**For some ten years now I have dispensed with my religious beliefs and have taken the route of a freethinker. Within this belief lies the notion that you can do whatever you want to do as long as you are not hurting anyone, go for it. But that is just me. And while I have extricated myself from religious beliefs. I still am intimately close to many people who are religious minded and who practice religion. In the case of the people I know, it would be Christianity.** 

A family member of mine is facing a dilemma. She is a nurse who provides care for people dying from terminal illnesses such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and a host of other diseases. Many of these people are in their last months, weeks or even days; the majority are in severe pain and are prescribed opioids—the usual Percocet, Oxycontin, Oxycodone, among other painkillers like Valium are given to these patients. The problem my cousin, Marcy, (not her real name) has, is that quite often, there comes a point of diminishing returns. In fact, sooner than later the pills lose their potency and eventually no longer work. Therefore, the dosage for a cancer patient, for example, must be increased on a weekly basis. In the patient’s final days it can be daily increase.  

At this stage, the only antidote Marcy finds is marijuana. Medical marijuana is illegal in her state, and while she has seen the benefits of it she cannot ask that it be prescribed to the patient. There are times she says, she wants to convince some of them to use marijuana, seeing that it is the only thing that works at that stage. If, she gives this kind of advice and her bosses find out, she faces harsh penalties. These include, losing her license to practice medicine and jail time. 

Interestingly, this is not the main reason she refuses to convince her patients to use marijuana. She has deeply held Christian beliefs. If my memory serves me well, she has been a Christian since her teenage years and refuses to budge when it comes to her beliefs. 

While I don’t think there is anything wrong with anybody using marijuana. And while I respect other people’s beliefs, I do not think it is right to withhold information from people who are suffering and need all the help they can get in those last moments?  

I try to tell her that there is nowhere in the bible (as far as I can see) where marijuana is mentioned. It would be sort of a banality to go over this ridiculous war on drugs, seeing that I wrote about in a subsequent post. What I told her, however, is, as far as I know, her god told the people in the bible to use the things he gave them; whether it be the flora or the fauna, all things are to be used to enhance the lives of men. I assume that if there is a god that created everything, he created marijuana for a purpose, and seeing that people have been using it for millennia, then why now, should it be a problem? Again, it would be a waste of time to continue along this trajectory. 

What I have found is that the religious and legal arguments are quite ludicrous. Marcy knows this too. The conclusion therefore, is that, for her, it is about self-preservation, which I have no right to criticize, we have all been guilty of this crime.  

My cousin, like all of us, operates within a much bigger system. This world has its rules and regulations, and we are forced to abide by these rules and regulations. But would it be bad to break the rules in the case of relieving pain? I am not certain if nurses take the Hippocratic oath. But if they do not, I am sure they abide by similar principles as those found in the oath. Would it therefore be wrong for her to convince the patients or the family of these patients to give them marijuana? For if one swears to provide care, should this not be at any cost? 

This, of course, sounds a bit naïve. People have bills to pay. Careers to think about. And especially now that Marcy is close to retirement, I would discourage her from advising her patients to use marijuana. In fact, I would, if I were in her place, discourage myself from giving such advice.  

Maybe this is an ethical conundrum. One where one must choose to obey the law and watch the ones over whom they have been placed in charge suffer. Or perhaps it is just a matter of more of us refusing to stand up to an archaic, ridiculous law that is causing people to suffer needlessly. 

Whatever the answer, I think the real crime here is denying people the comfort of dying. It is bad enough that many languish in hospice care, away from loved ones. And they spend their last days being pumped full of toxic chemicals that no longer provide relief. While the tide regarding marijuana is turning. One mourns for those who will not live to experience the miracle of this safe natural remedy.