Gunshot Victim Struggles to Obtain Medical Marijuana

'MONTPELIER – Ian Rhein has no problem finding drugs. The problem is getting his hands on the one that actually makes him feel better.

A bullet lodged in the St. Johnsbury man's back – deposited almost 20 years ago from a gun shot by his mother's abusive ex-boyfriend – causes severe and chronic pain. The suffering has earned him a steady supply of doctor-prescribed opiate painkillers. Rhein, though, despite being on the state's medical-marijuana registry, can't access the cannabis that provides true relief.'