In 1990, a ladder fell out from underneath Lyle Imel, dropping him roughly 12 feet. He hit the ground flat, creating a serious gash in the forehead and causing trauma to the back of his neck. He recovered but later began experiencing numbness from his knee down into his left leg. He underwent an MRI, which revealed a cyst – known as syringomyelia -- in his spinal cord, which results in pain, weakness, and stiffness in the back, shoulders, arms, or legs, as well as neuropathic pain.

Jane Stewart is an Addison resident, mother of three, and grandmother of two who suffers from common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), which shares characteristics and symptoms with other autoimmune diseases like AIDS and lupus, resulting in increased susceptibility to infections, neuropathic pain, nausea, and weight loss. Every three weeks, Jane has to visit the hospital to be treated with gamma globulin to boost her immune system and is on a wide variety of prescribed opiates to help reduce her pain.

She also uses medical marijuana, which has helped cut in half the number of potentially deadly opiates she has to take.

Deb Brink, a minister’s daughter who lives in the Grand Rapids area, testified at the state legislature in favor of medical marijuana in 1979. She first used medical marijuana in the late 1970s after she was diagnosed with leukemia and had to have a bone marrow transplant. She underwent daily subcutaneous injections which caused severe nausea, and she found that marijuana was the only thing that helped. She had been throwing up every 15 minutes, but marijuana stopped this and allowed her to finish out her chemotherapy regimen.

For the past 31 years, Ken Shapiro has dealt with Stage IV metastatic melanoma. At various times, this extremely serious cancer has made its way into his lungs, stomach, liver, pancreas, spleen, kidney, and prostate, and he’s had one kidney, his spleen, and half of his pancreas removed. It’s rare for someone to survive such widespread disease, and Ken has been on numerous clinical trials and had over 50 surgeries throughout his ordeal. Yet medical marijuana has been the only thing he’s found that has mitigated the side effects of the powerful prescription narcotics he has had to take, and the only medicine to help him effectively combat the nausea from chemotherapy.

After hearing other patients describe their experiences using medical marijuana to ease their suffering on “Nightline,” Ken – who at the time was afflicted with intense nausea and fatigue from chemo – decided to try it. Almost immediately, he experienced a measure of relief that none of his prescriptions had provided.

Detroit resident Rochelle Lampkin is a multiple sclerosis patient who uses medical marijuana to ease her chronic pain. She is among the estimated 15% – 20% of MS patients who also suffer from optic neuritis, an inflammation of the optic nerve that causes intractable pain and is one of the causes of acute loss of vision.

Rochelle uses medical marijuana only when the pain is too unbearable.

The first time she was admitted to the hospital, a fellow patient told her how using marijuana helped had her to maintain her weight and eat properly. She was shocked at this, but after extensive research, decided to see if medical marijuana would help – and was amazed at the results.

Charles Snyder suffers from a rare genetic bone disorder called Nail Patella Syndrome (NPS), the same condition suffered by George McMahon, one of the three remaining patients who legally receive medical marijuana from the federal government under a now-defunct compassionate use program. NPS affects the connective tissue, fingernails, knee caps, and major joints. It also increases the risk of kidney failure, glaucoma, and cataracts and results in chronic pain, severe nausea, and muscles spasms.