“Patients have no time to wait,” the state must take note of! Legalize!
My story continues to relate to the difficulties, pain and hopes of those who have decided to include cannabis in their treatment plans, despite obstacles to its 'legal' use in Europe. It is hoped that such direct evidence will help clarify the controversial issue. In this new part of 'The Faces of Cannabis', I decided to give voice to the stories of Andrea and Alberico.
Mr. Andrea Trisciuglio 39 years old - FOGGIA (Italy) SCLEROSIS MULTIPLEX The diagnosis of multiple sclerosis reaches Andrea on February 20, 2006. Luca Coscioni dies the same day. On TV, he watches Marco Pannella in tears over his loss. Two bad news at once, emotions overlap, mix. But life goes on "that doesn't kill, makes you stronger," he repeats to himself and becomes aware of that diagnosis and needs to be addressed. Start taking interferon like all patients with multiple sclerosis, chemotherapy, immunodeficiency, and immunomodulatory patients. Andrea is convinced that she will not stop, she does not want to stay in a wheelchair, be drug-filled. She wants to survive. Traditional medicines weaken him, giving him few benefits for a psychophysical condition, and so it remains to look further: are there alternatives to this treatment? Are there any studies or cases that can be observed outside the Italian border? This is how he discovers cannabis as a possible therapy, and if even his doctor tells him to try it, he is convinced. He overcomes initial fears and from that moment on walks again. He becomes an activist and general counselor in the Luca Coscioni Association. Together with Lucia Spiri, she forms a non-profit association LaPiantiamoto inform citizens and protect patients' right to cannabinoid treatment. "Patients don't have time to wait" is a cry I've associated with Andrea's face for years; he was the first person I contacted on my trip, the first “face” to receive me, inform me, and open the way. He is no longer just a picture of this book, it is a friendly face to continue fighting in a battle that has become my war. Today, Andrea continues to take 10 grams of cannabis daily by smoking or steaming it, making cookies or herbal teas. He has a regular doctor's prescription, which allows him to receive the prescribed amount from Foggia Hospital every three months. However, he knows that this is not yet the case for many Italian patients, and he continues to travel throughout Italy to testify that he has received help with cannabis treatment for his illness.
Mr..Alberico Nobile 38 years old - TARANTO (Italy) Tetraplegia. The first thing I remembered about Alberico when I met him in Foggia was the calmness and elegance of his face. Alberico moves in a wheelchair that someone has to help push because he does not have normal arm and arm mobility. However, every time I meet her, I feel like she is dancing in that chair. His gentle smile confirms this. Alberico is 38 years old and suffers from tetraplegia from the age of 15 when he was involved in a serious car accident that caused him a back injury and fractures of the third, fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae. In the years following the accident, and after several hospitals in various Italian cities, using muscle relaxants as well as very strong opioid drugs to relieve spasms, he goes to Heidelberg Clinic in Germany, one of the best in Europe for this type of patient. It is in the park of this clinic that one day, for the first time, he tries to smoke cannabis with other patients. At first he is skeptical and afraid of losing consciousness and at first he does not want to try it, but these guys suffer similar physical injuries to him and they explain that he has been using it instead of Lioresal for a long time (the same medicine he takes, four 25 mg tablets a day...
Further deepening his knowledge of the cannabis plant and the therapeutic properties of cannabinoids, Alberico decides to give it a try and, discovering the benefits for his psychophysical state, begins to increase the doses of muscle relaxants and replace them with cannabis, which is sold at a high price on the black market, often from Holland.
Stayed in Germany for ten months. Back in Italy, he found it difficult to find cannabis, and just two weeks later he had to resort to Liorezal again. With this medicine, all those side effects that Alberico are well aware of: problems with the kidneys, bladder, stomach and mucous membranes, as well as a constant state of drowsiness, return.
Unable to bear it all again, he relies on hemp on the Italian black market.
For nineteen years he has been buying cannabis on the street or from friends, or, when he can, he grows himself, until in 2015 he gets free access to cannabis thanks to the regional law of Puglia.
Since then, the Taranto hospital pharmacy has been supplying him with cannabis from the usual prescriptions. He takes 5 grams a day by steaming or smoking the plant and this mainly helps him to reduce spasticity and pain, which helps him in posture and therefore affects his quality of life.
“The secret is not to chase butterflies, but to take care of your garden, so that they come to you themselves,” is one of my favorite phrases (Mario Quintana); One day while looking through Alberico's Instagram photos, I read this phrase and my face fills with a smile. Alberico is living proof of this aphorism, proof that by healing ourselves, we can learn to feel better, with ourselves and with others. Despite the fact that life has put him through hard trials, he does not give up and continues to live an exciting life with the people who love him.
Written by Maria Novella De Luca on 4 Maggio 2020 at Beleafmagazine
Kirjutanud Maria Novella De Luca 4. märtsil 2020 Beleafmagazine’is.
