Patient Name:
Jeremy Daniel
Age:
31
Conditions:
Social anxiety, ADD, depression
Home:
Los Angeles
WHY DID YOU START USING MEDICAL MARIJUANA?
I have used cannabis since I was 18. When I was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder at 25, I tried to tell the doctor that marijuana was helping, and he told me it was the cause of my depression and prescribed me all these other drugs. I quit medication, used marijuana and it has helped a lot. When I moved to California, my doctor also agreed that it had helped. As a stand-up comic, I need something to calm my nerves before going on stage. Marijuana also helps with my social anxiety.
DID YOU TRY OTHER METHOD OR TREATMENT BEFORE MEDICAL MARIJUANA?
I used Xanax, Paxil, Zoloft and whatever else they could feed me to get their kickbacks! Zoloft in particular made me more depressed. None of these ever came close to the effects of medical cannabis. Now I can smile, be calm around other people and function normally in public.
WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE FACING MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS IN CALIFORNIA?
We can get arrested for it! Furthermore, it is classified as a Schedule 1 drug found to have no medicinal properties. Neither do doughnuts and Twinkies! Or alcohol—which is legal. We need changes. I have a friend in Texas that did 12 years for two joints! The War on Drugs is out of control. Legalize it!
WHAT DO YOU SAY TO PEOPLE WHO ARE SKEPTICAL ABOUT MARIJUANA AS A MEDICINE?
Talk to a medical marijuana patient and ask him or her how cannabis has helped them. In the bigger picture: Legalize it and see how much cash revenue we could make as a nation. In this economy, we need that! (Jasen T. Davis)
Our “Profiles in Courage” features are intended to highlight the problems—and solutions—that Southern California’s medical marijuana patients face every day.
