Pubdate: Mon, 10 Nov 2014
Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2014 Orlando Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325
Note: Rarely prints out-of-state LTEs.
Note: McClatchy-Tribune

WHAT NOW FOR MEDICAL-POT USERS WHO REVEALED THEIR SECRETS FOR AMENDMENT 2?

Gail Seltzer fits no one's stereotype of a pothead. She's an 
accountant who lives in an immaculate home and boasts a clean 
criminal record. She finds the pungent aroma of weed offputting.

But after a statewide vote on medical marijuana fell short Tuesday, 
Seltzer decided to reveal a touchy secret: The 54-year-old eats 
berry-shaped cannabis candies to treat symptoms of a 
sometimes-debilitating immune disorder.

"I am so not threatening-looking," said Seltzer, who is petite and 
and professional. "I want people to put a face with what's going on."

For Seltzer, and for Afghan war vet Jack Stiegelman Jr. of Port St. 
Lucie, and for David Tilbury of Fort Lauderdale, pot is an effective, 
mild remedy that carries far fewer side effects than legal 
prescription drugs. Amendment 2's failure means that if they want to 
use marijuana, they must continue to buy it illegally.

According to Florida law, possession of 20 grams or less of cannabis 
is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. 
Florida police arrest more than 50,000 people a year for marijuana possession.

Orlando attorney John Morgan, who threw more than $4 million of his 
fortune into the campaign for Amendment 2, promised free legal 
services to anyone arrested after going public with their stories of 
using weed to cope with their illnesses.

"I will represent them for win," Morgan said Friday.

Tilbury, who suffers back pain because of his dwarfism, already has 
paid a price for his activism. He said he was forced to resign from 
his job working for Broward County after a co-worker recognized his 
voice in a radio interview. Tilbury didn't reveal his name on the 
air, but his boss told him to submit to a drug test or quit.

Weed helps him control his pain without the side effects of 
oxycodone, he said. "I'm deeply saddened," Tilbury said. Stiegelman, 
who served in Afghanistan and came home after breaking his leg, said 
marijuana is the most effective drug for his post-traumatic stress 
disorder. He said doctors at Veterans Affairs loaded him up with 
painkillers, anti-depressants and sleeping pills.

"I tried five or six different [anti-depressant] medications," 
Stiegelman said. "I stayed on them for two or three months at a time 
until I couldn't handle the side effects."

"[Pot] improved the quality of my life," he said. "It's brought me 
back from a place in my life that I thought I wasn't going to return from."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom