseous. Percocet helps a little. Tried CESAMET ( synthetic marijuana) with NO relief. I was at the highest level of this medication that the "Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties" would allow (the blue CPS book that sits on your Doctor's desk). Maximum daily dose is 6 mg - I was well on my way past that, first being prescribed 9 mg a day - to start …!!

February '97 I saw a Neurosurgeon who told me that Radio Frequency Procedure was an option. We both decided I was TOO YOUNG to lose the feeling in my face and that there may be no other way to solve my problem. I told him about my experimentation with Marijuana for relief and he was completely supportive.    They know I AM NOT a drug addict; I am an intelligent woman who has made a choice.

I chose Marijuana…

June '97 I saw a pain specialist who performed a Stellate Ganglion Block using 10 cc. of Marcaine-1/4 %. He did another Sphenopalatine Block two days later which gave me relief for a few hours. June '97 I had an Infra Orbital Nerve Block which gave me 21 hours of relief. The Doctor stuck a needle the size of my whole head in the left side of my face and searched everywhere to relieve the pain! Never do THAT again - very uncomfortable !! :(

August '97 I was taking an average of 10 - 50 mg Demerol tablets per day. I was then switched to the Duragesic Patch - 25 mcg. This made me very nauseous so Stemetil was added. This helped a lot, but I felt very spacey. My dose was increased to 50 mcg after some weeks, then increased to 75 mcg where because of drowsiness and EXCESSIVE weight loss, this was discontinued. I lost 11 pounds in one week because I hadn't really realized that smoking would be so BENEFICIAL with nausea and would actually stop me from throwing up the pain medication etc. I was smoking for PAIN RELIEF niit the other things...??? Thank God I found that out because my quality of life was being seriously interrupted…

By September '97 I was down to 100 mg Dilantin bid plus all my other medications. September '97 I started 15 mg MS Contin (morphine sulphates ) tid. I used Statex 5 mg for breakthrough pain. This dose was gradually increased to 175 mg tid without much help. I was switched to Oxycontin November '98.

In April '98 I tried Acupuncture with some relief the first time but none after the second. The pain seemed to get more intense…July '98 My Neurologist started me on Neurontin 300 mg tid. This made me excessively drowsy and the dose was decreased, then discontinued in May '99. I was started on Lamictal 25 mg instead.

 In September '98 I saw another Chronic Pain Specialist/Anesthetist who started me on Sufenta Drops 50 mcg/ml 0.05-0.2 ml s.l. with pain onset. This was brought up to 0.3 ml with Morphine breakthrough 15-30 mg as needed. November '98 I was started on Oxycontin 40 mg bid the dose being increased to 600 mg bid by April '99.

In April '99 Oxycontin was discontinued and I was started on Hydromorph Contin, 90 mg bid, with Hydromorph Contin 6 mg for titration. I was last on 6 - 30 mg capsules bid for relief with 6 mg tablets prn, 5-6 per dose.  Final count I was still going up...

Now here I am today, off of almost all of the pharmaceutical pills (minus copious amounts of morphine) that I have been taking for YEARS, all I believe, because of substituting with Marijuana !! Now I am taking up to thirty 8 mg Dilaudid every day and nite to fight the violent pain I experience and to give me SOME Quality of life by also smoking cannabis around the clock, eating it in cookies and drinking it in tea all day every day. I now have to find someone or something to help me PAY for my cannabis MEDICATION !!

First step, call in any Organization/Church/Business that MAY help. No real luck. Some real "ROBIN HOODS" out there, but sadly, none for me…Next step: Try to get a "Deal" from the people I was buying it from off the street…What exactly is a DEAL ?? Sadly enough we still couldn't afford it !!   (Tried for three years to grow my own and couldn't get a strain STRONG enough.)

Next plan of attack: Approach my Local Member of Parliament and ask them what to do. Sure enough my lucky day had arrived !! After explaining my situation I began asking these people where I could turn. That was October 1999. Within a week they had mailed me out an "INTERIM GUIDANCE DOCUMENT" to take to my Doctors to fill out. I also had some writing to do I was told. First letter I wrote was to the Honorable Alan Rock (Canada's Health Minister) with a request from me to be involved in the NEXT IMMEDIATE STUDY involving Chronic Pain and Marijuana or Multiple Sclerosis and Marijuana. Alan Rock had just released a plan to initiate trial studies involving Medicinal uses of Marijuana in 1999. I explained I NEEDED some help covering the COST of my MEDICATION -PLEASE !! My mother then wrote to Alan Rock pleading for some of the burden to be taken off of us and to somehow have the exorbitant cost of my Marijuana covered. At that time we were spending on average, $1200. 00 /mo. for me to be PAIN FREE.  HOW FAIR WAS THIS !??!  I am not only on FULL Disability but I DIDN'T ASK for this to be the ONLY medication that actually WORKED for me...  As you can see I have tried these and many, many more treatments before turning to MARIJUANA only to realize that this is actually the ONLY MEDICATION that gives me relief and doesn't have the awful side effects that I was encountering daily...

Once my mother, Joyce Myrden, myself and my Doctors wrote letters to the Honorable Alan Rock (then Health Minister in Canada). The ball started rolling. Within five (5) months I received a response from the Office of the Minister of Health stating that there were "NO planned TRIALS involving MS and MARIJUANA".  That turned out okay in the end, because my Doctors reminded me that I couldn't go in a trial because I "relied too heavily" on the Marijuana for relief of my pain. Darn right I do !! And NO, I am not ADDICTED. From what I can find on Medicinal Marijuana the chance of someone becoming "addicted" to Marijuana is almost impossible. If that person is using it for MEDICINAL PURPOSES, there usually will be very few residual affects. I know with me, I get a little fuzzy for about ten minutes, then I straighten right up !! I am also pain free in 10 minutes when I smoke - VERY IMPORTANT for someone like me whose pain increases so quickly. If I don't catch it, I am in more EXCRUCIATING pain in minutes !! That is why pills never would work - they took too long to get where they were SUPPOSE to be…

As of March 21, 2000, I am now one of less than 5000 people in Canada, so far, to be given an EXEMPTION from Section 56 of The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, now known as License for medical Marihuana under the Medical Marijuana Access Regulations (MMAR) in the Medical Marijuana Access Divison (MMAD).  I was one of the first 20... My purpose now is to find a SAFE, CLEAN, AFFORDABLE YEAR-ROUND SUPPLY of this medication for not only myself, but for all of the other people in Canada who would OBVIOUSLY BENEFIT.

Thanks to the Toronto Compassion Centre, The Windsor Compassion Club and the British Columbia Compassion Club Society for all of the FREE MARIJUANA being sent to me by them and many other incredibly compassionate people from all over the World. 

I am just sorry that with smoking some of the BEST MARIJUANA  in the WORLD, I still have to get it from the street here !! Wish I knew WHY ??   Our hope would ultimately be that respective Countries who have people that have applied for this cannabis Exemption or License as well, be looked at in a different light, be given the respect they deserve and be offered a SAFE, CLEAN and AFFORDABLE SUPPLY by THEIR GOVERNMENT.

I'll keep you posted on any new developments...If you see a relevant article - Please send it along - We want this site to be INTERACTIVE !!

Love and a squish,

 

Alison
xx

;)

 

 

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