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A Patient’s Story
Despite the advances of modern medicine, there are many afflictions that doctors still have trouble treating. Most troubles have uncertain treatments and even fewer have cures. Some of the more complex diseases involve the use of pharmaceuticals that have side effects which can be as devastating as the disease they treat. And for some people, proven medications don’t seem to work at all. Although many people tout marijuana as a “cure-all,” it just isn’t true. It can however offer great relief to patients whose experience with modern medicine and disease is less than helpful. Most states don’t offer medical marijuana programs. And in the sixteen states where it is legal, there are shortcomings in some legislation which serve to make obtaining quality medication difficult on a regular basis. Because marijuana is still a schedule 1 drug, domestic research into it is woefully inadequate. Without large-scale studies, results are often suspect and the majority of news about its helpful uses are relegated to personal stories from patients. These anecdotes rarely have any scientific backing, but their publicity can help to sway public support, or even launch new studies into treatment and relief for people who need it.
Tourette’s Syndrome is an affliction that many people suffer from. Despite the common idea that it makes people spew obscenities uncontrollably (coprolalia), those with Tourette’s suffer from a spectrum of disorders including muscular tics, vocalizations (usually not swearing) and other behaviors. Some co-occurring disorders include ADHD and OCD. Some tics are chronic, and others transient. It is shown that environmental factors and stressors lead to upswings in tic occurrence, and that relaxation techniques can help reduce overall severity at a given time. There is no one treatment for Tourette’s, as the symptoms are often varied and the patients often react differently to the many medications recommended for particular behaviors. However, some patients claim that medical marijuana is very helpful for them.
Edward Schafer is one patient who chooses to use cannabis instead of prescribed pharmaceuticals. His first symptoms manifested at age eight and progressed as he did through school. It was very difficult for him in school because of his involuntary noises (grunting) and behaviors. He was constantly moving, tapping and shuffling around in class. The symptoms got worse, to the point where he was self-injuring because of chin jerking and head slamming. Over the years his doctors had given him numerous drugs. Some helped, others did not, and the few that did help often lost potency or had awful side effects. Throughout his life he had tried antipsychotics, such as clonidine (which required steady dose increases), pimozide (Orap), and others Tranxene (clorazepate), and Haldol (haloperidol) to augment the clonidine. All of these drugs come with side effects, from drowsiness to trouble forming memories, weight gain, and the increased chances of heart disease and death.
Finally, as a young teenager, Edward was exposed to marijuana. Initially, he only used it to get high and party. He noticed how it mellowed it him out, and he was actually happy for a few hours at a time. It wasn’t until he was sixteen that he noticed that it temporarily ceased his tics, both physical and verbal. At first his parents were against marijuana (his father violently so), but as they witnessed his transformation into a calm and and functional young man they realized that the plant was indeed helpful. Since that time Edward has medicated solely with marijuana. He was able to focus better in school and brought his grades up. But it hasn’t been all easy street for him. He lives in a state without compassionate use laws and has several run-ins with the law. Because of these citations and troubles, Edward was kicked out of school two weeks before graduation. He has since gotten his diploma, but has great difficulty finding employment because he is unable to pass drug tests. He still lives with his father, and uses marijuana, but on their limited incomes he cannot always afford to medicate as much as he needs. All of this conspires to keep him on the fringe of society. He doesn’t go into public much and prefers the solitude of the country and camping.
Edward is just one of many people who are helped by the cannabis plant, but can’t benefit to fullest because of America’s outdated laws. His story highlights where we must force changes in society. Laws should be repealed or amended and studies undertaken, not for the profit of Big Pharma, but to the profit of society. People who are forced into asocial lifestyles by treatable disorders deserve the opportunity and the right to help themselves. At Marijuana.net we know there are many people who share Edward’s frustrations and have their own stories. We hope that as they step forward and share with us, that society at large will take a step back from their myopic views and share in a wider vision where anyone has the chance to get treatment and join in the wider world.