The Miami Herald reports
TALLAHASSEE
In dramatic testimony, two patients who treat their debilitating diseases with marijuana testified in court Wednesday that although they qualify to receive the drug legally, they are alive only because they break the law and smoke it.
Diana Dodson of Levy County, who has HIV and neuropathy, and Cathy Jordan of Manatee County, who has Lou Gehrig’s disease, urged Leon County Circuit Court Judge Karen Gievers to overturn the state’s ban on smoking medical marijuana, arguing that the forms the state allows don’t do them any good.
“In ’86, I was given three to five years to live and I’m still here,” said Jordan, 68, seated in a wheelchair in the front of the court, her voice scratchy and weak from her ailment.
She testified that to treat her disease, she breaks the law and grows the plants in her backyard. She said that she “can’t do edibles” — a form of medical marijuana that is allowed in Florida — because they “cause terrible, terrible muscle pain in my stomach,” and vaping, the alternative to smoking, makes her gag. Smoking, however, increases her appetite, dries her excess saliva, and calms her muscles, she said. “It just makes my life a lot more bearable.”
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article211206764.html#storylink=cpy
