The debilitating effects of chemotherapy and other cancer treatment regimes have made Miriam Shikami consider any alternatives possible.
Shikami says because medical marijuana is an effective pain reliever, there is no reason it should not be allowed for use.
“Chemotherapy is chewing my bones. I have a lot of pain that even sleeping is a problem. My daughter has to see me cry every day from pain because I can’t afford morphine,” she told the Star.
Shikami says the fight against cancer needs all interventions medically possible.
“Cannabis is good for us. Please allow it. Medicinal cannabis is good. We are pleading. It will help us as a pain reliever. We mustn’t die from pain,” she said.
She believes the many people battling with the disease will find relief if medical marijuana is approved for use.
“I am walking with this crutch not because I was born this way but it is because of the side effects of chemotherapy. Side effects of chemotherapy have done this to me.”
She said the government should understand her pain, feel it and just do something.
Disease Eradication Civil Society Assemblies founder Emily Mukomunene says people should be guided on the side effects of cancer treatment.
“Those who are able to go to that level end up suffering. You find we are losing patients because of the severe side effects of the treatment and not cancer itself,” Mukomunene says.
According to the official, if nothing is done to arrest the situation, the country will have people who are not productive because they are sick.
She terms it a shame to see a girl aged 12 years walking with crutches after amputation due to cancer.
There are at least two active chemicals in marijuana that researchers think have medicinal applications.
These are cannabidiol which impacts the brain without a giving a high and tetrahydrocannabinol which has pain-relieving properties and is largely responsible for the high.
The US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine says there is definitive evidence that cannabis or cannabinoids can be effective in the treatment for chronic pain.
Kibra MP Ken Okoth introduced the Marijuana Control Bill in the National Assembly in September last year.
The Bill proposed the decriminalisation of the use of marijuana and the drawing up of regulations for growth and use of the herb.
The idea has since received backing from Raila Odinga Junior and Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko.
Sonko on Thursday urged MPs to legalise the use of bhang in memory of the Kibra MP. Okoth died from colorectal cancer on July 26.
"Tunasikia bangi iko na dawa ya cancer (We hear bhang helps in treating cancer)," Sonko said.
However, leaders like former Nacada boss John Mututho have termed it a piece of legislation seeking to establish a criminal enterprise.
Mututho said he would move to court to seek legal redress if Parliament passes the Bill.
(edited by O. Owino)
