Case Two - Umberto Iorfida
- N.O.R.M.L. Canada President (1991-present)
More
in-depth biographical information on Umberto Iorfida.
More patients
Umberto, well known in NORML
circles since 1974, used marijuana less often than most prior to his accident.
He admits frankly to having been a very occasional recreational user from
the early 1970's.
"At most, in those days, I used
it about 5 or 6 times per year."
"I moved to Vancouver in mid-winter
1972, shortly after the downtown Vancouver Gastown (sometimes referred to as "Grasstown") police riot of late 1971. My primary concern
was my job, and improving my economic condition. I've been told I am a "type
A" personality. I push myself quite hard, and those around me. Like hundreds
of thousands of other young people in those years, I discovered marijuana.
I used it once per month at most, usually during a weekend. I was working
full time, and attending night school. I didn't have the time to smoke pot
very often. I had no criminal record, and still have no criminal record,
unless you count 4 arrests and convictions for simple possession of pot."
Umberto was first trying marijuana at about the same time that certain Senators
in the Canadian Parliament, and U.S. President Clinton have admitted to it.
His first job in British Columbia was with finance companies, but he then
switched to a garment manufacturing concern.
"I was daily involved in middle
management duties, and was earning the equivalent of $3000 - $4000 a month
in today's dollars, right out of high school. I have never had to look hard
for a job. My resume' speaks for itself".
"I'm from an Italian Catholic
background, and believe me, the guilt was already there, even before I smoked
pot ! But compared to the occasional beer, I truly felt that marijuana was
the lesser vice. Now I have no guilt about marijuana. I joined Canada's first
NORML chapter under George Baker who at that time was an M.P. in B.C. in
Broadview riding (voting district). I was an early NORML rank and file member.
The laws against pot were obviously wrong to practically everybody then.
In the early 1970's, the three dominant political parties on the Canadian
west coast, and the B.C. Bar Association, were all unanimously in favor of
decriminalizing marijuana. NORML was definitely not a "fringe" group. Everybody
wanted to get on the bus
."
Did marijuana cause his life
to spiral downwards into "self-hate", hard drugs, and moral decay ? Hardly.
He worked full time, and earned certificates in "industrial supervision"
and "human relations" at night school, then relocated back to the Toronto
area in 1977, where he found work at a metal fabrication factory. His hard
work and drive got him promoted to foreman in short order. He held this job
until his jaw injury in 1979.
When having his wisdom teeth
pulled by his dentist, an accident occurred. His jaw bone was cracked, and
his Temporal Mandibular Joint (or "TM J") permanently damaged. This is the
main "jaw bone joint" near the temples. TMJ problems are usually either inherited,
or caused by faulty orthodontics, or damaged or ground down teeth. Umberto's
disability was caused by a severe focused blow, which broke bone and dislocated
his jaw, which never healed properly. The lower jaw is permanently out of
socket. Umberto has no real teeth now, only dentures.
"At about the same time, I had
begun to participate more in NORML legalization activities. Terry Parker and
I had helped organize the most successful marijuana legalization rally for
some time in Toronto in 1979, and I had been nominated to become National
Director of NORML Canada. I accepted the position. Terry became assistant
National Director of NORML." (More on Terry Parker in the following paragraphs.
Keep reading.)
But severe pain began to make
his life nearly unbearable. "The doctor prescribed the strongest pain killers
available, morphine and Demorol. All my teeth were eventually pulled and
replaced with complicated dentures. I began to have difficulty driving my
car. Work at the factory was out of the question. My vision would blur and
I would experience dizziness just due to the continuous unrelenting pain,
and the effects of the prescriptions. I turned in my driver's license in
1981."
"I resigned from NORML in 1981,
had no job, and was living on welfare. This was a difficult period. The dentists
and doctors were still trying to wire my mouth back together."
"After the accident, I didn't
touch marijuana for about 4 months. I had no access to it anyway ! I was
completely doped up on morphine from the doctor. The pain was under control,
but my jaw was becoming locked in the closed position. I couldn't eat regular
food. I could barely even drink a McDonald's milkshake through a straw. I
never dreamed that marijuana would help my jaw muscles relax."
"About 4 months after the accident,
a friend stopped by to visit. He was very curious as to what had happened
to me. I told him about my jaw, and that I could barely eat. The muscles
had atrophied. As I spoke to him, I could feel the muscles tightening up
in my face."
"My friend said, 'try this',and
handed me a joint."
"That afternoon, I realized
to my surprise that there was sensation returning to my jaw. I thought it
might be my imagination, but I could definitely eat again ; and with much
less pain. Thank God. I was getting sick of milkshakes, if you can believe
that. My sleep quality also improved tremendously. And I didn't feel "doped
up" or numb such as from morphine."
