My name is Rita Robinson, and I am writing this in hope of enlightening as many people as I can with my personal experience of self medicating with marijuana. For over 5 years now I have lived with fibromyalgia, chronic back pain, muscle spasming and twitching from head to toe - 24 hours a day. Due to the fibromyalgia and the spasming, I get 2 -5 hours sleep on a good night, waking up many times through out, never getting the proper rest my mind and body need. On a bad night I get 1 - 2 hours, and after several days and at times weeks of this type of sleep deprivation, I am sure you can imagine how hard it is to function day after day.
    The doctors have been of little help in relieving the pain and symptoms I suffer from. I have been told that I will have to live this way the rest of my life and will have to learn to deal with it, with only 2 muscle relaxers a day that do nothing for the spasming, and am never prescribed anything for pain. I found that there has been nothing that I have tried that relieves the pain, spasming and aids in sleep as well as marijuana. It worked better than when I was prescribed Valium 5 years ago, and I never kept any of this a secret from 5 doctors and 2 pharmacists.
    In January of 1997 I was arrested and convicted of a felony for having slightly over 1 pound of marijuana. With help from anyone willing to advise me, I did all of my defense preparation myself.  At the very end, I had help from an out of town public defender, Tracy Stikles, who did a wonderful job of presenting my case at sentencing.  Documentation from the medical records and all of the mentioned care givers helped the judge in his decision to sentence me to 500 hours community service, and will be setting aside the felony conviction after 2 years probation.  No fines or jail time.
   I have been working with Alaskans for Cannabis Therapeutic Research who are sponsoring an initiative that we hope to have on the 1998 ballot. The initiative would allow for compassionate use of cannabis by many who are not able to find relief by any other socially and legally  accepted means. I know I speak for so many people when I say that my only wish in getting this and other medical use initiatives elsewhere passed, is that it happen as soon as possible, and with as few legal issues to iron out as well. It is not right that one should suffer needlessly when there is something natural and far less harmful than the 'accepted' methods, and is good for an endless list of diseases and symptoms. It also is not right that one should live in fear of persecution or prosecution, for doing something that can and does greatly improve ones quality of life.
    Unfortunately, a group called Americans for Medical Rights has come in from California to sponsor a medical initiative in Alaska that competes with ours. Their initiative would allow for more government control over cannabis, require I.D. cards for use, limit the illnesses which cannabis could be used to treat, and limit the amount of medicine a patient could possess or cultivate.
    The AMR initiative is not compassionate - it will harm patients. I desperately want out of the system, never to be in it again, but once you are in, it is so very hard to get back out. Therefore, I want the government involved as little as possible. Whatever goes on between my doctors and myself should be kept private. If someone comes knocking on my door, I don't want to have to pull out a card that says I am legal. If I am over their limits, I will still have to go to jail, hire an attorney, and defend myself in court. That is not compassion.
    The AMR limits on possession will put me in danger by forcing me into the black market more frequently to supply my medicine. That is something that I do not want to expose my children to. I have a  7 and 9 year old that are strongly opposed to drug, alcohol and tobacco use for any reason. I never did anything in front of them, but they did know that I did self-medicate with marijuana, and they knew it helped me, as I was not using it recreationally. They have seen for many years what I have gone through, and especially this year with the legal problems, and the difference in our lives in general with me having to go on from day to day without the use of something that provided so much relief.
    The AMR limits on cultivation will not allow me to produce enough cannabis to supply my needs. What if my 3 plants die and I have to start over again? I tried to raise 3 plants last summer and all died. It also takes 1/4 ounce of dried powdered high quality marijuana to make 1 batch of brownies. I have no guarantee of the quality or what amount with less quality cannabis it would take to make 1 batch. Surely more than the AMR's proposed limit!
    I will work day and night to get a medical initiative passed, but I will not work on the AMR initiative because I think it will harm patients, not help them. I wish the AMR would have consulted with the patients or worked together with the sponsors of the initiative we already had circulating.
    What they are doing is divisive, destructive and harmful. In my opinion, I don't think what all they are doing is for the good of the people, I feel that they just want to get a marijuana initiative passed anyway they can for the sake of a small victory. So what if it takes years tied up in court
and government trying to work out the 'fine details'. Meanwhile, there are too many people suffering needlessly.
    I can't see why anyone would want to fund a group that doesn't have any respect for the patients.

Rita Robinson
P.O. Box 731
Sitka, Alaska 99835
Phone: 907-747-1069
Email: tuffy911@yahoo.com