Cannabis was an Exit Drug

I have suffered from debilitating migraines my entire life. I’ve spent an incredible amount of time and money in my quest to try and find relief from my pain. I’ve seen many doctors and specialists, most not believing my pain was as frequent or as severe as it was. Many thought I was lying and just trying to get drugs. I finally found a doctor that believed me and he suggested that I try cannabis. I wasn’t interested and didn’t think it would help because my pain was so severe. I finally got to the point where I couldn’t go on with the prescription drugs anymore. It was so hard to live my life, the medications weren’t helping, a lot of the time they were making me worse, they put me in such a fog that I didn’t always remember things I had done. I never wanted to do anything because I never felt well. At the time, I was on several medications, including Demerol. To get my Demerol, I had to go to the pain clinic, an hour from my house. I had to miss a day of work to get my meds and I had to go to the pain clinic every other month (the first two years, I went every month because I had to “prove myself” before being able to pick up my meds every other month). This is causing me to miss 6 days of work, per year, just to get my meds. I’m also missing at least 4 days of work per year due to my migraines so that adds up to a minimum of 2 weeks of work lost per year due to my migraines. I decided that it was time to give cannabis a try. BEST DECISION I COULD HAVE EVER MADE!!! The pain went away and it stayed away. I still get an occasional migraine but they’re not as bad and I can control them. I am now completely off of all medication, I don’t even use over-the-counter drugs. I am healthier now than I’ve ever been and I finally have my life. Cannabis was an exit drug for me and I fully believe it saved my life. 

Tracie Carlson

3/30/21