Ohio medical marijuana, a survivor and a skeptic: Turning a new leaf (part 1)

HARTVILLE, OH (WOIO) - "Medical marijuana, I believe, is God's divine intervention."

Dana Daigle talks freely about her opinion of the drug that has taken center stage in Ohio. She says she has her life back, with good reason.

"Sept. 24, 1996. After dinner, going for a bike ride. Got hit by a drunk driver. Van versus bike, van's going to win," recalled Dana as she strained to remember that fateful night.

She suffered massive physical injuries, as well as traumatic brain injury when the motorcycle she was riding on was hit by an intoxicated driver.

"The neurosurgeon said the right half of my brain looked like hamburger meat. They didn't know if I was going to recover, or if I was going to be childlike. I was on pain management, a guinea pig. I just kept getting worse and worse. I was basically bedridden," she said, referencing the countless medicines she was on.

She said it lasted for two decades.

Her husband, Jay, agreed. "She began going downhill. No matter how many milligrams they gave her, it didn't matter."

In 2016, by chance, a friend brought a marijuana-infused balm back from a trip where it's legal in the US. With nothing left to lose, Jay said they gave it a shot.

"He got some of it, put a peanut sized dollop on his finger, rubbed it into her neck really good—she was literally a changed person. It was a miracle" he said.

As life-changing as it was for Dana, it was even perhaps more so for Jay. He was once a staunch opponent of marijuana, in all its forms.

"I was dead set against marijuana altogether…because I thought, like the majority of the population thinks: people are going to be walking down the road, smoking a joint, walking down the road and stumbling into traffic," he said. However, as Dana's condition continued to improve with the use of the balm, Jay's attitude started to change, dramatically.

"This can help so many people," he said. "They can get jobs. They can become productive members of society again."

Dana, uplifted and empowered, has become an advocate. "It has changed my life. I'm all for it. I've gone gung ho for it and I'm helping other people in Ohio get legal, and get off the opiates."

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