Song in my head: And..... Lord...... I just can't stand it anymore.....................................Bonnie Raitt

ALTER-ABLED NEWS

Medical marijuana support increases in Nov. 2nd elections........

However anyone feels about the results of the presidential race, Nov. 2 was a banner day for marijuana policy reform. Nationwide, 17 of 20 initiatives won, including a massive victory for medical marijuana in Montana. Montanans, by a whopping 62 percent to 38 percent, made their state the 10th to pass a medical marijuana law. Not only did this continue the unbroken winning streak for initiatives allowing medical use of marijuana, it also was the biggest margin of victory in any first-time vote on a statewide medical marijuana measure anywhere. Indeed, many voters who supported Montana's ban on same-sex marriage (which passed with 67 percent of the vote) also supported protecting medical marijuana patients. Clearly, a lot of conservative voters think it is wrong to send patients to jail for using medical marijuana. LINK via MPP, LINK via Oregonian.

Very special deliveries form "the unsung heros".....................

F irst stop this Wednesday evening is a Portland residence for quadriplegics and other disabled people.


Clifford Spencer parks his Ford truck and hops out. He's wearing a tan sport coat and jeans and carries a leather briefcase. A client buzzes him through the security door.

Spencer walks down a hallway and knocks on door No. 7. Inside are two men in wheelchairs. Each has a card issued by the state of Oregon, allowing him to use marijuana, an otherwise illegal drug, for medical purposes.

Mike, 39, wrecked his spinal cord in a rollover crash; Kenny, 29, in a diving accident.

Spencer sits in a rocker, flips open the briefcase on his lap and peers over his reading glasses.
Mike slouches in his wheelchair, shirt off, a tattoo of mom and dad on his chest.

"How often are you medicating?" Spencer asks.

"Every day," Mike says. "I start first thing."

"How would you rate your nausea, on a scale of 1 to 10?"

"Four to five."

Spencer jots Mike's answers on a checklist.

Neurological pain? One to two.

Muscle spasms? Eight to nine.

Anxiety? Two to three.

Mike rates marijuana "very effective" against nausea and muscle spasms, less so against other symptoms. He says pot lets him cut back on prescription drugs, such as Valium and Vicodin. LINK