Pubdate: Sun, 17 May 2009
Source: South Bend Tribune (IN)
Copyright: 2009 South Bend Tribune
Contact:  http://www.southbendtribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/621
Author: Lou Mumford
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

MARIJUANA A CAUSE FOR UPROOTING?

Niles Man's Marijuana Use, While Legal, May Cost Him His Home.

NILES - On a scale of 1 to 10, says Steve Allain, his  pain is 
somewhere between 4 and 5.

On a good day.

"When my Crohn's flares up, it's like a saber-toothed  badger trying 
to eat its way out," he said.

The 54-year-old Niles man, a victim not only of Crohn's  disease but 
hepatitis C and acute depression, has run  the gamut of medications. 
Just a few months ago, he hit  upon a viable alternative: marijuana.

"I was approached by an MS patient. She finds relief by  using 
marijuana medicinally," he said. "She thought it  would help me, too. 
And it has."

Sure, he said, he could take other drugs that would  provide the same 
benefit. But it wouldn't make good  sense, or cents.

"With conventional medication, it's $10,000 for one  month's supply. 
So it's $300 a month versus $10,000 a  month," he said. "You do the math."

Until now, Allain has obtained his marijuana from, as  he puts it, 
street vendors. But soon he'll legally be  growing his own, thanks to 
the Michigan Medical  Marijuana Act.

For Allain, voter approval of the controversial  legislation was a 
blessing and, potentially, a curse.  The latter stems from his 
residence in one of Niles'  scattered public housing sites, which 
fall under the  guidelines of the U. S. Department of Housing and 
Urban Development.

So while Allain's cultivation and use of marijuana  would not violate 
state law, it's likely to cost him  his home if HUD takes the stance 
its housing is no  place for what in most places would be an illegal drug.

The Rev. Bryant Bacon, interim executive director for  the Niles 
Housing Commission, said he contacted a HUD  official about a month 
ago regarding Allain's situation  and has yet to receive an answer. 
Allain, a resident of  public housing in Niles for eight years - he 
lived in  the Hi Rise on Cass Street before he and his teenage  son 
moved into their current home three years ago - is  hoping for the 
best but said he'd understand if he's  ousted.

"I can't fault what they're doing," he said.

He didn't fault either the Niles City Council after he  approached 
the panel Monday night regarding the city's  ordinance regulating 
aspects of the state Medical  Marijuana Act. The ordinance requires 
that marijuana be  grown inside and prohibits caregivers - those who 
provide marijuana to patients - from growing it within  1,000 feet of 
drug-free school zones.

Allain said he went to the meeting with bad information  about the 
law's specifics.

"I was the south end of a horse facing north," he said.

As far as his illnesses, the former truck driver and  Waste 
Management employee said he can only guess how he  developed 
hepatitis C. All he knows for certain is that  it and Crohn's disease 
cost him 18 inches of small  intestine and resulted in a 30-pound weight loss.

"I've been dealing with those issues ever since," said  Allain, who 
gets by on disability benefits.

With marijuana, he doesn't have side effects like the  night sweats 
and night terrors - essentially, panic  attacks while sleeping - he 
experienced with other  anti-depressants, he said. So he'll continue 
to smoke  pot and, once he receives the OK from the state, grow  it as well.

He just hopes he's not uprooted in the process.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom