V o lu me T h i rt y T wo , N umber 8
October 2018
Considering medical marijuana? For yourself or someone you know? This resident’s experience may help
STARRY PURPLE ASTERS attract monarch butterflies in autumn.
By Irene Borgogno
I qualify for medical marijuana in Pennsylvania because I have Parkinson’s disease, which is on the official list of qualifying conditions. I hoped that marijuana would reduce or eliminate my trembling. The registration process was easy. The state has provided complete information and easy-to-follow instructions at the medical marijuana website, and my primary care provider had taken the training required to become an approved practitioner. I obtained my ID card without any problem. Visiting a dispensary was easy also. Two dispensaries opened within a few miles of where I live. My first observation at the dispensary was the concern with security. Two security personnel were present at all times. The door from outside into the reception area was locked. The door between the reception area and the sales area was locked also. Each customer was admitted separately. In the reception area, my credentials were checked. (If anyone had accompanied me, that person’s ID also would have been checked.) A qualified medical individual was available to answer questions and provide guidance. For me, this individual was a pharmacist. After discussing my medical condition and determining what I hoped to accomplish with the marijuana, the pharmacist recommended that among the available options, I choose a tincture, which is an extract in a very light oil. It is administered by placing the tincture under the tongue and allowing it to be absorbed directly through the tissue. She recommended a dose, but not a regimen; the regimen I had to discover through use. I believe that marijuana is helping me. My current dose level does not stop my trembling, but the severity of the movement has been lessened. An unpleasant
Photo by Lynn Ayres, Cape Elizabeth, Maine
anticipatory sensation that I feel in the rest of my body, that it is about to start trembling, has disappeared. Most remarkable, however, has been the improvement in my sleep pattern. I usually get eight hours
Children’s Song The goldenrod has lighted Its candles bright and clear, And starry purple asters Are shining far and near. The clouds are drifting feathers. The smoke is lightly curled. White frost is on the pumpkin. It’s autumn in the world.
sleep at night, but before marijuana it was distributed in stretches of about an hour each. Since starting marijuana, the stretches are close to three hours in length and much more restful. QUALIFYING CONDITIONS: as of this writing, these conditions included a terminal illness or cancer, including remission therapy; HIV/AIDS; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Parkinson’s disease; multiple sclerosis; epilepsy; inflammatory bowel disease; neuropathies; Huntington’s disease; Crohn’s disease; post-traumatic stress disorder; intractable seizures; glaucoma; autism; sickle cell anemia; damage to the nervous tissue of the CNS (brain-spinal cord) with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity and other associated neuropathies; severe, chronic, or intractable pain; dyskinetic and spastic movement disorder; or addiction substitute MEDICAL MARIJUANA continued on page 7