Dear friends,

I came across your contact information and brief description of your aim at reforming drug law while going through a prisoner resource guide. I am sincerely concerned with current law and would like to learn more about your organization and how I may help.

I am currently incarcerated. I am a parole violator who violated parole by failing to report to parole. The reason I did not report is because I would have failed a urinalysis. I chose to violate due to ‘not reporting’ rather than have “documented drug use” stamped on me. Because, here is the rest of the story:

I have chronic, severe psoriasis. I get broken out with psoriasis so severely that there’s no place on my body not covered by red, swollen, scaly, oozing patches of flesh. It becomes so severe that extending my arm at the elbow to its fully extended position would cause the skin in the joint to rip open. My rectum splits when I have a bowel movement. I’ve swept up piles of skin numerous times during the day that are five inches tall. And the psoriasis has gotten into my joints so that I have psoriatic arthritis. At a healthy 45 years of age it sometimes feels like 70 or 100.

I’ve suffered with psoriasis for over 30 years and seen countless doctors and specialists. The treatment plans have ranged from being covered with a petroleum coal-tar goop all day and taking coal-tar baths, to using maximum allowable dosages of injectable steroids and chemo-type drugs (methatrexate), to phototherapy radiation combined with ointments, shampoos, lotions, injectables, and on and on.

Psoriasis is stress-related. One doctor, ONE, had the guts to prescribe for me a simple and totally effective treatment plan that I could follow: some good, stinky weed and plenty of sunshine. And it worked. No chemotherapy, no steroids, no petroleum coal-tar (carcinogenic?) goops. Just smoke or ingest a little pot and get natural sunlight. 

I have been incarcerated because I was trying to follow a necessary and effective treatment plan for relief from a horrible, very visible disease. I am all for drug law reform. How can I help?

Sincerely, John

_______________________

We have an old copy of Razor Wire (Winter 2007/2008). We have read it from cover to cover and found it very informative. It’s about to be passed on to others to read. If you could send us a new one, we would appreciate it very much. Thank you for your assistance.

Michael Anastasia

_______________________

As a person formally incarcerated for a victimless crime when I was a teenager, and spending many years as a homeless man after being released, I am grateful for your efforts, and we pray for you and yours!

Ryan Thompson

_______________________


Letters: We receive lots of mail, requests to email. Though we read each letter, we simply don’t have time or staff to respond to individual requests.
Legal cases: We cannot offer you legal representation or advice. Please do not send your legal papers unless requested.

Prisoner profiles (The WALL): Please continue to submit your stories, but if possible, send photos, of yourself, too. Stories should be brief, factual and include personal background such as age, family status. Credentialed writers and academics may request documentation and family contacts while researching a story. Include copies of documents only, and if requested.

 Articles for Razor Wire and Internet: Editorials should be 800 words or less, articles no more than 1,200 words. Submit typed stories in double space, or neatly printed if written by hand. Please limit use of bold, italics, underline or other special formatting.

Artwork: We appreciate and need your cartoons and sketches. Let your creativity and imagination run wild. 

Donations: We gladly accept postage stamps from prisoners and others, as well as gifts of money.

Our address is: November Coalition • 282 West Astor Ave • Colville, WA 99114 Phone: 509 - 684 -1550 • www.november.org


Next Article: Doing No More Jails