Madison NORML

As I noted then, since 1979, June 4 has been a day of personal significance for me. My then-ophthalmologist wrote me a letter dated June 4, 1979, that stated, "I am familiar that reports that marijuana lowers intraocular pressure in many people who have glaucoma. If marijuana were available for me to prescribe to this patient, I would be willing to do so, in the hope it would adequately control his condition with fewer side effects than the medications currently available."

The letter was meaningful to me in that it represented the first time a doctor had recognized, in writing, that cannabis would benefit me and that it should be available like any other medication. Seven years earlier, October 3, 1972, I had stumbled upon pot as a treatment for the congenital glaucoma that had steadily stolen my sight all through childhood. I had smoked some pot with friends after school and headed off to see my then-eye doctor. He found my normally highly elevated intraocular pressures normal. Since that day I have continued to medicate with cannabis every day I could obtain it, through the 1970's, 1980's, 1990's and today much of the way through the 00's.

So, once again with feeling, If America truly is the land of liberty and justice for all, the Berlin wall of cannabis prohibition must fall, like the lies and myths that have been perpetrated in the name of keeping this gentle herb from patients in need. The sky is blue not green, and its time to stop the lies and the war and let the healing begin.