CORRECTION
Every morning after waking up, 22-year-old LSU student Kerri smokes a bowl of marijuana out of his glass pipe. He will smoke at least three more times throughout the day before having one last smoke as he goes to bed at night.
Kerri is a pothead. He also goes to school during the week. He waits tables at night to pay his bills. On weekends, he spends his free time hanging out with friends. And every day, he smokes marijuana to get through it all.
Unlike the stereotypical college student, marijuana to Kerri is not an escape. It is a control. Kerri self-medicates himself by smoking marijuana.
“Medicine-wise, it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he said.
At the age of four, doctors diagnosed Kerri with Tourette’s syndrome — a neuropsychiatric disease characterized by muscle spasms, tics and involuntary grunts, snorts and shouts.
Doctors prescribed him numerous medications to deal with his daily symptoms associated with the disease.
“They gave me everything,” he said. “From Xanax to speed, muscle relaxers, Aderol, Dexedrine, downers, uppers, anti-depressants. It got to a point where there wasn’t too much more I could do. There had to be some kind of other alternative. And the only other alternative was to alienate myself from as much as possible,” Kerri said.
He found marijuana to be his alternative. Smoking the plant eased his symptoms without the withdrawals and side effects of most prescription drugs.
Kerri makes up a new genre of “potheads” that may have existed for centuries, but only recently have raised their voices around the nation. Since the Reagan administration, the government has played an active role in keeping children away from drugs. It has also succeeded in keeping the drugs away from the ill.
Marijuana as a medicine is not new
Medical marijuana dates back almost 5,000 years, according to an article by Time magazine. The first known medical use of the cannabis plant was in 2737 B.C., when the emperor of China prescribed the marijuana for treating gout, rheumatism, malaria and even poor memory loss. The use of marijuana as a medicine spread through Asia, the Middle East, Africa and India, where some Hindus used marijuana for religious purposes and stress relief.
“Ancient physicians prescribed marijuana for everything from pain relief to earaches and child birth,” the article states.
The medical use of marijuana in the United States did not become popular until the late 18th century, when an Irish doctor discovered smoking marijuana eased symptoms of pain and nausea.
It wasn’t until the early 20th century marijuana became regulated, after the discovery that morphine, a secret ingredient in many patented medicines, had created morphine addicts in 2 to 5 percent of Americans. To prevent morphine addicts from taking up a new drug, as well as to discriminate against the Mexican immigrants that brought marijuana across the border with them, 23 states outlawed marijuana by 1937. That same year, the federal government made the non-medical use of marijuana illegal by passing the Marijuana Tax Act.
Because of barriers imposed by the federal government, patients today are fighting to regain the medical use of marijuana.
“I’d be surprised to see medicinal uses of marijuana legalized in Louisiana in my lifetime,” said Stevie Hill, former vice president of the Cannabis Action Network of Louisiana.
However, according to Louisiana state law, medical marijuana is legal.
Cancer patient Lynne Pearson became the spokesperson for medical marijuana in 1977, when he began to openly discuss the medical benefits of his marijuana use, according to the Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics. The legislature in his home state of New Mexico took notice of Pearson and passed legislation legalizing marijuana for seriously ill patients. Shortly after, other states, including Louisiana, followed.
Gov. Edwin Edwards signed a bill in 1978, allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana for patients of cancer, paralysis or glaucoma. The law was amended in 1981 to include paralysis patients. However, like most other states, the bill never left the ground because marijuana is illegal under federal law, according to the Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics. Therefore, after almost 25 years of ruling, one still cannot legally smoke, buy or purchase marijuana for medicinal purposes in Louisiana.
Marijuana and Tourette’s syndrome
Kerri sits on his sofa, sorting through his bag of marijuana. He picks out a few of the plant’s dried-out leaves and carefully packs them into his pipe bowl.
Although they remind him of its illegal consequences, Kerri said doctors, as well as priests, have recommended smoking marijuana to soothe his symptoms associated with Tourette’s syndrome.
“Just like the medicines prescribed for me do different things for other people than they would for me, pot, I think, does a lot more for me than it would for a person with a different brain make-up,” he said.
Kerri still takes prescription medications. He is prescribed two pills a day — 40 milligrams — of Aderol, a drug he describes as having many peaks and valleys. Because of the positive effects of smoking marijuana, he only takes one or two pills a week.
