Kevin Jones

I broke my back and severed my spine on May 21st, 1991. I guess that really is where this all started for me. I was 20 years old I had just severed not only my own spine but the spine of my best friend also. He was on the motorcycle with me when I crashed. This has proved to be an interesting study in contrast. Our injuries where nearly identical, but our recoveries have been significantly different. Now, 20 years later,  I have smoked a lot of Cannabis, and he has taken a lot of pills. Where I found Cannabis an asset, he often found guilt. To this day he insists that it has contributed negatively to his body, but still he takes his pills. Here’s what I find interesting, I am a very healthy guy that rarely even took aspirin throughout my recovery and now  walk again. He is still in his wheelchair and not really so healthy.

I have to admit that when I told my doctors at Albany Medical Center that I would not be taking all the pills but would be smoking a lot of pot, they weren’t exactly supportive. Surprisingly they weren’t as opposed as I expected either. I suppose they probably weren’t all that surprised to hear it since I had already inquired about the Federal IND program to see if they could get me on that. To which I was told that it really was more for AIDs patients, the paper work was about a foot high, and besides that, they didn’t feel I could get accepted in the end anyway. Well, I tried to do it right.

That program was shut down by Bush soon after, but not to worry, I was well medicated. Not to say it didn’t take some doing though. At that point “Medicinal Marijuana” was commonly thought to be the wares of snake oil salesmen from the ’20s. Most people thought it was more a sham that had been “caught” and shot down as science caught up to charlatans. There was shoddy anecdotal evidence, some loud activists, and propaganda. Lot’s of propaganda. Oh and weed that was like an archeological process resulting in some interesting artifacts that I am quite sure said something interesting about the culture of “months ago” Mexico. The “Medical” value of this stuff really was laughable, but attainable. There was no way I could afford to replace legal free drugs with Cannabis in the condition I was in. I was 100% disabled and in a wheelchair paralyzed from the waist down, and getting next to nothing in Disability support. What would you do? Well, I shared. I shared the lowest prices and the best Marijuana I could find. And I shared proudly.  It wasn’t long until I was smoking Marijuana shipped in from the west coast in very small orders that few could afford, but it made life a lot easier and my friends all helped to support my having it.

Well, by May 24, 2000, I know for a fact that the loads from the west coast weren’t just ounces anymore. One was busted and weighed at 90 Lbs, but that wasn’t even touching the extent of the growth in popularity and potency. The cleaner the pot the better it sold, almost without consideration to price for some. It was fun, productive, social, taking care of quite a few people, and documented and….. OVER. That arrest was nothing but a life changer. Now a felon on felony probation I had to take time off of smoking or do time. I did the full 5 years without violation, then got right back to smoking the minute I could “legally”. When I say “legally” here, I mean now that they can’t put me in jail for smoking, I’m smoking.

In order to be allowed to get probation I had to have a job. If you are not a contributing productive part of society then you are a burden. Better a burden in a cell than on the streets I guess. Anyway, I subcontracted to deliver lost luggage from airlines and Drugs from a pharmacy to jails and rehabs. Really, the luggage was the gig, but the drugs became the only work available as the economy fell. Then a change came for the Pharmacy contract and the new company checked records. It turns out they didn’t want to insure a Drug Felon to deliver the hardest pharmaceuticals on earth to jails and rehabs. Even though I had been doing just that for years.

Now I am back on disability, broke, nearly homeless and pissed off. Marijuana is still illegal, but now that I have nothing to hide and a record that proves my dedication, I will just get louder. I, unlike many, am not afraid of the stigma. As a matter of fact, I am driven by statistics to understand that now is the time for this movement. The general consensus is known, and it is for this reason I feel very comfortable in this position. We have more support now then ever before. We have more science, anecdotal evidence, and sociological models, all demonstrating value and safety of repealing the laws that pertain to Marijuana. Now all we have to do is get the word out.