K. K. Forss, Minnesota medical marijuana patient

Ely resident K.K. Forss suffers from excruciating, debilitating pain after a disc in his neck exploded, causing extensive nerve damage. I had the opportunity to drive up north to interview K.K. for a Medical Marijuana Project video. "This doesn't have anything to do with culture wars," Forss says in the ad, noting that he is a registered Republican and a born-again Christian. "We have people suffering in horrible pain, and we talk politics -- it doesn't have to be that way."

K.K. obviously had much more to say on the topic than you see in this 60 second ad. Off-camera, he told me that having access to medical marijuana allowed him to eliminate some of his many, many medications. That meant he slept better, and he had a better relationship with his wife. Now they are separated, which has been very difficult. K.K. can barely take care of himself. He hadn't washed his hair in a year before this shoot. He's a professional photographer, but now his photos look more like this:

Support the compassionate medical marijuana bill S.F. 345 by contacting your representative and Gov. Pawlenty.