Newshawk: Herb
Pubdate: 25 July 2011
Source: Telegram, The (CN NF)
Copyright: The Telegram
Contact: letters@thetelegram.com
Website: http://www.thetelegram.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/303
Webpage:
http://www.thetelegram.com/Arts%20-%20Life/2011-07-25/article-2672704/He...
Author: Sue Hickey

He's not in it for the high

Meet David Shea and you might notice the skin on his face and hands is taut
and pale. It's not for lack of time spent outdoors, but because of an
uncommon condition known as scleroderma - a chronic systemic autoimmune
disease, mainly of the skin.

Up to 40,000 Canadians have the disease, which can make life very
uncomfortable.

That's why the Grand Falls-Windsor native, who now lives in Halifax,
promotes the use of medical marijuana to the public as well as to health
professionals - not as a way to get high, but as a safe drug that can
alleviate the symptoms of various diseases.

He is the head of patient advocacy with the organization Maritimers Unite
for Medical Marijuana (www.mumm.ca).

He was studying accounting, but had to go on a disability pension when he
developed the disease. He tried to work at first, but one of the symptoms
when the autoimmune system attacks the body is that scar tissue develops.

In Shea's case, the symptoms made work too difficult and painful.

"The doctors prescribed me medications, but I've always been wary of drugs,
so I would research what medication they would recommend to me," he said.

"Often, with my condition, it was better to not take it at all."

He discovered that medical marijuana was thought to help alleviate several
symptoms among people with serious medical conditions, like cancer. Shea
said he knew that it would help him improve his appetite, and before he
started taking cannabis as prescribed, he ate rarely, and with chronic
pain.

"I learned that it was safe to use, actually phenomenal," he said. "That's
when I went to my doctor and I asked about it. I've been to two separate
specialists, and both of them were in complete agreement that it was the
thing for me."

He doesn't "smoke up" like recreational marijuana users. He gets it in raw,
unprocessed form but usually ingests it in baked cookies or something
similar.

Medical marijuana is approved for use by Health Canada, and people who want
to grow the plant in order to supply the market for that purpose have to
obtain a government licence approving the cultivator as a certified
grower.

Shea wants to dispel the idea that people using cannabis for legitimate
medical purposes are always "under the influence."

"That kind of intoxication is something that happens the first week of
using it, but if you're using it on a continual basis, that doesn't happen
anymore," he said.

"And if I don't take it, the chronic pain comes back. Eating was a very big
issue for me, and if I don't take medical marijuana, I don't want to even
look at food."

As a patient advocate, he has worked with other patients who have seen
doctors who have told them the product is illegal, which isn't the case.

"My hope is to educate patients and let doctors know there is a legal
program to allow them to recommend cannabis," he said.

Shea buys his supply from Health Canada.

"I've never met people who recommend opiates for pain, but I've met loads
of patients who recommend cannabis," he said.