LINCOLN, Neb. — Lia Post, a Nebraskan mother and wife, has been battling complex regional pain syndrome for a decade and is advocating for her right to use medical cannabis. “For anyone out there that doesn’t want to use medical cannabis, don’t use medical cannabis, but you have no right to take that choice from me,” she said.

Post’s condition has significantly impacted her life. “I went, like I said, from having a full-time job, carrying the health insurance for the family, volunteering, to basically I couldn’t leave my house,” she explained. She was on a “drug cocktail” that included opioids, benzodiazepines, and sedatives during the opioid epidemic. “We were being prescribed that, then our pharmacists were filling those, and then we were taking them even when we had the knowledge of how dangerous it was for patients,” Post said. “So let’s make this very clear, this has always been about profit not about patients.”

Determined to change her life, Post quit drinking and smoking. “My illness was either going to take me out or I was going to beat it,” she said. She now uses only medical cannabis to manage her syndrome and travels to Missouri for her supply, where she can purchase more quantity at a better price. “With Missouri’s laws for medical patients, I can buy a little more at a time so I’m hoping I only have to go there four times a year,” she noted.

Post remains active in advocating for medical cannabis, attending cannabis commission meetings, hearings and protests. “It is not going well because it has nothing to do with patients. It has nothing to do with the will of the people,” she said. Despite frequent doctor visits and physical therapy, Post continues to self-medicate daily with medical cannabis.