"I don't believe that marijuana
is really a "pain killer" like morphine or heroin. It simply bypasses the
pain and relaxes the muscles. The pain is still there. I think marijuana
has some sort of aromatic properties similar to herbs like camphor. What's
the big deal with it ? Put it in the drug stores with warning labels and
a scientific name, and nobody would bother with it much. Who is abusing "morphine"
these days ? Heroin is a form of morphine. Go look it up in your dictionary.
And morphine is prescribed daily to millions of legal patients in legal hospitals
and emergency rooms all over the world. Let the same happen with marijuana".
(Ed. note : Drug use is risky
, more or less, depending on circumstances. The Lancet, Britain's journal
of medicine, has stated, just like U.S. DEA Judge Francis Young
stated, after consulting with medical experts , that marijuana, even when
smoked, is among the safest therapeutic substances available to mankind,
especially when compared with all the other tens of thousands of synthetic
pharmaceuticals routinely dosed daily by children and adults alike. This
does not mean that marijuana is safer than all other drugs. All drugs
have side effects and risks than may vary from individual to individual.
Any drug can be misused.)
From 1979 until 1986, Umberto
continued to live on minimal welfare. His doctors continued to prescribe
different pain killers
, (Demorol, morphine, Percodans, Meprobate, Lorzepam,
Chloropromazine, Stellizine, Diazapam, Talwin, Seconol, and others.) which did not relax the
jaw muscles very effectively. Due to his marginal economic condition, he
could not afford marijuana very often. The government supplied painkillers
were free, since all Canadians have government health insurance.
In 1986, Umberto was given full
disability status. This was also when he became convinced that marijuana
was definitely helping him. He began to seek information about the medical
use of marijuana. When he tried to contact NORML Canada for information,
he discovered that the organization was no longer functioning.
In 1988, Umberto decided to
try and get off the painkillers he had become addicted to. Although his doctor
refused to work with him on his marijuana usage, he agreed to supervise his
withdrawal from all legal prescriptions. It took months of medical supervision
for Umberto to get off of morphine and the other "accepted" pain killers.
The process was completed in 1990.
In looking for contacts for
medical marijuana information, he located Terry Parker again who had noticed
that he no longer had such bad or frequent epileptic seizures under the influence
of marijuana. Modern medicine had done little for him. During epileptic seizures
in public places, Terry has unfortunately been perceived on too many occasions
as a "belligerent troublemaker", and the police have arrested him on numerous
occasions. In jail, without any medicine at all, he has had frequent seizures,
and sustained head injuries.
In 1986, Umberto Iorfida and
Terry Parker began to work together to reactivate NORML Canada.
In 1988, Terry Parker, with
Umberto's help, became Canada's first and only "provisionally" legal marijuana
user.
More patients
Medical Use versus Recreational
Use of Marijuana
So, Can we assume that everybody
using marijuana is using it for therapeutic purposes ? Of course not. But
absent any behavioral problems, as with accepted alcohol use, the moderate
use, and small scale personal cultivation of marijuana, by adults, should
not be placed in the "criminal'" category. Nor should society make young
persons into permanent "criminals" by their temporal youthful marijuana usage.
Society today has had its value
structure warped by the "drug war" mentality. We are faced with the horrible
truth that our children, and many of our citizens, have been taught that
surveillance, blackmail, and routine cruelty, are normal activities for citizens
and governments to pursue. The "drug war'" philosophy is a diversion from
real moral values. This is why it has not been successful.
Telling people to "don't do
drugs" does not give them any comprehensive moral foundation. The general
moral value of "respect life and health" would be far more constructive.
The tendency of blaming all
problems in society on drug abuse, is as mistaken as blaming all problems
on a specific race, such as the Jews, and leads to the same insanities of
genocide.
Since practically any substance,
from common glue, to rubbing alcohol, to gasoline and solvents, to wild mushrooms,
can be used as a "drug", what is the point of focusing on marijuana and the
other 4 or 5 "illegal drugs" to the exclusion of the preferred underlying
principle ; that unwise drug use, even legal drugs, can lead to unfortunate
results ?
But to say that all drug use
is equally damaging simply does not make sense. Marijuana is not Heroin,
so it should not be treated the same. Those who drink one or two beers per
week, with no problems, should not be imprisoned because some beer drinkers
become alcoholics and beat their wives. Why not punish the wife beater for
beating his wife, and leave alone the beer drinker who behaves ? Likewise,
let's leave in peace the marijuana smoker who is not engaged in crime.
Non - criminal drug users, especially
those who are otherwise law abiding and constructive citizens should be given
the same respect and rights as any other citizen.
Considering that most of the
discoveries of marijuana's medical value in modern times was accomplished
accidentally by recreational marijuana users, we should ask ourselves to
what extent we wish to punish such activities ?
We should also acknowledge that
the human tendency to seek the occasional relaxation through a cup of coffee,
a glass of wine, a beer, or a joint, should not be equated with crime. Taking
a moment to relax, while using such things, may have positive results in
the right context. Some research has shown that marijuana smokers in Jamaica
were more productive, and lived longer, than their non pot - using counterparts.
