Marijuana a safer alternative

I am voting “yes” on Question 1. Marijuana can help Mainers get off of addictive, deadly opiates, just as it did for me.

I am a lifelong Mainer and a 22-year veteran of the Navy. I loved my time in the service, but returned with PTSD and excruciating pain from an accident on a submarine. After nine operations, my leg was amputated. The pain was unbelievable. I was popping three or four Vicodin at a time. No matter how many I took, I couldn’t get relief.

It destroyed me. I wasn’t the friend, parent, employee I had been. I was addicted and wanted my life back. So I decided to give marijuana a try.

The effect was immediate and dramatic. The pain went away, I felt less “out of it” and my anxiety and PTSD — worse when I used prescription drugs — improved. I quickly got off the Vicodin.

That was seven years ago. I am thankful every day that I can get marijuana legally.

But many Mainers, including veterans, still cannot. They don’t have one of the few approved conditions or can’t afford or find a doctor willing to recommend it.

Adults shouldn’t have to break the law to use marijuana in the privacy of their homes to help them sleep, relax or treat their pain or addiction.

Get government out of the doctor’s office and out of our homes while giving adults a safer alternative to opioids.