|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
US: Irvin Rosenfeld has received 12 cigarettes daily from government for 21 years Kelli Kennedy Boca Raton News, US Wednesday 10 Dec 2003 With a slow exhale, a plume of smoke escapes from his marijuana cigarette. Dressed in a gray business suit, Irv Rosenfeld is the most unlikely person youd expect to be lighting up during a quick lunch from his job as a high profile stockbroker. But Rosenfeld, who handles accounts in Boca Raton and Ft. Lauderdale, is not your stereotypical pothead. Diagnosed with a rare bone disorder at the age of 10, he is one of seven people in the United States who receives medical marijuana from the government. The compassionate useprogram, which began in 1978, was cancelled in 1982, but Rosenfeld was grandfathered in. I was told I would not live to my teenage years, Im very fortunate,said Rosenfeld, who couldnt even go to school when he was younger due to excruciating pain. I can take my medicine without having to worry about breaking the law. This November, marked Rosenfelds 20-year anniversary surviving a somewhat normallife, thanks to the cannabis. As for the rest of the people forbidden to use the drug for medical purposes, Rosenfeld says hes tired of the government making criminals out of sick people. The stockbroker says he will continue to campaign for the hundreds of people who suffer needlessly because they are not granted the use of medical marijuana. He is one of four patients in the United States who underwent extensive testing in 2001 to determine the side effects of using cannabis. Neurologist, Dr. Ethan Russo, conducted the extensive study, which included M.R.Is scans, chest x-rays, and blood work, in Montana. Russo said he was amazed that there had never been any government studies detailing the positive and/or negative effects of using medical marijuana. The tests, said Russo, showed very few adverse effects in the patients,no brain shrinkage, no hormone problems and no immune damage were evident. Their higher executive functions were fully intact, which, he says, is easy to prove in Rosenfeld, since the South Florida resident is a highly successful stockbroker who handles major accounts, despite a high intake of cannabis each day. The truth is cannabis is very effective for a wide variety of medical conditions including pain, spasms, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma,said Russo, who has been practicing for 20 years. Irvs functioning has gotten better over time, not worse, as what you might expect in someone with his condition. But until the stigma is lifted, many advocates of medical marijuana say they dont believe the federal government will legalize the drug. Registered nurse and founder of Patients Out of Time, Mary Lynn Matre, says shes tired of excuses from the government. These people are living with terminal diseases and doing what they can to have some quality of life,said Matre, a Virginia based nurse who says she has seen patients make great strides in their daily functions thanks to medical marijuana. The governments big outis that no research supports it, but for the most part they forbid research,said Matre, who says her program is dedicated to educating health care profession and public about medical use of cannabis. Although they often get lumped in with recreational users who are hoping to legalize cannabis, none of them say they are looking for a law which will allow marijuana to become a free for all. Regulate it sternly and put it in the hands of doctors,said Rosenfeld, who has smoked 12 marijuana cigarettes a day for 21 years. These are sick people who are dying. They dont have time to wait for a law to change."
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!