FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — At a picnic table outside his office
building Friday, stockbroker Irvin Rosenfeld took a long drag on his 115,000th
marijuana cigarette.
“It’s delicious because it’s legal,” said
Rosenfeld, 56. A bag bearing a prescription label that orders “use 10
cigarettes daily” lay before him. “I’m appreciative, happy and
healthy because I have the right medicine.”
Rosenfeld was celebrating. Since 1982, he said, he has
received a free tin of 300 marijuana cigarettes from the federal government every
25 days. And he wants the world to know how it has helped him cope with
multiple congenital cartilaginous exostosis, a bone disorder that resulted in
scores of tumors in his body.
He credits marijuana with easing muscular contractions,
swelling and pain he has felt since age 10. He also believes it inhibits new
tumors on his largest bones, growths that can tear muscles and blood vessels.
“If I didn’t use marijuana, if I was still alive I’d be
homebound and not have a lot of mobility,” he said.
Rosenfeld said he did not experience red eyes, sleepiness or
food cravings from using marijuana.
“I get no euphoric effect from the medicine,” he
said.
Rosenfeld would not name his physician because of privacy
concerns, and a spokeswoman for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said she
cannot confirm any individual’s story.
Rosenfeld presented his doctor’s report of his marijuana
treatment to the FDA 27 years ago and began receiving shipments as a
participant in the agency’s compassionate investigational new drug program, he
said.
“God’s been there for me, and I’ve got to give
back,” Rosenfeld said about his crusade to de-stigmatize medical
marijuana.
According to ProCon.org, 13 states have legalized marijuana
for medical use, a list that does not include Florida.
But the federal Drug Enforcement Administration considers
marijuana illegal in every state.
Penalties for amounts smaller than what Rosenfeld’s tin
contains can garner 364 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Depending upon amounts
possessed at arrest, prison sentences can increase to 15 years.
Debbie Rosenfeld said of the marijuana use by her husband of
36 years, “I hate the smoke and ashes. I don’t use it. But I’m the first
one to jump on the bandwagon for what it’s done for him.”
She described how her husband would wake up screaming when
his muscles would tighten around bone growths.
“He’d be crawling on the floor, wishing the pain would
ease,” she said. “But with marijuana, all of that went away. He’s
been on some heavy medications in his day. Now he can get up and come to
work.”
Via McClatchy-Tribune News Service.