“I don’t believe too much in pills. I don’t believe much in medicine at all. It’s gotten to the point now where it’s about making money for everyone,” he said.
Although he first experimented with marijuana under social settings, Kerri said the reason he continued to smoke was for medical purposes.
“I thought weed was very uncool,” he said about his first experience with marijuana. “I was told it was uncool all my life. I tried it and decided it wasn’t a bad thing. I liked it; it made me get along with people.”
Marijuana helps Kerri live a normal life, despite his illness.
“I stuttered a whole lot until I started smoking,” he said. “[Marijuana] allows me to take the time to think about things. I had all kinds of drugs, and I went straight to pot. It’s illegal, yet it’s the best medicine I ever had.”
Numerous medical studies have found marijuana to help Tourette’s patients. A report by the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology in 1988 found three patients with Tourette’s syndrome who “experienced incomplete responses to conventional anti-TS drugs but noted a significant amelioration of symptoms when smoking marijuana.”
The report credited the anxiety-reducing properties of THC, the mind-altering chemical found in marijuana, to be the leading cause of the beneficial effects of marijuana on Tourette’s patients.
More recently, in April, a German research team documented THC’s success in improvement both of motor and vocal tics associated with Tourette’s. One patient’s total tic severity decreased from 41 before treatment to just seven after consuming THC.
“One of the oldest and most dramatic indications for cannabis is as treatment to decrease spasticity associated with neurological disorders,” according to Unimed Pharmaceuticals.
Unimed Pharmaceuticals is the sole manufacturer of Marinol, the only synthetic form of THC approved by the Federal Drug Administration. Consumed orally, Marinol has similar effects to smoking marijuana. It was approved by the FDA for the treatment of anorexia in AIDS patients and for the treatment of nausea in chemotherapy patients.
However, many patients do not respond well to Marinol, according to the Drug Policy Alliance. Patients with nausea have difficulty swallowing the pill. Others have found the drug’s effects to be too slow.
“Some patients who have tried Marinol unsuccessfully have later found — often upon a recommendation of a physician — that marijuana provides sought-after relief,” according to DPA.
Since he began smoking marijuana two years ago, Kerri’s symptoms associated with Tourette’s have decreased tremendously. He has been able to better function socially in society, because he no longer stutters or swears as a result of his tics. His health and appetite have improved greatly.
“That’s [marijuana] the only thing that makes me eat well,” said Kerri, who has suffered with an abnormally high metabolism all his life because of his illness. “Since I started smoking every day, I haven’t been sick in two years.”
Louisiana law
Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug, with an estimated 11.5 million current users, according to the DEA. The year 2000 was a record year for marijuana arrests — 734,498, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports. In 2001, nearly 50 percent of all drug arrests were for marijuana offenses, according to the report.
The DEA classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, meaning it carries the highest penalties.
“Legalized or not, I’m still gonna do it,” said Kerri, who risks arrest and conviction every time he purchases marijuana from the streets for his medical needs. “And, legalized or not, 76 million Americans are still gonna do it. People do it all the time, knowing it’s not wrong.”
Unlike most states, in Louisiana, the amount of marijuana in possession, if under 60 pounds, makes no difference in penalties, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The mandatory minimum sentence in Louisiana for a first offense marijuana possession of less than 60 pounds is six months incarceration and/or six months in jail.
East Baton Rouge Parish ranked number one in 1997 for marijuana arrests in Louisiana, according to NORML’s most recent crime reports. In that year alone, authorities arrested more than 2,000 for marijuana charges. On the other hand, West Baton Rouge Parish ranked 25th in the state, with only 59 arrests that year.
Louisiana authorities may be throwing people in jail for marijuana, but the state still does not hesitate to collect revenue from it. Falling between corn and sweet potatoes, marijuana is Louisiana’s sixth-leading cash crop, according to NORML.
What other states are doing
Marijuana became a hot debate in this year’s November elections. In Arizona, a ballot initiative to decriminalize marijuana lost by only seven percent of the vote. In Ohio, an initiative that would have replaced jail time with rehab for non-violent drug offenders won only 33 percent of the vote. And, in the only state where prostitution is legal, Nevada’s marijuana supporters placed an initiative on the ballot to legalize possession of up to 3 ounces of marijuana.
The initiative won 39 percent of the vote — not enough to legalize marijuana, but the fact that the initiative even made it to the voting polls is a tremendous achievement for marijuana supporters.
