JayTee, I'm not sure how to take your post. In the interest of making a choice that is positive for both of us, I will take your post as a positive. Yes, I drink to alleviate my pain. It is not my first choice, but it is legal and a less sickening choice. I have a pain disorder that I've lived with for a decade. For that decade I've had to radically change how I make my living. I can no longer do what I love, I do what I'm good at. Sitting on my butt. Being a pain to other people, namely my husband. Yes, marijuana relieves my symptoms like no other substance can. When I can obtain it, I have some productive days. In the interim, I'm unreliable at best. Pain is exhausting. Pain shrinks the brain. I've also noticed I'm not as good at mental tasks that I once was.

I do not want to make excuses, I only want the quality of life I had before I got sick. Alcohol, is believe it or not, the lessor of two evils. I've wanted to die, I've tried to die many times. It is not my path in life. I've given up on death. Death will come when my time is up.

Thank you for the link. I'll check it out.

* Patty Jr. Satanic Feminist

I certainly meant it as positive. Not only is marijuana more effective at pain relief than alcohol, but it doesn't do any of the damage that alcohol does to the body.

MEXICO MOVES TOWARD LEGALIZATION!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060428/ts_nm/mexico_drugs_dc

MEXICO CITY - Possessing marijuana, cocaine and even heroin will no longer be a crime in Mexico if the drugs are carried in small amounts for personal use, under legislation passed by the Mexican Congress.

The measure given final passage by senators late on Thursday allows police to focus on their battle against major drug dealers, the government says, and President Vicente Fox is expected to sign it into law.

"This law provides more judicial tools for authorities to fight crime," presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar said on Friday. The measure was approved earlier by the lower house.

Under the legislation, police will not penalize people for possessing up to 5 grams of marijuana, 5 grams of opium, 25 milligrams of heroin or 500 milligrams of cocaine.

People caught with larger quantities of drugs will be treated as narcotics dealers and face increased jail terms under the plan.

The legal changes will also decriminalize the possession of limited quantities of other drugs, including LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms, amphetamines and peyote -- a psychotropic cactus found in Mexico's northern deserts.

Hundreds of people, including several police officers, have been killed in the past year as drug cartels battle authorities and compete with each other for control of lucrative cocaine, marijuana and heroin smuggling routes from Mexico into the United States.

The violence has raged mostly in northern Mexico but in recent months has spread south to cities like vacation resort Acapulco.

Under current law, it is up to local judges and police to decide on a case-by-case basis whether people should be prosecuted for possessing small quantities of drugs, a source at the Senate's health commission told Reuters.

*

¡VIVA MÉXICO!

While we daily share roads with interstate truck drivers useing far worse workplaces are in trouble because of this drug.
No saint myself I question the need given days or even weeks notice tests are to take place up to 40%, yes 4 in ten have failed tests then admited use the night before!
An answer to over use must be found feather dusters are not the way, that is to sweep it under the carpet or flogg ofenders with.
We surely must be accountable for our own actions?

--- Belly

---"While we daily share roads with interstate truck drivers useing"

How do you know? And how do you know it's a significant problem?

---"far worse workplaces are in trouble because of this drug."

Why are they "in trouble?"

---"No saint myself"

What does that mean?

---"I question the need given days or even weeks notice tests are to take place up to 40%, yes 4 in ten have failed tests then admited use the night before!"

So? What about all the employees who had a beer the night before?

---"An answer to over use must be found feather dusters are not the way,"

Who are you - or anybody - to define what "over use" is? Especially if the consumption is in the privacy of the home?

---"We surely must be accountable for our own actions?"

We surely must, but what accounting does a person have to make who consumes cannabis in his own home? Where's the problem?

I am accountable for my own actions, I smoke Marijuana; I don't apologise for smoking it as I enjoy it. Recreational use is a personal choice and should always be a personal choice.
Re; tests and forwarning. Miners don't get forwarned about testings.
Motorists that drive too fast do;and we all know that speed kills.
Please don't categorise Truckers as their all different like you and I,also they have enough people riding them; namely their bosses pushing them too hard.So belly be accountable whats your vice?
Princey1099@yahoo.com.au

Patty Jr. Satanic Feminist,

I too suffer from a chronic pain condition. Components of cannabis have a role for some in coping with pain. Personally I find that being stoned to beat pain is not the best solution for me nor most people trialed in medical cannabis studies–they complain about being stoned and often drop out of trials.

Personally, I need to be as clear headed and as pain free as I can and dope doesn't do this, I end up feeling like I just want to vege-out which is OK when I want to vege out but when I need to concentrate and get on with my life I want to be clear headed.

Specific components of cannabis are better choices for pain issues than others and some of the chemicals in cannabis have antinauseant effects which help with narcotic use. So maybe you should consider using a little of both? Until more clinical research is done I wouldn't hold out much hope for a generally available cannabis 'solution' particularly when there are well trialed conventional solutions e.g., Stematil, Maxalon in the case of opiate nausea.

There is no magic bullet for dealing with chronic pain. A combined treatment is often the best choice. Unfortunately, both patients and doctors are not well educated about this. Nor are combined (also referred to as holistic) approaches easy to follow, especially from a psychological perspective and especially when you are in pain, there's a Catch–22 in there.

In general, and I mean In general, I don't believe there is a chronic pain condition that can't be treated with a well adjusted opiate-holistic regime.

Personally I find Oxycontin to be great analgesic. It has an added benefit of a slight stimulatory effect which helps to overcome the sedative effects of opiates. A balance of Oxycontin, a NSAID and exercise does the trick for me, though I find the exercise bit the hardest.

The difficulty I have with dope and pain is separating what I want–to be pain free and functional or stoned, pain free and dysfunctional.

Cheers