I really appreciate your support birdgirl73, and you, your sister, and family are in my thoughts as well. Fortunatly, she does see a therapist every other week, whom she really likes, as they were on some sort of child abuse commity in the past. For depression, my mom is taking effexor and has been for a long time. They don't always work though. For instance, I've been on Paxil for 3 years, and while it tremendously helped my anxiety, I still get depressed on occasions. To me, my mom is one of the most emotionally strong people in the world. Tons of people would have given up given those circumstances, but she still goes to work everyday, helps people, parents me, and still loves life, even though it's obviously hard for her to do. When she first started this job a few years ago, she won Employee of the Year or Most Hardworking Employee... (something like that). My moms arthritus is getting so bad, that she can't move her fingers at ALL on certain days. Part of her job involves typing up summaries of families she visits on the computer, which is really hard for her on some days. What I don't get is the mixed messages they are sending across to all of their employees. For instance, knowing that my mom had trouble typing, and knowing that she is a valuable employee, the company purchased a Voice-To-Text unit for her. It didnt' work that well, so my mom has fallen behind on writing up her evaluations. Then, they turn around and order her to get a drug and alcohol test for being seriously depressed at work?

My mom deserves a break from all of the stress in her life. What, with medical bills and all... They keep putting her on stronger and new medications that don't work. She is still in pain. When she smokes marijuana, her pain dissapears, and she is happy. I think she'd rather get a couple joints for free from her friend, or even buy an 8th at time for 25 bucks, than spend thousands and thousands a year on medication that just has terrible side effects that don't even work. If my mom fails her drug test, according to the companies policy, she'd be fired ASAP. One thing is, with all of the medication she's on, such as insulin for her diabetis, effexor for depression, and all of the pills she takes (she takes like 10 pills every morning, and has to have me open the bottle because she simply can't), it might throw off the drug test. But, she already admitted it to her boss that she tried it for her arthritus and it helps... I don't know if I can join NORML, as I'm only 16, but I'll show my mom the website. If only the government, DEA, and FDA would listen to people who clearly benefit from marijuana medically, maybe this wouldn't be a problem. It's just ridiculous how a plant that only helps is illegal. And it's even got me extremely upset, that my mom might lose her job if she fails her drug test. She's the farthest thing from a "druggie" or some sort of drug abuser. She is a responsible adult who smokes marijuana when she has it to help her pain.

If my mom writes to the congressional reps and senators, will she be arrested for admitting to smoking marijuana? If she fails her drug test, would the company contact the authorities? I know the laws apply to everyone, and the law probably doesn't care why people smoke marijuana, just the fact that it's illegal, but this just goes to show how absurd it is. My mom's all I have, and I don't want her to lose her job, and her reputation as the good person she is just for taking the medicine that works...
horror business Reviewed by horror business on . Need help/info for my mom. My mom just turned 53 on the 3rd of this month. She suffers from diabetis, (although it has been under control for quite some time) and a few years ago was diagnosed with rumatoid (sp) arthritus. She has EXPENSIVE pain medicine, that sometimes takes weeks to work, and sometimes doesn't even work. She grew up in the 60's and 70's and experimented with marijuana as a teenager and in her 20's. She works as a family counseler for young families, and before that, worked at the local courthouse, and Rating: 5