Written by Brianna

Degenerative disc disease is honestly the most painful thing to ever plague my body. I suffered for 10 years before anyone diagnosed me. It was always brushed off as cramps, sleeping in an odd position, or standing too long at work. I believed it was more than muscle aches but no one trusted my pain level because I was just a teenager.

Growing up in Kentucky, medicinal marijuana was NOT an option. I grew up being told it was a gateway drug and the ultimate platform for addiction to hard drugs. I was terrified of marijuana for all of my life until I moved to Los Angeles at age 22. I kept going to doctors who would give me powerful narcotics and chiropractors who would twist my neck until it popped. Nothing gave me the relief I desperately needed.

It wasn’t until I saw a nature-oriented doctor in Hollywood that I heard about the medical benefits of marijuana. I couldn’t believe what he was saying. Was he actually suggesting I smoke the “big bad drug” I grew up avoiding? The first time I smoked I felt the pain in my lower back ease.I cried and cried happy tears.Finally…relief!

This villainized plant brought me what I had been searching for, for over a decade. I became angry that this valid form of pain management is looked down upon and lied about from the time we enter school. I lived in pain for so many years for no real reason. The legalization of marijuana should be the most pressing issue in America today. The amount of people living in unnecessary pain and battling true addiction from pain pills is criminal.