There’s no such thing as a “typical” medical marijuana patient. The marijuana clinics that I’ve visited have encompassed a wide swath of society, and the people I’ve met are living proof of the diversity of this population. Nevertheless, my first thought when I meet Rachel in this particular clinic waiting room is that she doesn’t belong here.
Rachel is in her early 40s, blond and wearing a crisply tailored deep-blue suit that looks like it’s made of expensive silk. Just for comparison, the guy sitting next to her is a skinny, unshaven lad wearing baggy shorts, a tank top and flip-flops. He looks like he’s heading to the beach, while Rachel looks like she’s taking a well-earned break from a board meeting. Later I find out she’s the co-owner of a large chain of boutiques.
Rachel tells me that her experience with medical marijuana began about a year ago, when she was at the site of a new store. A piece of construction equipment fell on her, fracturing her cervical spine and initially leaving her paralyzed. After a month in the hospital, her spine was stabilized, and she was able to walk again.
But she was far from well because pieces of her spine damaged some of the nerves that emerge from the spinal cord. Those damaged nerves caused unpredictable episodes of sharp pain. Rachel tells me the pain feels like knives are stabbing her neck and shooting down her arms as far as her fingers.
