I'd characterize my life as largely very happy except for the circumstances surrounding my sister (read on).

I'm 44 and live in a suburb north of Dallas with my husband and, when he's not away at school, our 20-year-old son. We own our home. Right now, my older sister, who has terminal cancer, lives with us.

I recently quit a well-paying professional job to return to school full-time. I'm now a medical student and don't bring in any income. Fortunately, my husband has things covered. We also saved 90% of my salary for the last 15 years of my career, so we're able to send both our son and me to school without going into debt to do so.

To be quite honest, marijuana means relatively little to me personally. I originally came online to find a connection to help my sister with the chemo-related symptoms of nausea and lack of appetite. It did help for a time. But she's past the point now where she feels like smoking, and I won't be buying any more weed simply for my own recreational purposes. As a student in this medical curriculum, I've now agreed not to indulge in illegal activities anyway.

No, my husband does not smoke weed. As a physician, he could get into potential licensing trouble if he did. He didn't mind that, before my school started, I occasionally toked with my sister when she was smoking to alleviate the chemo symptoms, but I expect he'd have felt differently if I'd become a habitual pot-head. Our son has tried grass and deemed it "Alright" but seems more interested in beer-drinking with his college buddies.

My goals are to be a good wife, a good mother, a good sister and daughter, and to complete medical school and begin practicing medicine myself. In 10 years, I hope to be a doting grandmother as well as a practicing physician.

Additional thoughts: I feel strongly that weed ought to be decriminalized for recreational use and widely available for medical use. Despite the fact that I'm no longer smoking myself, I intend to continue to be a strong advocate for both medical and recreational use and to participate on this board when time allows.