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Medical Marijuana Patient & HIV/AIDS sufferer Paul Doyle makes time for the media

CONTACT: Dan Bernath, MPP assistant director of communications, (202) 462-5747, ext. 115
http://pr.cannazine.co.uk : BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS — As the General Assembly breaks for the spring holiday season, a local medical marijuana patient is one of many around Illinois urging lawmakers to pass a bill to protect seriously ill people like him from arrest for using doctor-recommended medical marijuana.
Paul Doyle Paul Doyle, a Hillside resident who has battled AIDS since 2002, is available to television, print and radio outlets to tell his personal story and how legal medical marijuana protection would improve his life. For the first time ever, both chambers of the General Assembly are considering medical marijuana bills. According to a recent poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, Illinois residents favor allowing seriously and terminally ill patients to use marijuana for medical purposes by a 68-27 percent margin.	Paul Doyle has suffered with HIV since 2002. Within months of the initial diagnosis Paul was informed he had contracted full-blown AIDS.

Most medical professionals also agree on the need for legal protection for medical marijuana patients and their doctors. Last month, the American College of Physicians – the second largest U.S. medical association representing 124,000 physicians – issued a policy paper calling for legal protection for medical marijuana patients and for the federal government to respect the will of voters in states with medical marijuana laws.

Illinois could become the 13th state to protect its sick and dying from arrest for using medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation – and the first in the Midwest. Similar legislation is currently under consideration in Minnesota and New York, and voters in Michigan will likely see a medical marijuana initiative on their November ballot.

Name: Paul Doyle
Age: 38
Home: Hillside
Profession: Disabled
Condition: HIV/AIDS

Dear legislators:

I was diagnosed with HIV in 2002. Within months, my diagnosis quickly progressed to full-blown AIDS. It took me nearly three years to recover to a relatively healthy state. I have experienced nausea, weight loss, insomnia, and painful nerve damage caused by shingles due to this disease. I know from my own research that medical marijuana would have eased my suffering and facilitated my recovery significantly.

A common misconception about medical marijuana laws is that they are a back door to the full legalization of marijuana. Personally, my fight ends with the passage of a medical marijuana law in Illinois. After that, my only concern will be making sure our federal government catches up with the states on this issue. In the end, most patients are like me and are only concerned with improving our quality of life. Our conditions require relief now – some of us may not be around long enough to see the larger debate resolved.

Members of the media may get contact information for Paul Doyle from Dan Bernath, (202) 462-5747, ext. 115.

With more than 23,000 members and 180,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit www.MarijuanaPolicy.org .

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