Marijuana possession charges were dropped yesterday against Barbara Sloniker, a cancer patient who uses cannabis medicinally to ease her pain. “The six-month battle was hurtful and draining at times … but I am not angry at anyone,” says Sloniker, who was informed in 1994 that she had at best a 20 percent chance of living through the chemotherapy and radiation treatments. “Anger would kill me.”
An activist as well as a patient, Sloniker intends to spend the summer educating California voters about the need for medical marijuana and encouraging citizens to vote “yes” this November for an initiative to allow patients to use marijuana as a medicine without fear of repercussion from law enforcement. “All of us who can need to speak up now,” she said.