Pubdate: Sun, 13 Jun 2010
Source: Northwest Herald (IL)
Copyright: 2010 Northwest Herald Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.nwherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2762
Author: Richard Atwater
Note: Richard Atwater is a licensed clinical professional counselor. 
He can reached by e-mail by visiting Northwestcommunitycounseling.com.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)

MARIJUANA USER FINDS ENDLESS SOURCE

I'd like to title this story "Mitch and the Magic Marijuana Van."

"Mitch" was a good kid although he grew up with little parental supervision.

His dad was busy all the time with a contracting business, and when 
he wasn't working, he was thinking about ways to manage Mitch's mom.

She was a physically stunning woman, obsessed with her looks, night 
life, dancing and male attention.

Between these two, Mitch lived a pretty fast life, seeing things a 
young teenager probably shouldn't see. All the obsessions and 
compulsions resulted in an ugly divorce.

Mitch started smoking pot at 12, was a regular user by 13 and in his 
first treatment center when he was 15.

He had many of the same characteristics as his mom, except he added 
pot and later other drugs to the mix.

His second treatment was at age 17, and ended in a Minnesota half-way 
house for six months.

This period of sobriety lasted about a year at which time, doing 
quite well, Mitch decided to move to California to live with his dad. 
He didn't realize that it wasn't as much a decision as satisfaction 
for a long-term craving.

Upon arrival in California, Mitch managed to come completely undone 
and ended up in a sober living facility for almost a year.

Again doing well, Mitch "decided" to move in with a friend.

Needing a job he took a "management position" in a medical marijuana 
clinic delivering pot to "patients" with ailments like chronic 
fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic headache and chemotherapy patients.

Probably about 10 percent of the "patients" were legitimate and the 
rest were chronic pot smokers with a license.

It was then that Mitch developed insomnia. There seemed to be no cure 
until, like a miracle, his doctor (coincidentally the clinic 
physician) recommended medical marijuana.

I think I might have recommended knocking off playing "Red Dead 
Redemption" every night/morning until 2:30, but that might have been too hard.

So a kid with a rehab record as long as my arm gets a prescription 
for the drug he's been to rehab for three times and is still driving 
the medical marijuana delivery van. The only difference is now he's 
doing it stoned.

News flash - medical marijuana, the miracle cure?
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake