Song in my head: Sleaze on down the road.....................................Wonkette

ALTER-ABLED NEWS

Montel Williams authors a concise, straight forward article on the use of medical marijuana in today's Chicago Tribune. Chronic pain sufferers have a compelling case for the use of non addictive cannabis as compared to narcotics like vicoden and Oxycontin. Here's a snip.....

My doctors wrote me prescriptions for some of the strongest painkillers available. I took Percocet, Vicodin and OxyContin on a regular basis, two at a time, every three or four hours. I was knowingly risking overdose just trying to make the pain bearable. In my desperation, I even tried morphine.

These powerful, expensive drugs brought me no relief. Instead, they made me nearly incoherent. I couldn't take them when I had to work because they turned me into a zombie.

Yet, even with all the drugs, I couldn't sleep. I was agitated, my legs kicked involuntarily in bed, and I found myself crying in the middle of the night.

Worse, these drugs are all highly addictive. I did not want to become a junkie, wasted and out of control. I spiraled deeper into a black hole of depression.

In "Climbing Higher," my book on living with MS, I write in detail about how I became suicidal and twice attempted to end my life. I was in severe mental and physical pain, getting little sleep and feeling completely spent. Someone suggested that I try smoking a little marijuana before going to bed, saying it might help me fall asleep.

Skeptical but desperate, I tried it. It was like a miracle. Three puffs and within minutes the excruciating pain in my legs subsided.

I had my first restful sleep in months. When I awoke, the sheet and blankets weren't on the floor and my legs had taken a break from their nightly kicking.