I am a resident of Santa Cruz diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. I also suffer from several other chronic medical conditions associated with the disease, including Kaposi's sarcoma, Hepatitis C, thrush, liver disease, a damaged spleen, gastrointestinal disorders, neuropathic illnesses, and degenerative disk disease. Recurrent pneumonia, chronic pain, and wasting syndrome are also aspects of my deteriorating health….

On January 20, 1984, I was diagnosed with Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). KS is an often fatal cancer that strikes individuals with compromised immune systems. … At that time, most patients diagnosed with KS died soon thereafter. My doctor told me that I only had six months to live….From 1984-1990, dozens of KS lesions appeared all over my legs, arms, trunk, back, neck and face. …

My doctor in Seattle advised me that the only treatment for Kaposi's sarcoma was Interferon… I began taking AZT because the doctors insisted that the Interferon would not work against KS without AZT.

I did not question the wisdom of this treatment and I complied with the regime. However, the side effects were debilitating. For more than two years, I lived with constant nausea, frozen and painful joints, and intense body sweats that left me exhausted and dehydrated. … The Interferon treatments severely damaged my liver and caused episodes of severe anemia, an enlarged spleen, and chronic thrombocytopenia. ….

In 1991, I received some sample pills of Marinol from my physician to address the pain and the nausea from the Interferon treatments. Since I am quite sensitive to medications and had experienced the side effects of other drugs, I only took one pill at first, as prescribed. The instructions allowed me to supplement the dosage as needed. After several hours, I felt no effects at all. Two days later after my next Interferon injection, I took two Marinol pills, and was literally unable to move for hours. This was obviously more than I needed. I tried on other occasions to find a dose that I could tolerate, but the medicine was unpredictable and prevented me from functioning normally. .... As for nausea, swallowing a pill with water to stop vomiting will NOT work at least not in my experience. The two pills I took for episodes of nausea didn't stay in my stomach for more than five minutes.

Medical marijuana was originally recommended to treat my nausea and chronic pain and has proven to be more effective than any of the numerous other treatments I have tried. Applied as a spray, it effectively relieves the pain caused by arthritis and the severe nerve damage in my hands and back. … It is effective without the debilitating grogginess, nausea and lethargy I experienced with other prescribed pain medications (Vicodin, Percocet, Neurontin, Codiene, and of course aspirin), including those prescribed specifically for spastic pain and neuropathy (such as Bentyl, Klonopin, Prednisone, and NuLev). Marijuana also acts as an appetite stimulant, helping me eat enough to avoid "wasting" and the malnutrition that results. Before using marijuana, vomiting, nausea, and stomach pains dominated my daily life. They were unpredictable and uncontrollable, often so severe that I was literally housebound for days at a time. The nausea came in waves, usually with headaches and dizziness. It prevented me from eating regular meals and frequently left me sleepless. There have been periods when nausea, vomiting, or both were so persistent that I was unable to keep down my HIV medications. If I vomited my medications, I would have to take a second dose immediately after vomiting to keep the drug levels in my blood consistent for the therapies to work effectively. Although I never smoked tobacco, smoking medical marijuana provides almost instant relief from the nausea without the incapacitating side effects that often occur with prescription drugs. At times, it causes throat problems, but considering the health benefits and the alternatives, I think this is a fair trade.

I have a chronic, potentially fatal, autoimmune disorder. Ongoing sleep disruptions, chronic pain, anxiety, as well as malnutrition, were destroying my health, leaving me extremely vulnerable to infections and respiratory diseases. Medical marijuana has controlled my gastrointestinal symptoms to the point where they no longer control my daily activities. This became more important when it was discovered that I was also infected with Hepatitis C (HCV). At one point, the gastritis from HIV medications left me so weak and dehydrated that I was unable to digest proteins or benefit from either food or medications. Medical marijuana has enabled me to adhere to the various HIV regimens. Unlike Marinol, medical marijuana is more easily controlled and I can avoid the mental confusion and lethargy from over-medication.

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