Robin Prosser was a former concert pianist and systems analyst from Montana who suffered from an immunosuppressive disease similar to lupus for over 20 years. The disease stiffened her muscles, limited her mobility, and caused chronic pain, heart trouble, nausea, and migraines. It also made her allergic to most pharmaceutical painkillers, and the ones she wasn’t allergic to had no effect.

Only medical marijuana brought her relief, so she looked to local law enforcement authorities for permission to grow her own marijuana to keep a steady supply of medication without having to fear being arrested or prosecuted, but Police Chief Bob Weaver stated that Prosser would “be busted if she grows pot and we learn about it.”

According to this article from the MPP, Prosser emailed her therapist explaining that she was going to commit suicide because she was not able to deal with the constant pain anymore. When the police showed up at her house, they found her nearly unconscious after having taken prescription sleeping pills ordered off the Internet. They also found a little marijuana and two pipes.

She was charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia because, according to Police Captain Marty Ludemann, “the reason we charged her is Montana does not allow the medical use of marijuana.” He also stated that “if it happened tomorrow under the same circumstances, we would arrest her again.”

The charges were dropped, so long as Prosser stayed out of trouble for nine months, and six months later, Montana passed a medical marijuana initiative. It seemed as though Prosser’s troubles were over until federal law enforcement officers intercepted the medicinal marijuana her licensed caregiver had sent her through the mail.

After this incident, Prosser had a lot of trouble finding the type and quality of medical marijuana she needed to help with her symptoms. She experienced excruciating pain in the following months until on Oct. 18, 2007, she took her own life.

This isn’t the first time the government sentences innocent people to death because they smoke marijuana, and I’m sure, unfortunately, it won’t be the last. This was an extremely intelligent woman who used to make beautiful music, but because our government denied her the only medication she could take, she’ll never strike a piano key again.

All I can hope is that she’s at peace and pain-free, making beautiful music in another life.

“The days when marijuana smoking was demonized as a dangerous counterculture activity are over. However you feel about marijuana use, we all agree that making it legal is better than keeping it criminal.” -Bill Piper

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