Medical marijuana helps Downtown Eastside transplant recipient get off pain medication

GERALD LACROIX SAYS it was tough financial times, including losing his job working in auto parts, that landed him in a single-room-occupancy hotel in the Downtown Eastside four years ago. He was in that tiny space in April 2012 when, after hours of pouring sweat and becoming so weak he could barely stand, he called 911. Once he was in the ambulance, he says, his heart “exploded”.