Just a few months ago, I wrote an article about my journey to become a patient of the medicinal marijuana program. I had just gotten my license in the mail and was eager to find out if my chronic and debilitating migraines and accompanying nausea/vomiting would finally subside. I ended the article with a bit of a cliffhanger, having only tried the medicine only a couple of times. However, in these past three months since receiving my license, my life has dramatically changed for the better.

I have learned about so much since becoming a patient. Thanks to the warm, intelligent, and well-trained workers at the dispensaries I go to, I have learned about different strains and what they do, discovered that there are many different ways to medicate that I never even knew were possible (such as pills, tinctures, vaporizers, lotion, etc.), and most importantly, I have discovered what works for me.

Usually, I feel the onset of a migraine between 3-5 times a week. Before becoming a medicinal marijuana patient, this would result in me scrambling to try a number of coping methods (prescription medicine, yoga, deep breathing, laying down, etc.) and hoping one of them would relieve my pain, but that often was not the case. I would miss out on class, social outings, assignments, and be in a lot of pain that I would not go away until I woke up the next morning. Now, with my medicinal marijuana, I am able to prevent the pain from getting worse and prevent my migraine all together - and you do not understand how happy that makes me after seven long years of trying to find a cure.

There has been only one drawback so far, and that is that sometimes I am not able to take my medicine. Being a student and a retail worker, I cannot and should not show up to class or work stoned for obvious reasons. My migraines typically come on in the late afternoon or evening so it has not affected my school/work too much - but there have been several times where I would be get a migraine in the middle of a shift at work or before class and not be able to medicate until afterwards, or I would have to miss class because I was in pain.

While thankfully my migraines interfering with work/school hasn't been toobad yet, it is still a concern. Luckily, there are ways to use medicinal marijuana and not actually feel high. Cannabis that is high in CBD does not make you feel high, and is often used for patients with pain. However, dispensaries stock varies day-by-day, so sometimes when I go to the dispensary there have been little to no CBD options. However, with methods like tinctures or dosage cubes - you can control your dosage. The dosage cubes I buy are small fruit chews each with 1mg of THC, so if I take about five or so, I am able to control my pain level while not feeling stoned, so I'm able to continue on with my day. Like I said, different dispensaries have different option, so it does take awhile to discover what exactly works for you.

I've only been a medicinal marijuana patient for a few months now, and while it has improved my life so much, I'm still learning and discovering different methods to help my pain while still being able to function at school or work. In this case, the good outweighs the bad, and I am so relieved that I, like so many other patients, finally have a way to no longer be in such debilitating pain. I am so thankful that Massachusetts allows medicinal marijuana, it has changed and saved my life as well as many others.

Marijuana is a life-saving medicine, not a harmful drug, and that's why MA residents should be voting 'YES" on Question 4 this Tuesday.