I have smoked marijuana for my bi-polar for 20 years under the advise of a medical doctor. I don't want to feel like a criminal;I want to feel like a patient that needs a medicine that has less side effects then my Effexor! Thank-you.

I have smoked, eaten, and vaporized marijuana for the last 10 years for my extremely painful back. I have tingling and significant pain in my extremities. Pain medicine caused me to lose weight and severe constipation with hospitalization. Marijuana causes none of those. Please let sick patients use the medicine that works for them. Please.

This is the first time I have heard of marijuana for bi-polor disease. There are legal medications that work well for bi-polar I understand, although effexor is an antidepressant and I never heard of it being used for bi-polar either. What is wrong with using the medications that research has proven work well for bi-polar?? I can't imagine any medical doctor advising you to smoke marijuana for bi-polar although I am aware that doctors can also be addicts and drug users.

In response to Jon, pain medications can cause constipation; however, there are remedies to avoid allowing this to become severe. Also, if they are taken as prescribed it is my understanding that they should not cause significant weight loss. What is the cause of your severe back problem and isn't there something that can be done for it rather than use of drugs?

Bipolar disorder is usually diagnosed according to the Fourth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders printed by the American Psychiatric Association. A person can be diagnosed with only depressive symptoms when they cycle from normal to depressive episodes and back over periods of time. No single medicine nor any combination of medicines works for all forms of the disorder or for all people. Many people take handfuls of medicine several times a day to adjust only marginally to this disorder. Others may have this disorder along with other medical or psychiatric disorders that further complicate treatment. After studying and working with people with this disorder for over forty years, I have seen a variety of alternative forms of treatment work for people. The medicinal use of marijuana is not a standard treatment but I have heard directly from many people that it assists them with their management of depression and often that it provides relief from physical forms of pain. Our time is best spent demonizing the disorders, not patients, doctors, or marijuana. I support both Jon and Janette’s right to speak to others about what works for them.

Arizona's 1996 ballet initiative also legalized heroin for medical use.

Where can we find a petitioner. I have AIDS, but don't take meds, my body can't handle them. I started cause of gall stones/pain and messed up my liver cause of the narcotics they gave me to help with pain. I no longer trust dr's and study medicine on my own and consult them only. Please help legalize and where to sign a petition again.

Becouse aurthritus over the last 25 years I have taken perscribed med for over 22 years I take 160 Pills a week. The side effects of many drugs and constint pain all the time.Makes you want to give up on life and you need something more than morphine,demeral, they only work short term.effexor xr did cure my life long migrains but it cant be priscribed for that. I have smoked for 22 years it is very realaxing and I smoke so I dont lose what mind I have left. One med leads to more and more over the years. I am much worse off now and the pot keeps me alive and wanting to stay that way.

Jon from Oceanside: Heroin is already legal. Have you heard of Oxycontin, Oxycodone, Morphine etc? Medications need to be left to doctors not police.

As a retired police lieutenant, I never imagined myself in this position. After being diagnosed with MS ten years ago and trying numerous prescription drugs for several symptoms, I listened to my neurologist and found that marijuana is very helpful in many ways. I'd much rather obtain it legally and not give even the slightest support to the criminal element but the bottom line is: I'll keep doing what I have to do, for my own well-being.

about the bi-poler dissorder. that disorder ranges on a scale, now have i herd of doc's telling people to use drugs no, but as an adhd and bi poler person myself and the crack doc's iv seen would not put it past them...marijuana is in no way phisicaly addicting so what is the prob? the drugs i take for my adhd and bipoler work for me but they also have nasty side effects weight lose, death, lose of sleep, worsend mood swings, thoughts of suiside, and that is just the start marijuana has non of those and does the same thing as my meds. drops energy, better ability to focus, its a mood regulator. so what is the harm really?

I am a 21 year old female. I have used marijuana for the past 5 years. I was labeled "ADHD" at the same time. I was put on ritalin, and several other pills. Two months into it the pills went down the toliet. They made me tired and irratable. I started losing weight. I would snap at anyone. There was a change in my self. The side effects of marijuana are safe. Marijuana [when grown correctly] is chemical free. How many people have died from smoking weed compared to cigarettes and alchol? Herion is given in controlled forms!! America is about freedoms, yet we let the govenment regulate them. Knowledge is power. Influence and eduacte the vote.

In 1996, I had a two pack a day habit of Pall Malls, and respirtory problems so severe that I thought I wouldn't live until my youngest child was born. I consumed two grams of cannabis cooked in butter a day for three weeks to refrain from smoking and to relieve the congestion in my lungs. Today I celebrated my sons 12th birthday, and I have not smoked a cigarette in those twelve years.

