In this Letter to the Editor, a medical cannabis patient dealing with the effects of 9/11 advocates for cannabis home growing legalization in New Jersey.

9/11 Medical Cannabis Patient Advocates for Home Growing

I did not choose the trauma I inherited on September 11th, 2001, but I should have the right to choose how I manage it. True medical autonomy means having the legal freedom to plant a seed and secure our health without government interference or fear of prosecution.

I am one of many. Does anyone know or care how many people have suffered and died due to that Ground Zero toxic dust cloud?  That same dust cloud exposure that has lasted for so many years? Twenty-five years? 

Here’s an approximate headcount. More than 4,000 to over 8,000 deaths among first responders, recovery workers, and area residents have been officially, and I did say officially, linked to 9/11-related illnesses and toxic exposures, surpassing the 3,000-death toll from the actual day of the attacks.

Twenty-five years ago, our nation endured a tragedy that reshaped history. For those of us who lived through it, the dust may have settled, but the invisible scars remained. We battle all kinds of related health issues, cancers, heart conditions, lung issues, PTSD………yes, PTSD…Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  I have skin cancer, I have lung issues, and yes, I suffer from PTSD. 

Modern medicine can’t fix us.  The side effects, alone, are all-consuming. Twenty-five years later, for those of us that are still here, we live to tell our stories.

I was not present the day of the attacks. I worked for the New York State Nurses Association as a business agent for the union. Home base was Wall Street. We had a state meeting in Albany, NY (our state Capitol) to attend on that terrifying day.

But we returned the next day. Former NJ Governor Christine Todd Whitman was an administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She, along with Mayor Giuliani, said it was safe to return to work SIX DAYS LATER. 

They lied.

I am a medical cannabis patient. I live in New Jersey.   I voted for Governor Sherrill.

Finding a medicine that works is only half the battle if one cannot reliably or affordably access it. That is why I am standing before you today to advocate for a critical, missing piece of patient care: The Legal Right to Choose my Medicine.  The Legal Right to Home Grow my medicine. 

The Legal Right to Grow Medical Cannabis without any harmful pesticides.

The Legal Right to battle my own health crises……

I am calling on all of our lawmakers and community leaders to stand with not only survivors, but to trust patients, and to allow for an informational hearing to help all of you understand our plight with the respect and dignity that we deserve. 

Grant us the right to Grow our own Medicine.  

Thank you

Sue DeGregorio-Rosen, RN, CLNC

Cannabis Nurses Network Co-founder

Sativa Cross, Vice President