Sickle cell anemia; an inherited blood disorder that can turn normal and round blood cells into misshaped cells that look like crescent moons. This disease mostly comes from people with an African ancestry. Although, people who come from Hispanic, southern European, Middle Eastern, or Asian Indian backgrounds can get the disease as well. Sickle cell anemia can cause blood cells to get stuck in blood vessels, blocking proper blood flow and causing symptoms such as; intense pain in joints, dizziness, migraines, and low amount of oxygen in the body. 

Jordan Talley, 23, was born with sickle cell anemia. Talley was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan and has one brother, Justin Talley, 26, who also was born with sickle cell anemia. Together they both have been helping each other deal with their disorder. Talley started feeling symptoms of the disease when he was five years old. “I just was in so much pain, I didn’t know how to control it and it was a lot to handle at that age,” said Talley, “quickly, my brother and I had to grow up to know how to take care of ourselves when things like that happens.” 

Talley used many things to help with pain in his joints, but mostly he used many different acetaminophens. They did work, but the pain would come back. At the age of 18, Talley started to consider the effects of marijuana on the body, doctors and nurses suggested that the effects of marijuana could help him with his disorder. Talley, later, got a medical card to allow him to buy marijuana from dispensaries. Dispensaries are stores where marijuana is sold to anyone with a medical card. Talley could subside his pains better with marijuana than acetaminophens.

“It’s not fun, there is no cure and it’s just something I’ve learned to deal with,” said Talley. He makes conscious decisions when it comes to taking care of himself. He makes sure he is always hydrated, that he eats right, and he finds easy and better ways to control his pain periodically, which people with sickle cell anemia call crises. 

A crisis can cause damage to the spleen, an organ that helps fight infections. Damaged spleens are more likely to get infection that can kill someone with the sickle cell trait within hours or days. Therefore, people with the sickle cell trait need to take extreme care with themselves to make sure they can prevent that from happening. Marijuana doesn’t prevent that from happening but it does make their lives a lot less painful.