Everything created by God is for our use including the healing properties of marijuana. Man created things like vicodin, effexor, etc. The gov't declared it illegal... not God! Where is it in the 10 commandments? And when did society start believing in man more than God? I missed that memo. Its safer than so many drugs that people don't even second guess (yep, man made ones too). George Washington grew marijuana! I would trust someone high on marijuana long before someone drunk, and I can understand them better when they talk too! Sex should be illegal because it spreads disease and kills. Oh But its okay to be premiscuous. Just not high or not in pain. I get it... hmmm...something simple for the uneducated to think about. See how utterly entertaining it can be to argue that God created something so harmful?!? And so many consider themselves Christians. Its too bad its taken this long to get the backing. 30 years ago it wasn't illegal!(And I don't even use marijuana...)

I was diagnosed bi polar july 8, 2008 I'v been on 10 different medications in one year. All I can say is that marijuana does calm my anxiety and mania unlike the other new drugs cannot. I believe marijuana has fewer side effect than the cocktail of pills I'v been taking and may have to continue taking if this law doesn't pass.

The initiative for 2010 is way too limited in who gets to use cannabis for their medical condition. Also if you don't live more that 25 miles from a dispensory you HAVE to buy from the dispensory and can't grow your own. Seems like this initiative is only for a certain class of people not the whole populous. Have a listed disease and lots of money for your meds. If you can benefit from cannabis and not on the list then you are still a criminal. If you are on the list but don't have the money $20/gr. for the cannabis medicine you still can't use it. The people of Arizona are smarter than MPP thinks we are. Anyone who's doctor thinks they can benefit from cannabis should be able to use it. Any one who wants to grow their own medicine should be allowed to do so. Anything else would be discriminating and only meant for a chosen few.

I Hate the fact that some of the comments here are supported MAN MADE SYNTHETIC PILLS that cause real addictions!! I suffer from PTSD due to the work i do (and believe me when u see dead bodies everyday...it sticks with you) i dont have to smoke it.. I ingest it. Its safe. ORGANIC and non toxic. i perfer to take Cannibis instead of "uppers/Downers" i grow my own and i live finally at peace. I seen death from Alcohol, pain killers and REAL drugs.. Marijuana is not man made. speed, meth, cocaine is! marijuana is not a class 1 drug. it is a plant growing in my closet!!

you Decriminalize marijuana = making pot boring/taking the drug lords job away.. God forbid we stop human decapitations and drug trafficing all with a simple decrim!!! not to mention if its legalized (like alcohol was back during al copone days) we can regulated much like beer is now and live happyier. we can use hemp to replace paper and save trees. GOD FORBID WE DO THAT.. we can use hemp on clothes in stead of sythetics. Hemp fiber for many diffrent types of material. and Hemp has no "high" effects at all!! yet its illegal to grow hemp. WEIRD!!! think about it.. its our country WE THE PEOPLE have a little power use it while its still here. plus u dont have to smoke it. and if you do you can filter the carcinigens. you can eat it. smoke it. put it in rubbing alcohol to apply in painful areas for arthiritic people. or for little owies and it still some of these methods wont get u "mind altered" do sum research to see how safe cannibis really is vs. how bad it is. Ever medication that a dr. prescribes has SIDE EFFECTS u know those tiny sentences in white on your tv screen. Fire OUT!!!

It's God's plant. I'm no criminal in using 420 to enable me to function in society despite GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) for which the Pharm system insists I use a highly addictive Benzo (Xanax) with horrid side effects instead... why? There are 13 states plus D.C. and soon to be others that will have Medical MarijuanaTech.com but let's just end prohibition, get Marijuana on the Ballot!

You would think that california, the state that says everything id bad for you would be the last state to legalize medical marijuana,but the way things are is california allows it but why not arizona?We can carry a loaded gun in public but cant have medical marijuana?I think its just a way for the pharmacudical companies to continue to thrive giving us medications that cause major health problems and side affects.sorry but that makes no sense to me and probably most of us.all these anti drug people who fight for the ban of a herb used for hundreds of years to aid in healing and pain..

Big Pharmaceutical is behind the opposition, along with alcohol and tobacco companies that will see reduced profits as well. Also, law enforcement agencies get much of their federal funds from the "drug war", and it allows them to confiscate homes, cars, bank accounts, and other property, along with the drugs which they can then RESELL for more of the above. Open your eyes people, and see who is opposing it. It is just so silly to make a plant illegal, when you really think about it, now isn't it?

I received an e-mail from the MPP on 10/16/09 that indicated that they had 163,999 signatures. They hope to have 250,000 by the end of the year. Looks pretty certain that medical marijuana will be on the ballot in nov of 2010 in Arizona.