My Name is Charles “Chuck” Homan,  I am 57 years old and am married with three children and grandchildren.  I have been a resident of South Central Pennsylvania all of my life and have run a slate roofing business for 31 years.

In 1998 I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and placed on paxil.  Up until this point, I had been bounced around from one sleeping pill to another for 25 years and had gotten so addicted I could hardly function enough to provide for my family.  The withdrawal from years of taking sleeping pills was horrific.  By 2001 I was heading for bankruptcy if I didn’t get some kind of help.  I had been introduced to marijuana in college and knew that it helped me eat and sleep, two big problems I had all my life.  So, for the next two years I used marijuana to get off the sleeping pills.  The problem now was that I was wired 24/7.  I do not sleep but for a few minutes every couple of hours or so if I’m lucky.

In my desperation, I sought for help where I thought would be the best places nearest me.  I went to a doctor who is on staff at John Hopkins.  Once again, he tried a regimen of pills that did not help.  Hershey Medical Center was not any better.  I was desperate!  After exhausting all medical options, marijuana is still the only rest I can get.  Every night I am suffering.  Trying to work with extreme exhaustion has left me with two torn bicep tendons and a torn rotor cuff.

The paxil had messed with my body chemistry.  I developed allergies to fructose, milk, eggs and vinegar.  Fructose would literally make me go out of my mind.  I was left with very little I could eat for 10 years.  Finally, I went off of it in February of 2008.  Within a month, I was eating fruits, eggs, milkshakes, and other things I hadn’t eaten in 10 years with no ill effects! 
No more pills for me!

- C.A. Homan