A medical marijuana initiative in San Francisco turned out more successful. A federal appeals court ruled the federal government no longer could revoke the licenses of doctors who recommend marijuana to their patients.
In 1996, California voters enacted the Compassionate Use Act to ensure the seriously ill would have the right to obtain marijuana for medical purposes. Upon the recommendation of a physician, California patients have the right to possess or cultivate marijuana for medical purposes.
Against the will of the California voters, the federal government stepped in and seized the premises of a medical marijuana distribution center. In the Supreme Court case United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyer’s Cooperative, the District Court states, “although recognizing that human suffering could result, a court’s equitable powers do not permit it to ignore federal law.”
Since then, the DEA has continued to raid California’s medical distribution centers on numerous occasions, denying terminally ill patients of their doctor-recommended, state-approved medication.
Although eight other states have passed medical marijuana initiatives — Arizona, Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington — patients are not protected from criminal prosecution as long as the federal government can interfere.
The lobbying
Some LSU organizations are working to overturn the state’s restrictive laws on marijuana use.
After a studying abroad for a year in Amsterdam, Stevie Hill was inspired to join CANOLA, an LSU organization active in the decriminalization of marijuana.
“To see a society that actually works with laws decriminalizing marijuana — I didn’t realize you could have it another way until I went to Amsterdam,” she said.
CANOLA supports the agricultural, medical, industrial and recreational use of marijuana. As an organization, they try to inform and educate the public about the negative aspects of the Drug War. They also write letters to senators and congressman, informing them of the medical benefits of marijuana.
“It’s 20 years of brainwashing people that marijuana is a bad thing,” she said, regarding the fight to reform marijuana laws. “It takes another 20 years to reverse the brainwashing.”
In addition to CANOLA, other national groups, such as the Marijuana Policy Project and Students for a Sensible Drug Policy are fighting hard to reform drug laws.
According to a recent Time/CNN poll, only 34 percent of Americans want marijuana to be totally legalized.
However, this number almost has doubled since 1986, proving these groups are not fighting a losing battle. The public is more accepting of medical marijuana — 80 percent polled think it’s OK to dispense marijuana for medical purposes.
But, there is a medical downside
Although numerous studies have found beneficial medicinal uses of marijuana, health risks still are a concern. Marijuana use may cause frequent respiratory infections, impaired memory and learning, increased heart rate, anxiety, panic attacks, tolerance and physical dependence, according to the DEA.
“To say that marijuana should be used for pain relief is similar to saying that cigarettes should be prescribed as an appetite suppressant to those seeking to lose weight,” according to a DEA congressional testimony.
Anxiety and paranoia are the most common side effects of marijuana, according to the Institute of Medicine. Other effects include panic, depression, depersonalization, delusions, illusions and hallucinations.
“The tobacco that I smoke everyday is going to kill me a hundred times faster,” said Kerri, who feels the benefits of marijuana far outweigh the consequences.
The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign disagrees with Kerri’s assessment. The amount of tar and carbon monoxide absorbed by marijuana smokers is three to five times greater than that among tobacco smokers, the campaign said.
However, IOM states, “there is no conclusive evidence that marijuana causes cancer in humans, including cancers usually related to tobacco use.”
Opponents of medical marijuana argue the drug would fall into the hands of recreational users.
However, many of the drugs that doctors have prescribed Kerri, such as Aderol, Dexedrine and Xanax, are sold under the black market for illegal uses.
The IOM received many comments regarding the medical use of marijuana giving children the wrong impression.
“Many of our powerful medicines are also dangerous medicines. These two facets of medicine — effectiveness and risk — are inextricably linked,” the IOM stated in response.
The future
As medical marijuana advocates and opponents argue over the benefits and consequences of the drug, patients such as Kerri have no choice but to purchase illegally and use marijuana to soothe their ailments.
Only time will tell what the future holds for them; until then, they only can hope their medication will not lead them to a jail cell.
“It’s one little factor in the whole big, social revolution that needs to happen,” said Kerri, regarding the legalization of medical marijuana. “And, it seems it would help me out a lot.”
CORRECTION: The statement “One of the oldest and most dramatic indications for cannabis is as treatment to decrease spasticity associated with neurological disorders” should have been credited to Ed Glick’s Oregon Medical Marijuana Guide, not Unimed Pharmaceuticals, a wholly owned subsidiary or Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The Reveille apologizes for the error.