By SARAH WATSON
Staff Writer pressofAtlanticCity.com
Diane Riportella did not take pain medication Friday, hoping she could make it through the day. By evening, however, the pain from not being able to move was unbearable, the anxiety and fear inconsolable.
Rather than have her husband Paul give her a few drops of cherry-flavored liquid morphine, the Egg Harbor Township resident instead asked that he light her pipe with medical grade marijuana. Almost instantly, she said, the pain dissipated, her anxiety gone and she felt the will to live come back.
Today, if everything occurs as expected, Diane Riportella will hear that the state Senate passed a resolution that could be the last hurdle in legalizing medical marijuana in New Jersey. Unfortunately, Diane, who is in the final stages of Lou Gehrig’s Disease, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also called ALS, won’t be in Trenton to watch the vote in person.