Pubdate: Tue, 23 Jul 2013
Source: Telegraph, The (Nashua, NH)
Copyright: 2013 Telegraph Publishing Company
Contact:  http://www.nashuatelegraph.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/885
Author: Samantha Allen

Cannabis Care

MAN WITH CHRONIC BACK PAIN SAYS HE'S IN FAVOR OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA 
BUT WON'T BREAK THE LAW FOR RELIEF

Francis Paine, a former banker, suffers from chronic back pain and 
says although he believes marijuana could help him manage his pain 
greatly, he refuses to use an illegal substance.

And when New Hampshire's therapeutic marijuana law takes effect, it 
will be little relief to him: he doesn't have one of the conditions 
that qualify.

Paine went on disability years ago, right around the time he was 
considering retirement. For more than 16 years, he worked for the 
Federal Reserve Bank of New York, joining in 1992 as a senior bank 
examiner. Before that, he joined the U.S. Army and served with the 
National Security Agency until the early 1970s.

When Paine's mid-back condition became too much to bear in 1994, he 
said he had to stop working and seek out options.

"I realized at some point that marijuana was part of the pain 
picture, more to a greater degree than I had realized before," he 
said. "I talked with a nurse practitioner ... I asked her what she 
thought. ... And I was amazed. She was extremely positive."

Paine is currently involved with the Marijuana Policy Project, an 
organization working in New Hampshire and other states to advocate 
for the legalization of marijuana for medical use. Earlier this year, 
he testified before the New Hampshire Legislature to let his case be 
known. He said though his case is not one of life and death, he hoped 
lawmakers could learn from his story and realize that the 
naturally-growing substance could help people like him.

And as a man who is so invested in allowing others to use marijuana, 
he says he's never ever used it.

"That's the weird part of it," he said. "I've never used the stuff at 
all, either legally or illegally."

To cope with his symptoms day-in and day-out, Paine has a spinal 
chord simulator surgically implanted into his spine, which he says 
transmits a signal to his brain to alleviate pain. He said doctors to 
this day still can't pinpoint exactly where the pain is coming from, 
or why. But Paine says no matter how severe his condition, he won't 
try something that's illegal.

"I don't want to get involved in anything illegal. It's sort of a 
matter of principle as it were," he said, noting when he was actively 
visiting Gov. Maggie Hassan and other state officials, he met a young 
twenty-something with multiple sclerosis. He said perhaps if he were 
in that young man's shoes, he would give it a shot.

"If I were him, I might take a different view of it," he said.

Paine knows the proposed legislation coming to Hassan's desk this 
month is not at the point where it would apply to people in his 
situation, though he said any step forward is one he's in favor of. 
"I probably wouldn't qualify for a card anyway under the present 
system," he said. "The reason for my support is basically that I feel 
it's a step in the right direction and over time, people (could) get 
used to the idea."

Paine said he's also in favor of people growing their own marijuana, 
though that part of the bill has been taken out due to concern over 
lack of control.

"I guess I can see the point, but I don't agree," he said.

He said he's worried the 18-24 months state representatives say it 
could take to get marijuana dispensary into place may go beyond that, 
and he added he's worried for those in pain.

"If people aren't in favor of something, they tend to drag their feet," he said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom