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JULY 2010
MEDICAL
CANNABIS JOURNAL For patients, by patients.
COMPLETE GUIDE TO
Medical Marijuana Laws Keep updated on changes on a state, national, & international level!
MEET DR. BOB
Dr. Robert J. Melamede
ACTIVIST INTERVIEWS
Interviews with Todd McCormick, Mark Pedersen, & more! STRAIN REVIEWS
Geo Inspects
The Harvest
Compassionate Patients Association & Dakini Collective
www.medicalcannabisjournal.net
A Conversation with
Michelle Rainey The Hostess with the Mostess
Michelle Rainey. Photo By: Jef Tek
Endocannabinoid Specialist
Marijuana Activists
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COLUMNS
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40
A Cannabis Patient
70
Lessons from the Road
77
Cannabis & Glaucoma
78
Letter to the Board of Iowa
By Mark Pedersen
By Barbara Mackenzie
By Norman Lepoff, M.D.
By Mark Pedersen
FEATURES 12 18 26
The Prince of Pot Deals with the D.E.A By Ron Niehouse
Interview with Todd McCormick By Joshua Lewis
Is Rick Simpson’s Hemp Oil Really a Cure? By Joshua Lewis
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Meet Dr. Bob
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Compassionate Patients Association
44
Meeting Mark Pedersen
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By Joshua Lewis By Joshua Lewis By Joshua Lewis
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84
Diagnosis Rap Sheet Assessment
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Can Marijuana Prevent Cancer?
88
U.S. War on Marijuana
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What Happens Here In Nevada… Stays Unimplemented Years Later
By William L. Johnson
By Lanny Swerdlow, RN By Steve VanWormer
By James Parsons
DEPARTMENTS 18
Meet the Team
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Strain Reviews
18
Collective Directory
Meet the creators of Medical Cannabis Journal By Geo
Currently Featuring the California Area
Does the Medical Cannabis Program in Hawaii Need an Update? By Ron Niehouse
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A Conversation with Michelle Rainey By Joshua Lewis
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Medical Cannabis Journal (MCJ) is a monthly magazine featuring news articles, reports, interviews, editorials, commentary and an mmj patient forum. Our staff consists of professional journalists as well as free lance writers, activists and patients. Although the information hereunto is valid and fact based Medical Cannabis Journal does not hold responsibility for any statements or claims made by its writers or sources; however, we strictly adhere to the ethical-guidelines of professional journalism and guarantee a libelous and seditious free publication complete with retractions and corrections when the need arises. MCJ also does not claim that its content or purpose is to give legal medical advice. To determine if cannabis can be an effective treatment is solely between you and your physician. If you would like to submit a correction or request retractions please contact: Joshua J. Lewis, Editor In Chief: jjl@medicalcannabisjournal. -Or- USPS: POB 431, Lake Elsinore, CA 92531. USA
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Medical Marijuana Laws
State Updates California—The California state Senate’s 23-15 California—The vote comes in the wake of recent federal enforce enforcement activity in the state, including multiple raids and the arrests of five individuals. The Cal California Assembly will take up Senate Joint Reso Resolution 14, which was introduced by State Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), when it returns for Maria January session. A.B. 2254, California’s Mari juana Control, Regulation and Education Act: Will be voted on in late November Session and if perpassed would remove criminal penalties for per sonal marijuana possession and cultivation for adults over the age of 21. Adults 21 and up could use marijuana at home or at a home with the consent of a resident 21 years of age or older. For more information pertaining to this bill please go to: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/ asm/ab_2251-2300/ab_2254_bill_20100218_introduced.pdf Colorado— the Colorado Board of Health rejected a proposal that would have sharply restricted the ability of the state’s citizens to access medical marijuana, in favor of allowing patients to obtain their medicine through retail dispensaries. The proposal the board rejected would have limited caregivers to assisting no more than five patients. Maryland— Maryland’s medical marijuana law worked as intended in two cases this month, but activists say the cases expose the law’s limitations and have vowed to press for changes. Rhode Island— Overriding their governor’s veto with a near-unanimous vote, Rhode Island legislators have expanded their state’s medical marijuana law to ensure safe access for qualified patients. By a vote of 102 to 3, members of the state General Assembly again passed the 2009
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Medical Marijuana Act, which establishes licenslicens es and regulations for dispensaries to distribute medical marijuana to citizens who have been auau thorized by their physicians to use it.
International Updates Israel—From From exactly two authorized medical cannabis patients in 2000, the number in Israel has now grown to about 700, with the number expected to surpass 1,000 by the end of the year. Under Health Ministry rules, only patients with extreme symptoms qualify. Today cannabis is prescribed by Baruch for a broad array of diseas diseas-es, among them multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, Tourette’s syndrome and cancer. Until 2005, just ten patients were enrolled in the medical cannabis program. The program allows patients to grow up to ten plants and possess up to 200 grams of cannabis. Alternatively, Israeli patients can get free cannabis provided by an anonymous cultivator and delivered by volunteers. Croatia—A Croatian veteran has successfully established a right to use cannabis to treat his posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The high court of Croatia overturned his conviction for growing cannabis in his backyard and threw out the oneyear prison sentence a lower court imposed. In Croatia, an estimated 18,000 veterans suffer from stress disorders as a result of serving in the country’s five-year war with Yugoslavia. Nearly 1,700 Croatian veterans have committed suicide since the end of the war. Resources: 1. www.safeaccessnow.org
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Medical Marijuana Laws
GEO
2010 is becoming a monumental year for Medical Marijuana Legislation and Decriminalization. We are at the crescendo of a new Era filled with hope and revolutionary ideals. If everyone would do their part in this fight against the so-called, Drug-War then we could really make a change and possibly see a Society where what we put in our own bodies is a personal choice instead of the governments’. After all there are better ways to manage Federal resources then by raiding dispensaries and arresting first-time cannabis users. It has been thirteen years since Proposition 215 was passed by California LawMakers and codified as ‘The Compassionate Use Act of 1996.” It has been approximately five years since the California Senate Passed Senate Bill 420 and was codified as Health & Safety Code Section 11362.77. Other states to follow California in fighting prohibition include: Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Michigan, Rhode Island, Vermont, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, and recently Iowans are trying to get on the Magic Bus of Freedom, as I’d like to call it. It is amazing that there are actually thirteen states on board, and according to the state-wide field poll; taken April 2009, 56% of Cali6
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF JOSHUA J. LEWIS
fornians expressed support for legalizing and taxing marijuana similar to alcohol and tobacco. Early 2009, Assembly member Tom Ammiano (D-SF) introduced legislation that would tax and regulate marijuana in a similar way as alcohol. Coined as ‘The Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act (AB 390).’ Right now California is in the midst of full economic collapse and I believe that there is no better time to set an example for the rest of the nation then by taxing a very viable and stable resource. Recently Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) Introduced, the ‘Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2009.’ This act which has bipartisan support, is co-sponsored by: Ron Paul (R-TX) ; Maurice Hinchey (D-NY); Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA); and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). If this Act gets approval It’ll remove Federal Penalties for possession of up to 100 grams (over 3 1/2 oz.’s), and would allow a non-profit transfer of 1 oz.; whereas, prosecution for these offenses would be entirely a matter for state law makers. Currently under Federal Law: Personal Use of a small amount of pot can get you up to one year in the Big House and an unjust $1000 fine to boot. Thir-
teen States have enacted laws decriminalizing the possession of marijuana by adults which means that minor offenses face a citation and small fine in lieu of criminal arrest or time in jail. According to CBS and Nationwide polls 3 out of 4 voters believe that adults who possess marijuana should not face arrest or jail. One out of two now say that cannabis should be regulated like alcohol and tobacco. More and more people are realizing that using marijuana should not be a crime and attitudes are shifting towards full legalization in the midst of a National economic crisis. Barney Frank (D-MA), and Ron Paul (R-TX) also recently introduced HR 2835, The Medical Marijuana Patient’s Protection Act of 2009. This Act halts federal interference in states that have enacted medical marijuana laws. This Bill for patients was reintroduced just days after Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) called for Federal Legislation to sentence first time marijuana offenders to 25 years in prison. July 16th, 2009 The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) has an alliance in the House of Representatives and they took a monumental step toward protecting medical marijuana patients in the District of Columbia. For A Decade The D.C. Spending Bill has included an amendment that prevents the city from implementing a voter-approved medical marijuana initiative. The House passed the 2010 version of the bill abolishing the provision which blocked
medical marijuana. This spending bill will move throughout the remainder of legislation and must be signed by President Obama for any changes to take effect. According to NORML, “ a revised budgetary analysis by the California State Board of Equalization (BOE) estimates that taxing, and regulating the retail sale of cannabis by adults would raise and estimate $1.4 Billion in annual new State revenue.” AB 390 Would raise an estimate $900 Million from the proposed $50 per oz. levy in addition to $392 Million in yearly sales tax revenues. In case you are unaware AB 390: The Marijuana Control Regulating and Education Act seeks to license and tax the commercial production, packaging, and retail sale of marijuana to persons 21 years of age or older. Obviously we are in for major changes in the near future. Please take the time to write your representatives and your elected government officials. Take part in a national or state-wide survey or be like Ron and Myself and start your very own publication with a mission to inform, educate and make a difference. Our generation has more incentive to bring about change and a better quality of life. Let us not reproduce the apathy which saturated us during the Baby Boomer generation. There were 74, 000 Californians charged with marijuana offenses in the last year, and over 20% of the U.S. population is behind bars. I urge you all to help change this by doing your part and make the effort to change the world.
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Editorial
WAR STORIES BY EUGENE DAVIDOVICH
I have lived in San Diego for over 20 years, four of which I was in the Navy. My service included 2 gulf deployments and numerous campaigns for which I was awarded medals and letters of commendation from my superiors. After being honorably discharged, I completed my education earning an MBA. In addition for the last five years I have been building a successful career in software development. After the service, I developed several conditions. The symptoms I experienced as a result were unbearable and prevented me from being able to function day-to-day. My ability to work, live a productive life, and complete my education, was seriously affected. I first turned to my regular doctors, who prescribed multiple pharmaceutical drugs, from which the side effects overpowered the benefits. With the use of medical cannabis I was able to find relief from my symptoms, maintain a normal life, and stay off the doctor prescribed drugs. I used cannabis to relieve the symptoms and was able to complete a Bachelors Degree in Business Management, a Masters in Business Administration, all while working full time on my career as a Software Development Project 8
Manager for an IT company here in town. When I began to seek access to medical cannabis in San Diego, I first found out that I had to either cultivate it myself, or go to one of three collectives/dispensaries that I found locally. At first I had no knowledge or the ability to cultivate, so I joined one of the collectives and obtained medication from there. In August of 2008, all of the collectives that dispensed medication in San Diego were shut down by Local Law Enforcement. This left Orange County as the closest place for safe access. The August 2008 raids effectively eliminated all safe access in San Diego County. At this point I decided to form a collective, cultivate, and collectively distribute medical cannabis to other members of the collective at no profit. In November of last year, I received a call from a patient referring to himself as Jamie Conlan asking to join the collective in order to obtain medical cannabis. He said he suffered from multiple conditions for which his doctor recommended the use of cannabis. After calling his doctor, and verifying that he was in fact a real patient, as well as verifying that his doctor was legally licensed to practice medicine in CA, I called this patient back and explained how the collective works. He joined my collective, and I agreed to meet with him and provide him with medication. I met this patient
and provided seven grams of medical cannabis to him at his house in Pacific Beach, a suburb of San Diego. When I arrived at the house, I first verified that all the information he had provided to me over the phone matched his CA Drivers License by physically inspecting his Driver’s License. I then checked that the same information matched his Recommendation Letter and that the letter appeared to be authentic, and it did. Once I was certain all the information was correct, and that this was the same person who joined the collective over the phone, I went back to my car, got the medicine, went into the house and gave him 7 grams (1/4 of an ounce) of medical cannabis. After a brief conversation I left the house and did not hear from him again. Three months later, on a Tuesday morning at 7 am as I was getting ready for work, my house was raided by an armed narcotics team from the San Diego Police Department. After being detained in handcuffs at my house in front of my wife, child, and neighbors for about seven hours, I was hauled off to jail, slapped with four felony charges and $65,000 bail related to the distribution, sales, and possession of marijuana. The day of my arraignment, the DA’s office held a press conference where they touted
the success of operation Endless Summer. They proclaimed that they cleaned up the streets of Navy Housing from dangerous drug dealers and seized a large amount of heroin, meth, marijuana, as well as other illegal drugs off the streets of navy housing. During the press conference, there was no mention of medical marijuana or Operation Green Rx. The evening news quickly picked up the story and that night showed video of me at the arraignment hearing, painting me as the poster child of this operation both mentioning my name and showing my picture following the description of the total number of illegal drugs seized during Operation Endless Summer. I am not a dangerous drug dealer, I did not possess any illegal drugs and I was operating the collective under what I truly believed was the guidance of California State Law. As a result of this press conference and charges, my personal and professional life has been permanently damaged. The preliminary hearing in my case lasted from 8:15 in the morning until almost 4:30 in the afternoon. After trying to navigate the “Serpentine Roadmap” that makes up our medical marijuana laws with my attorney in court, it appears to be more confusing then ever. The day started with the prosecutor fighting tooth and nail to not allow the recommendation from my physician to be admitted into the court records proving that I am a qualified patient even though 9
Editorial
was in fact targeting Medical Marijuana Patients and the whole point with Operation Green Rx was to bring down everyone listing their collectives on NORML only later was the name changed to Operation Endless Summer. We also found out that Conrado Decastro is in charge and is the ‘mastermind’ behind “Operation Green Rx”.
we had subpoenaed the documentation from the doctor’s office, and had a sworn affidavit to support that from the doctor’s custodian of record. My recommendation was admitted although it took a lot of effort from my attorney. The expert witness Chris Conrad, did get to testify and testified that the collective and the way that it was operating was in fact legal and sanctioned under state law. Even though the expert witness who was originally involved in an advisory and consulting capacity in drafting Prop 215 testified to what a collective is and that what I was doing did in fact fall under that definition as intended by the law, the judge did not agree he saw ‘no evidence of a collective” even though the detectives themselves said that I cultivated marijuana based on the equipment they found in my storage unit. We also found out from Detective Conrado Decastro that this Operation Green Rx 10
On a side note: In February when I was arrested, Conrado Decastro interrogated me at the police station. During the interrogation he pulled out two large 3 inch black binders that had a large red cross and marijuana leaf on them. The two binders contained a large number of tabs with last names of people. As he pulled out the two binders, he told me that I was not alone, and that “we are gonna bring all you medical pot people down”. Detective Scott Henderson (Jamie Conlan), conveniently ‘could not recall’ the details of the two phone conversations we had where I explained to him that this was a collective cultivation effort, and that he was not to divert the medicine to the illicit market. It was also very convenient that the detectives recorded everything except for the phone conversations even though he testified that the equipment for such recordings was readily available. It was unbelievable to see this much resources from the practically bankrupt county of San Diego being spent on this effort. There were for example at least five bailiffs in the courtroom, the DA had at least five other people from the DA’s office
advising her on how to properly prosecute this case, and they brought out three detectives to testify. All this during a Preliminary Hearing for a case where both people are qualified medical cannabis patients and one requested to join the other collective. It seems that the San Diego Narcotics Division TOP priority has been made to investigate and shut down medical cannabis collectives in San Diego. Here is another example from my Preliminary Hearing this Monday: Conrado Decastro, the Investigative Officer in my case, was identified by his colleague Scott Henderson as the officer in charge of Operation Green Rx. Conrado Decastro testified that he based his opinion of collectives and medical marijuana on training he received during his career. When questioned further about who conducted this training, he referenced a privately funded lobby group called California Narcotic Officers Association (CNOA). He also testified that during his training he received a handout which he used to base his expert testimony on, as to what a medical marijuana collective is and what constitutes qualified patient use.
•Marijuana is NOT medicine. Handout can be downloaded here from the CNOA California Narcotic Officers Association: www.cnoa.org/N-09.pdf The expert testimony of Chris Conrad in my case is based on his involvement in working with the drafters of the actual Prop 215 and the law, with which the judge did not agree. However, this handout which is clearly designed to sway people into thinking that cannabis is not medicine is a valid document to base Conrado Decastro’s opinion on, which with the judge did agree. In San Diego our Narcotics Officers are instructed that Marijuana is NOT Medicine and is highly addictive, our judges refer to medical cannabis as “dope”, and the prosecutors fight with all their might to not allow legitimate patients to present subpoenaed physician records as evidence of their patient status. The undercover footage of the actual delivery of medication to Scott Henderson (a qualified patient) can be viewed online at www.eugenedavidovich.com
Here is a brief sample from that handout:
Regards, Eugene Davidovich
[email protected]
USE OF MARIJUANA AS “MEDICINE” Quick Facts: •Marijuana, a plant from the cannabis family, is illegal and highly psychoactive. •Marijuana and its associated compounds that can seriously affect the human body.
* Eugene was acquitted on all charges and his medical cannabis was returned after it was processed as evidence. This fight continues beyond this story and any contributions or donations made will go to assist other individuals like Eugene Davidodich.
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Editorial
The Prince of Pot Deals With the D.E.A. Vancouver, British Columbia— Some know him as the Prince of Pot. To some he is simply Marc. Marc Emery is possibly the most famous person on an international level who has chosen to dedicate their life and hard-earned money on the fight to reform marijuana laws. He is considered a threat by the Canadian and U.S. Government. Marc has made it no secret what his motive is to, “Overgrow the Government.” Emery’s way to accomplish that goal was to sell and spread as many quality-seeds as possible to every county, city and town that requested them. Marc and Jodie Emery Marc Emery, like a true leader, waited for his team to get their legal problems in order. After accomplishing this, Marc turned himself into Canadian Authority’s on Monday September 28th, 2009. He remains in custody at a correctional facility in Vancouver, British Columbia. The problem is being that most of the cannabis seeds Marc sold were destined for the United States. The Prince of Pot has been a thorn in the side of law enforcement on both sides of the border for more than a decade. Marc spoke, loud and clear, “that he had funds and a commitment that enabled him to become one of the most famous voices in the world for ending cannabis prohibition.”
While Marc is in custody, his friends and supporters are mobilizing. The objectives are threefold: 1) To urge the Justice Minister not so sign the extradition order. 2) To urge the
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United States sentencing judge to grant a short non-custodial sentence. 3) If he does have to serve time in the United States to urge the Canadian Safety Minister to approve his transfer to Canada. Supporters have now set up a link from cannabisculture.com, click on no extradition or free marc and you will find instructions on ways to contact the proper officials. Vigils have been offered for Marc everyday by his supporters while he still remains in Vancouver, British Columbia. Supporters in the United States including Vivian McPeak who is the executive director of Hempfest in Seattle Washington said, “they are planning a very large rally if Marc is to arrive in Seattle.” Not having an exact date makes it much more difficult; however, “we are trying and we are almost at the point where we can set out when necessary,” according to McPeak. Jeremiah Vandamere, the Editor at Cannabis Culture Magazine which is now only available in electronic format exclaimed that, “this is terrible, if he committed a crime in Canada that is where he should have to do the time. “
The Canadian Justice Minister’s office claims that the extradition papers will in fact be signed and Marc will be sent to the United States to serve his sentence. The Minister was even willing to tell the press that these the papers would be signed by No13
Editorial
vember of 2009. Keep in mind Marc does not have any violent offenses on public record. Marc will be placed in shackles before authorities transported him to the United States/Canadian Border. Upon meeting United States Authorities at an undisclosed location he will be moved to The U.S. Detention Center in the State of Washington. The Prince of Pot, is expected to plead guilty to a single count of Cannabis distribution, with the War on Drugs being sponsored by the U.S. government, the DEA has found the perfect man to make an example out of. There is an epidemic of organized crime and an abundance of synthetic hard-drug operations throughout Canada. They have formed several drug task-forces and crime-prevention programs even though they have the supposed largest drug-kingpin in the country, in custody. Marc was number 31 on the DEA’s list of the largest drug dealers in the world. It is very strange and yet apparent that this is an all out assault on cannabis-users and medical cannabis patients in Canada. Although the movement Marc has helped to ignite has shown no loss of momentum in fact this is likely to give fodder to his cause. He and his wife, Jodie, will continue their overgrow the government revolution no matter where Marc is imprisoned. Jodie will be taking Marc’s place at Cannabis Culture Magazine, Marc Emery Seeds and all of the other things that would be on marc’s daily calendar. Jodie recently pioneered a support group 14
for women whom have loved ones in prison for non-violent offenses. There are a significant amount of cannabis-related incarcerations. This seems like a heavyload for someone suffering from the loss of a husband to an unjust system herself. Jodie stated a few hours after Marc’s farewell that, “this has motivated me to begin speaking for the families of prisoners.” She continued to say there are, “hundreds of thousands of non-violent drug-offenders incarcerated right now. Nameless and faceless except to their loved ones. I want to put faces and names to the people suffering year after year!” Marc urges supporters to continue the campaign to lobby the Canadian Justice Minister to not sign the papers that will send The Prince of Pot to the United States. In the likely event that Marc is extradited (before this issue of Medical Cannabis Journal is released) Marc and all of his friends, family, employees and supporters will continue to demand that he be returned to Canada to serve the remainder of his sentence. Marc stated “If I am to serve my time in Canada I could be back in as little as one year that is something I can imagine”. Remember Marc is not a violent offender. When the dreaded time came for Marc to say goodbye, he was not happy yet he was in no way remorseful. In fact he stated, “I am proud of everything I’ve done; I only regret that I was unable to do more.” Marc continued, “I did sell those seeds so people
could and would overgrow the government and I gave away over four million dollars to help educate and donated to organizations in Canada and abroad,” being this was the kick-start of the medical marijuana movement as well as legalization efforts. The prince of Pot has made a point by telling supporters that, “parliament should pay at the polls when it comes time to vote” and to “remember, there are no victims here and there are no dead people in this revolution; I am the Prince of Pot for a good reason.” After Marc said goodbye publicly to all of his supporters, advocates and family he was escorted by sheriffs to a Vancouver jail to await extradition. Marc may be around real drug dealers and organized criminals while he is in jail. Marc will be among less than ten Canadians. The majority of these offenders are South American and Mexican drug-cartel / mafia. There are times when the Canadians are locked down for months at a time for their own protection. These are the very same people from whom Marc was working so very hard to protect his fellow Canadians. He removed millions of dollars from the greedy tax15.2641 in free organized crime operations in Canada. Since he started to profit on his seed business and give it back to tax-deductible organizations like NORML, MPP, (ASA) among others, all benefiting from Marc’s work. The country of Canada accepted gracious amounts of tax revenue thanks to his seed sales. The Drug Enforcement Agency to the south interrupted this per-
fect relationship Marc had with the people he wished to serve. We also can’t leave out the fact that he created the Canadian Marijuana Party along with Michelle Rainey. On a political level, Marc had, and I am sure still has, great plans and ideas; He certainly has much more clarity than the most politicians. Marc has a lot of which to be proud. If there was any hint of remorse, it would have most likely been sadness for his wife Jodie as she said, “I will be alone every night, it’s not so bad during the day when I am surrounded by our supporters and a team of friends when I go home and I am alone it is most difficult.” History will show that Marc Emery knew how to wage a campaign of agitation. Marc new how to strategically stand up and fight against the tragic war on drugs. Now the question is whether or not they can use these skills to raise awareness, not just for Marc’s injustice but for all of the rest suffering for being a victim, of the war on drugs. * Marc Emery is currently awaiting extradition to the United States. Support the Canadian activist, Marc Emery, by visiting http://www.cannabisculture.com/noextradition. Resources:
1) www.stopthedrugwar.com 2) www.youtube.com 3) Cannabis Culture Magazine 4) Wikipedia 5) www.myspace.com /prince of pot
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Editorial
Letter to the Editor Joshua Lewis, MCJ Editor-in-Chief Dear Medical Cannabis Journal, I am an mmj patient in downtown Los Angeles. Over the recent months there has been an increase in the number of medical marijuana dispensaries popping up all over the county and city as well. What my concern with this is how do I go about choosing a dispensary that is operating legitimately? Because I know that there is a percentage that is operating illegally? Sincerely, Concerned Patient L.A. Dear Concerned Patient, You are correct in your assessment of the abundance of dispensaries in L.A.; however if you are concerned about going to a legitimate operation, my best advice to you is to go to www.norml.org (NORML’s website) or visit www.americansforsafeaccess. org (ASA’s website) and look for the list of dipensaries that they deem safe. Also keep in mind that in Los Angeles dispensaries that display the Green Cross are affiliating themselves with GLACA which stands for Greater Los Angeles Collective Alliance. GLACA is associated with providing safe ac16
cess to medical cannabis patients and their website is: www.cargiversalliance.org I always encourage my readers to grow your own, overgrow the government or if you can’t cultivate in your present situation consider looking into growing co-op’s like CPA. Best, Joshua J. Lewis Dear Medical Cannabis Journal, I have suffered from migraine-headaches for years now, It seems that I am at a standstill. Do you think that medical marijuana could help with them? Sincerely, Migraine Headache Sufferer Dear Migraine Headache Sufferer, Being a patient who suffers from migraine headaches I can definitely say that yes cannabis helps tremendously. What cannabis does is it brings down the swelling in your inflamed bloodvessels which are the main cause for light and sound sensitivity. Cannabis
also helps to curb the nausea often associated with migraine. Take Care, Joshua J. Lewis Dear Medical Cannabis Journal, Is there an organization that you know of that can provide me with the names of dispensaries that conform to a higher standard of product while I travel? Thanks, The Wonderer Dear Wanderer, Yes in fact there is such an organization and they are called NORML. You can go to there website: http://www. NORML.org and browse through their comprehensive dispensary directory; however, if you are really concerned with quality and safe access then I personally recommend going to our website: http://www.MedicalCannabisJournal.net where we have a daily-updated dispensary, collective and clinical directory with organizations and affiliates pre-approved by the higher standards of MCJ’s marketing and networking staff. Also be sure to check out: http://www.americansforsafeaccessnow.org. Good luck! Keep on truckin’, Joshua J. Lewis
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Editorial
Interview with
Todd McCormick by Joshua Lewis
MCJ: Could you please tell us a little about yourself? How you got to where you are now with your magazine and the THC EXPO?
in which I have a spinal fusion, C 1 through 5 are fused which causes me a lot of pain and is the main reason why I continue to use cannabis as a analgesic.
TM: I got thrust into this movement as a child dealing with a combination of radiation and chemotherapy sessions when I was only nine years old, I was suffering through what was my ninth time of having cancer in eight years and my mother was at her wits end, she read in Good Housekeeping that cannabis was good for cancer chemotherapy and decided to give it a try. So I started using medical marijuana when I was only nine years old.
Around the age of 13 I got my hands on my first grow book and immediately wanted to see if it worked. So I started growing my own Cannabis when I was only 13 years old. It was ironically an old Mel Frank book, and I’m proud to say his company is one of the companies that was part of the THC Expo and now a close personal friend. After I started growing, I bumped into the book by Ernest Abel: Marijuana, the first 12,000 years, which I highly recommend to everybody. It was there I learned about the history of cannabis, and that started my fascination into the subject.
The immediate reaction to the cannabis while I was sick was nothing short of amazing, in many respects, I owe my sanity to cannabis for keeping my head on straight during some very difficult times. Although I stopped smoking cannabis between the ages of 9 and 12, I started up again because I was having a lot of neck pain at the area 18
It was not until 1992 when I moved out to California that I read “The Emperor Wears No Clothes,” I was so enthralled by this book that I met Jack Herer and ended up becoming very close personal friends with
him. I started off my activism by coordinating the signatures for the 1994 Cannabis Hemp and Health Initiative in San Diego, after the Initiative I toured with Jack and got a real good education from one of the best activists in the movement. I went on to become one of Jack’s many editors, and know the book inside and out, literally line by line. I actually grew the leaf that is on the cover of the book, it is Black Domina from Sensi Seeds, I grew it in 1997 in the garden that was the “Marijuana Mansion” as the press dubbed it at my home in Bel Air. In 1997 I became the first federal arrest after the voters passed proposition 215 for medical marijuana. In 1994 I was one of the first of 10 people to get a doctor’s prescription from my Dutch Physician in Rotterdam; I actually brought back my medical Cannabis through customs and declared it in 1995; back then, I was the only person that we knew who had a doctor’s note from an international physician prescribing cannabis in America. I argued that it made me legal under a single treaty Geneva Convention and the 1979 psychotropic substances commission, Elvy Musikka and I actually debated the DEA at the University of Miami over the subject in February of 1995, I actually challenged him to arrest me if I went and got my prescription medication and he said that he would not. So I jumped on a plane, unbelievably Martinair allowed me to smoke cannabis in flight in both directions because I had a Dutch Physician’s prescription! At the time you were allowed to smoke tobacco on international flights there were over nine hours, so they made me sit in the tobacco
Entrance to THC Expo 2009
section, which I was glad to do. Upon arrival, I declared the cannabis as medicine and they let me in. I did it again in 1997, and they took it away from me and I sued them for its return, I did not get it, but of course they dropped the case. Shortly after that in 1995, I was still living in San Diego and I opened the first Cannabis Compassion Club in San Diego and distributed medication to people that were seriously ill for free; back in 1995, San Diego had a very different city council and they were actually cannabis friendly. Shortly after opening the cannabis club in San Diego I was arrested in Ohio, with over 30 pounds of cannabis marked “not for sale, medical use only”, and ultimately beat the case after spending 52 days in jail, the judge in the case considered letting me use my medical Cannabis while I was incarcerated because of my Dutch Physician’s prescription, they decided to let me out before that happened and told me in no uncertain terms to get the hell out of their state. After getting out of jail, I decided to go to 19
Editorial Amsterdam and ended up staying there over a year and a half, I got the opportunity to work with Serious Seeds, Positronics, and Highlife Magazine, I was their English editor of a magazine called ‘Hemp Life’ that only ran one issue, I got into a disagreement with the publisher over the sale of seeds to America and decided not to work with him. I returned home to California and met a famous author and publisher Peter McWilliams. He and I teamed up, and I wrote the book ‘How to Grow Medical Marijuana’ in 1998, I started the website growmedicine.org and started working on numerous projects documenting the growing of the various strains of cannabis in a controlled environment; sadly, I was arrested only six months into the project. To say my life completely changed after getting arrested would be a complete understatement, I fortunately had some really good friends who stood by my side; Woody Harrelson famously bailed me out of jail, and I was represented by Larry Flynt’s attorneys for three years while we fought the federal government. Consequently, I became one of the first people denied a medical necessity defense at trial, the New York Times dedicated an entire page to the Judge’s ruling. Left without a defense and facing incarceration on a ten-year mandatory minimum with no ability for bond on appeal, I was given three choices; go to trial and spent almost $125,000 to lose. Only so the higher courts could decide whether or not, I was allowed to present a medical necessity defense, during which time of appeal I would most definitely be incarcerated serving a ten-year mandatory minimum,
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because I admitted to growing the Cannabis which in itself was the “crime”. Option two was take a five-year mandatory minimum, but retain my right to appeal (at the time, I still believed in the court system), I would be able to retain free on bond on appeal and if I lost the appeal I would have to go to prison and do five years. The third option was to take 0 to 5 years and waved my right to appeal basically begged the court for mercy. I can be pretty stubborn and I just was not in the headspace to basically renounce everything I had worked for and taken the government’s point that what I was doing was wrong. So, on January 3, 2000 I surrendered to the federal government for a five-year sentence, I subsequently lost my appeal, as all of us have, and served my time. I was released in May of 2004 after serving 87% of a five-year sentence. I returned to living in Los Angeles and in 2007 I was asked to help coproduced the Playboy parties for MPP, I really enjoyed it and ended up working with them three years in a row, which led to the THC Expo.
a wonderful reputation and immediately secured the Los Angeles Convention Center for our first Expo. Like myself, Brian had lived in Amsterdam, and we have a lot of the same friends, we simply put our resources together and because a lot of people knew us and trusted us they jumped on board to try to help us bring our vision together. Arjan from Greenhouse Seeds, immediately stepped up and made the commitment to come 9000 miles from home and do the show with us, this is from a guy who has never stepped foot in America, it was that was the kind of support that we found we had a lot of from a lot of our friends, and a majority of the exhibitors are really our friends, they are people who we have met in the movement over the many years that we’ve been it, many of which got into the commerce of Cannabis business so that they could further the movement through conscious capitalism involving Cannabis. MCJ: The THC EXPO was a huge success and never has the city of Los Angeles hosted an event of its kind. How do you feel about the outcome of the first annual Expo?
I actually had the idea of doing a businessto-business event for the Marijuana Policy Project at the Playboy mansion, but the organization did not want to try to throw two parties up there a year. It was around that time that I was re-introduced to my now business partner and best friend; Brian Roberts, he and I shared an interest in doing a magazine, an expo, a museum, a school, and an on-line community.
TM: We thought it was a phenomenal success, the decorating company called Freeman estimated that we had over 50,000 people there on Saturday alone! Sadly, because we did not have good counters at the gates we don’t know what the exact number was Saturday, but we’re pretty certain that over the two days we easily saw over 40,000 people who are all interested in the furtherance of cannabis.
Brian is an exceptional businessman with
MCJ: So what’s up with the movie “The
Union- The business behind getting high? What is that about? When is it going to be available etc.? TM: I am really proud to have been in that movie, I think the filmmakers Adam and Brett did a marvelous job, I really think it is a must-see for anybody interested in this topic. Both those guys are non-smokers and they took a really honest approach to the topic without any bias, and they walked away telling the history in a way that some matter-of-factly proves the point that Cannabis prohibition should have ended a long time ago. The DVD is available at Amazon.com and last time I checked was number three on the political DVD top 10 sales list. I also think people can watch it on Google video, and I would recommend it to anybody. MCJ: The 2nd Annual THC EXPO is scheduled for April 23rd to 25th, 2010 at The Los Angeles Convention Center. How do you feel this next expo will compare to this last year’s where 40,000 showed up over the course of one weekend?
THC Expo Banner
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Editorial TM: We have already secured over 150,000 ft.², which is a third larger than the 96,000 ft.² we had in June, last year was a lot harder to sell an idea than this year it will be to be able to point to what we did and ask people if they want to participate. Already we are getting hit with requests, and I believe that this year is going to be bigger and more positive as support is already pouring in. MCJ: As an activist what would you say is the ultimate goal that you would like to achieve? TM: Complete re-legalization and implementation of cannabis back into our commodities market, I want to see cannabis freely grown in America and all other nations for food, fuel, fiber and medicine. I believe that the real reason that marijuana is prohibited is because of cannabis and hemp’s ability to compete in so many markets; I think over the years, big industry has been influencing politicians to keep the status quo, which was of course cannabis prohibition. While they could develop new markets of nylon and forest paper and offshore oil and a plethora of other daily commodities that historically cannabis provided us with.
MCJ: Is there anything else that you would like to add? TM: I would like to invite everybody who can’t get their hands on a printed copy to download a copy of my new magazine ‘HEMPIRE/ T.H.C.’ and to come join our community at www.hempiremedia.net, I think it’s really worth your read and I hope you really like the photographs; the magazine contains some brand-new techniques in multi-layered focus photography that I did which really shows off the trichomes like you have never seen before. I am also starting classes at our downtown location teaching grow courses, anybody interested in learning how to grow medicine can go to www.growmedicine.org for more information. MCJ: Alright thank you so much Todd for speaking with us here at Medical Cannabis Journal. Take care and we will see you in April at the next THC EXPO. Resources: 1. www.thcexpo.com 2. www.hempiremedia.net
I believe in adult use of Cannabis, and I believe that we have to start arguing for equal rights of plants to give us the gifts that nature intended and to not let our politics get in the way of a natural solution to our everyday problems. This is not a war on drugs. It’s a war on some drugs, and it has to end. 22
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Did Your Realize...? A few things to think about regarding Medical Cannabis By Ron Niehouse
...that every newborn who breast feeds will receive cannabinoids thru breast milk? This helps to stimulate the baby’s appetite? ...law enforcement makes an average of over 700,000 marijuana-related arrests yearly? ...87% of marijuana-related arrests are for an insignificant amount? Often being less than one ounce. Penalties and there severity vary from state to state. ...if you are in the State of California and you have less than one ounce of marijuana, without a doctor’s recommendation, you can be issued a fine of $100? ...the United States of America spends somewhere between $10 and $15 billion dollars annually to hunt down and arrest recreational and medicinal marijuana users? ...in Alabama, three marijuana-related convictions can be very serious? On your third marijuanarelated conviction you could face 15 years to life in prison. Often for an insignificant amount of cannabis. ...marijuana can be used as a reason for the government to force your children into the state’s foster care system? Fighting for the custody of your children, coupled with the legal-fees associated with a marijuana-related arrest, can ultimately destroy economic-stability and sound family structures. ...according to the DEA’s Controlled Substance Act, marijuana is a schedule I drug and is wrongfully considered more dangerous than heroin, morphine, Percocet, methamphetamine and cocaine? ...according to U.S. history there have never been a majority of citizens who claim to support the legalization of marijuana? The California Field Poll shows that 56% of Californians support taxation and regulation. They would also like cannabis to have similar availability as alcohol and cigarettes. ...THC is not completely harmless yet it is safer than water. Although a person can overdose on H2O there is no evidence supporting the possibility of an overdose on THC?
Please see drugpolicy.org Resources:
1. National Review, www.nationalreview.com June 12, 2004 titled “Going to Pot”. By Ethan A. Nadelmann The Growing movement toward ending America’s irrational marijuana prohibition.
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Editorial
Is Rick Simpson’s
Hemp-Oil
Really A Cure? By Joshua Lewis
Nova Scotia, Canada--Recently on the web you may have noticed that there is an awful lot of hype surrounding a possible cure-all known as Rick Simpson’s Concentrated Hemp-Oil. A gentlemen from Amherst, Nova Scotia by the name of Ricky Logan Simpson has come up with what he claims to be a cure for many ailments such as cancer, glaucoma, A.I.D.S., wasting syndrome among other serious diseases that do not respond well to the conventional treatment or the medicines typically prescribed. Simpson has been producing his very own medicine for years now. It is not unusual for Rick to make his Hemp-oil and distribute it to people whom suffer from various diseases and symptoms. His motivation comes from the genuine compassion that he feels for sick people and their needs rather than making a profit. Residing in the Maccan area where marijuana and hemp are still illegal and considered a Schedule II Drug, Rick Logan Simpson has been convicted twice for drug charges and both times released as a free man the same day as his sentencing. Mr. Simpson, who believes that he has discovered a cure for a variety of ailments such as cancer and wasting syndrome with his miracle hemp-oil, entered a guilty plea to one charge of trafficking, a charge that was laid while he awaited sentencing on other similar, drug-charges. Simpson was sentenced to eight days in custody, time which was deemed served during his remand time, and sentenced to a lifetime firearms prohibition.
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On Nov. 30, 2008 Simpson was arrested as he left the courthouse where he appeared for a sentencing hearing, on one count each of possession of less than 30 grams of cannabis, and possession of less than three kilograms of THC for the purpose of trafficking and unlawful production of marijuana. According to McQueen, “The Crown acknowledges that the motivation was not a profit-minded motivation. At the time of the sentencing, Mr. Simpson was in the position of a first time drug offender, but this has very different circumstances - this is his second offense.” How can someone in this day and age still be arrested for doing something that is morally and ethically sound? Persecuting people for doing the right thing has to stop both in Canada and the United States of America. If you visit Simpson’s website: www.phoenixtears.ca, you can scan through several testimonials of hemp-oil’s success. According to Simpson, He has physical proof that his hemp-oil actually works and has been successful at significantly reducing tumor-growths, putting cancer into remission, relieving symptoms of neuropathy, chronicpain and other serious ailments. Remember that Rick Logan Simpson is currently a fugitive of the Canadian Government and is currently on the run living in exile in Europe and abroad. If you would like to help support this freedom fighter through these rough times, your financial contributions are much appreciated be sure to visit Simpson’s website: www.
phoenixtears.ca for more information and how to send him your donations. If you would like to learn more about how cannabinoids work together with the endocannabinoidal system to help fight inflammation and terminal diseases like cancer, then be sure to check out these links: 1. www.cannabinoidsociety.org 2. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov 3. www.phoenixtears.ca/videos_run-from-the-cure.php 4. www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2JyhO79po8 Amsterdam, Holland--In November 2009 while celebrating at the High Times Cannabis Cup Mr. Rick Logan Simpson received the esteemed ‘Freedom Fighter’ of The Year Award; however, this momentous occasion was coupled simultaneously by another less fortunate event: the raiding of his home and property by The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). As a result of this useless and lawless attack by the RCMP Mr. Simpson has been forced to live his life in exile throughout Europe avoiding arrest and imprisonment. Rick is in need of financial help and your contributions to his fund are much appreciated please visit www.phoenixtears.ca for more information. On behalf of Rick Simpson, Medical Cannabis Journal and Phoenixtears... Thank you so much! Resources: 1. www.phoenixtears.ca 2. “Run From The Cure,” The Movie. 3. http://www.phoenixtears.ca/melamede_webcast.php 4. www.youtube.com 5. http://www.cannabinoidsociety.org/ 6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2JyhO79po8
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Editorial
Meet
Dr. Bob
Dr. Robert J. Melamede
On The Endocannabinoidal System & Far From Equilibrium Thermodynamics by Joshua Lewis
I can honestly say that he is one of the most compelling, interesting, and significant people with whom I have had the honor of speaking. Fortunately, Medical Cannabis Journal (your source for medical marijuana patient information) has recently had the privilege of hosting an MCJ exclusive interview with Dr. Bob. You may know him from cannabuzz.net, Cannabis Science Inc. (CBIS), or from his plethora of uber-informative videos available on Google Video and YouTube. Dr. Bob is the President and C.E.O. of Cannabis Science Inc. (CBIS), he has a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the City University of New York. Honorably retired from the position of Chairman of the Biology Department at the University of Colorado Springs in the year 2005. Commonly known as the leading authority on the therapeutic and medicinal uses of cannabis. Dr. Bob has authored and coauthored many papers on science-related subject matter. Currently serving on the advisory board of the Journal of International Association For Cannabis as medicine, the scientific advi28
sory board of the Sensible Colorado (SensiCo) and, and the scientific advisory board of Americans for Safe Access (ASA). Today Dr. Bob is here with us on the telephone to talk about far from equilibrium thermodynamics, the Endocannabinoid System and how cannabis can help provide people with the ability to achieve a homeostatic-balance. Without further ado , here is Dr. Robert J. Melamede! MCJ: Hello Dr. Bob how are you today? DB: I am doing fine today, great to be talking with you. What can I do for you?
MCJ: Great, could you give us a brief explanation of far from equilibrium thermodynamics? DB: I surely can. Lets just dissect the term. Far from equilibrium means something that is not at equilibrium and thermodynamics refers to thermo (heat) and dynamics is
movement (flow). So what we are really looking at is how does energy and mass flow when you have a system that is far from equilibrium. Basically this means that if you had a battery; for example, that was fully discharged, the chemicals in that battery would be at equilibrium. They can’t do anything. When the battery is charged, its far from equilibrium and can do things. There is really profound magic essentially in the large collection of the molecules that exist on equilibrium. What happens then is that those molecules will have a natural tendency to organize themselves so that energy and mass can blow through that collection more rapidly. Essentially, in a very down to Earth, none scientific way of putting it, what happens is the collection of molecules gets smarter; whereas, the universe around them gets stupider quicker. In more technical terms you would say that the entropy of the system decreased; whereas, the entropy of the surroundings increased. It is essentially a far from equilibrium system and we constantly have to have energy and mass flowing through us, in order for us to maintain that distance of equilibrium. Essentially health is distance from equilibrium; whereas, death is return to equilibrium. Our illnesses are all part of that return to equilibrium process, illness and aging.
that is what it stands for there. Let me relate it to the endocannabinoid system specifically. First of all, far from equilibrium thermodynamics is genuinely responsible for pre-biotic life and lead to the formation of life and if you look at life’s progression, its evolutionary- progression. You see that we have a greater level of complexity; for example, the complexity of man and his mind as opposed to say a cockroach. It’s profoundly different. They don’t have the same needs and they don’t do all of the things that we do. They’re complex but nothing compared to our complexity. So where we are going with this is that as evolution proceeded and as things got more complex their endocannabinoid system evolved and plays a very unique roll in the evolution of mankind and really from my perspective, our entire lineage from when a unique bi-
Dr. Robert J. Melamede Ph.D., Former Chairman of the Biology Department of the University of Colorado Conducting scientific research on Cannabinoids Phone: 719-262-3135
MCJ: Please explain the difference between BLP’s & FLP’s and how they are associated with independent structures and flow dependent structures?
University of Colorado 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway, Room 232 PO Box 7150 Colorado Springs, CO 80933-7150
DB: Yeah BLP’s and FLP’s o.k., so backward looking people and forward looking people
[email protected]
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Editorial furcation occurred hundreds of millions of years ago. So without elaborating too much on all that and attempting to answer your question more, the complexity of evolution proceeded and increased as we went form reptiles to amphibians, to mammals from a direct mammal-lineage to man. One of the things that are characteristic of life is that you always have a balance of opposing forces. Kind of like in politics, liberals and conservatives. The reality is that balance is held taught by those opposing groups. Well that is the way our biology works as well. For example, remembering and forgetting. Those are opposing forces and there are consequences to being essentially out of balance. For example, if you couldn’t remember anything you would have a hard time functioning and on the other hand if you remembered everything that you do all the time especially, for example, unpleasant memories then you would also have a hard time functioning. We call that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Well it turns out its that thermostat essentially of remembering and forgetting that is very much regulated by our endocannabinoid activity (cannabis from within). So it turns out that there are natural consequences to being able to forget the past, so to speak. And it has to do with our ability to relearn something new. Let me give you an example; you know you learn right from early age that marijuana is the worst thing in the world and that our federal government or White House drug-policy people actually have the incredible audacity or stupidity to say that marijuana is as bad or worse than heroin.
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MCJ: Yeah it’s at the top of the list. A schedule I drug is considered dangerous and to have absolutely no medicinal value (sarcasm). We have President Nixon and the DEA’s Controlled Substance Act to blame! DB: Whether that is true or not look at all the incredible science that is coming out, now that we have discovered that we all make marijuana-like compounds that literally regulate everything in our body. In order to be able to reorganize our brain we have to forget the old information to replace it with the new information. Marijuana is good, it’s healthy for you. Its essentially nutrients and that is why it is effective. It is essential you have the ability to forget because if you’re cannabinoid-deficient you can’t replace old information with the new information. There are nice models to confirm this especially in mice that shows that proof. So are there consequences to not being able to forget? The answer is yes. It is very important to us. So you can always look at the other side of it to be able to forget in order to eliminate old information and replace it with better information. You got to have that cannabinoid-endowed capacity to forget. Think about your own life and your existence. You have basically three choices of how you spend your existence. You could be looking backwards in time, you could be looking forward in time or you could be experiencing the now. It turns out that they are very much related to endocannabinoid activity that is regulating your ability to forget for the following reasons: If you are cannabinoid deficient like the BLP’s or the Backwards Looking People or the primitive people o.k., you can’t take
in new information and you can’t rewire so easily; therefore, the future to you is threatening under those circumstances because it is a stressor. You know it’s demanding as humans, to encounter novelty that makes you readjust your thinking so that you have to replace your old ideas with your new ideas but you can’t do that because you don’t have the biochemistry that allows for that to happen. So this becomes a stress. Those people are going to tend to look backwards in time more than they are going to tend to look forward in time. The future is an unknown and that will demand of them what they can’t do. Now look at the contrast, one of the known characteristics of marijuana-users are that they tend to be optimistic. Well how is that? What does that really mean? Well it means that they don’t know what the future holds, but because they have the capacity to rewire in order to relearn and replace faulty information with new information. You know they tend to be optimistic so they are going to be able to meet the unknown challenges of the future; furthermore, there are additional consequences that are profoundly important. Backward Looking People they want the future to be the past, to serve them essentially and in doing so their vision is one that already happened so they have consensus and by having consensus they intrinsically gain power. There also less mellow, they also have a lack in cannabinoid-activity so the problem, I believe is that the government is overpopulated with cannabinoiddefective people. MCJ: I agree with you.
DB: Future Looking People, cannabinoid endowed FLP’s, as opposed to the BLP’s they ten to agree to disagree because they don’t know what the future holds. They are more cooperative in nature and less-aggressive and have different opinions. Well the problem with that is that even if they are cooperating and saying yeah, and you believe that there is a viable solution to this, how do you get things done? How do you gain power when its the backwards looking people who are unified in thinking and therefore gain power. So there are profound consequences when the world is run by BLP’s. We see that evolution uses the endocannabinoid as a source of newness when developing systems such as immune system, the cardiovascular system, the digestive system, and skeletal system. The cannabinoid system is always involved in homeostatic-regulation. Essentially it protects us from free radical induced damages. Well you have a world now where we are trying to move into the future and to create a world where we are more at harmony with our environment so that we can sustain humanity as a species because remember most species that have existed on the planet have gone extinct. So as a species, in order to survive we have to be able to take in the information from our surroundings (our environment) and deal with it appropriately. Mankind, by virtue of our population, our production and our energy use are polluting everything. You can’t go anywhere and get clean water or clean anything! Everything is polluted everywhere! So a forward looking person would say, if I want to survive 31
Editorial as a species we have got to fix these problems. Even though we do not have absolute answers, we have to deal with these issues. Now a backward person, they don’t look into those issues because they are looking backwards and its not their problem which is, of course, ridiculous. So I believe that for the future of mankind’s survival we have to increase the endocannabinoid activity on the planet. You know some people are really defective, they are like these knock-out mice, they don’t have cannabinoid-activity and they can’t be supplemented. They are just stuck looking backwards. Then you have these other people who are really very loosely-wired, they look into the future and they are very much naturally deviated in that direction. Then you have the bulk of the people in the middle, they can go either way. By having more cannabinoid activity we can shift that population that is deemed more open-minded, more able to evaluate data that is coming in and to act on it in a way that will allow for the survival of mankind. MCJ: Do you subscribe to the idea of reverse-prohibition? It sounds like a great idea to me. DB: Yeah, I think we need to end prohibition. We need to reverse it. That is something that I have coined. MCJ: Exactly, it seems that the idea would help propel us into a forward looking momentum. DB: Yeah I know. We spent 60 years with
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prohibition and ending prohibition isn’t sufficient at this point. We need to reverse it. We need to have a government where you have to piss-test dirty for cannabis so that a policy-maker will be open-minded and able to analyze data realistically. Lets look at it from another perspective: Instead of looking at it as a survival of the species, look at the survival of us as individuals. Now our cannabis thermostat was set in the evolutionary past when there was a benefit to having higher levels of inflammation and aggressiveness. I mean logically, higher levels for inflammation and neurologically, higher levels for aggression. That is how we functioned socially and pre-socially in order to survive the saber-toothed tiger, you had to be more aggressive. These people didn’t live very long. So they where not exposed for long to the biological-friction caused by free radicals that are essentially degrading the biological molecules that tends their capacity to the most efficiently function in the hierarchy of the complexity of the flow that is responsible for our existence. So what we need now is we have got to re-tune that thermostat and increase our endocannabinoid activity to decrease our free radical... the negative consequences of free radicals and inflammation because unlike in the past, we are predominantly dying of age-related illnesses. As a matter of fact, if you eliminate the specific gene that gets you high (CB1 Receptor) which you can do in mice; essentially, what you get is a knockout-mouse which is completely missing that gene’s activity. CB1 knockout mice die prematurely. We all
need to have a certain amount of endocannabinoid activity. That thermostat is set in the past; inappropriately, for the future. We need to increase our endocannabinoid activity and minimize the onset of age-related illness like auto-immune diseases, neurological disorders, cardiovascular disorders and cancers that are suspected to be what is killing us. We need more cannabinoid activity. We can’t get it genetically. We can’t evolve fast enough but we need more cannabis. If you go look up the definition of “nutrient” and “essential nutrient”, cannabis is an essential nutrient for mankind’s survival. MCJ: How did you come to discover this form of Physics and how did you become involved with the work of Nobel Prize Laureate Illya Prigogine? DB: Well my whole life I have been...you know...my Mom, when I was a kid we used to ask what is God? And she used say mother nature and that’s how we we’re brought up. Science, nature and in natural phenomenon. In the 1960’s when I was at undergraduate school, that is when the genetic-code was discovered and the field of molecular biology began and we now have this idea that there is a commonality that all life had DNA, and discovered genes, genes make proteins and these proteins where acting as enzymes and facilitated reactions to occur and eventually to generate life. What you didn’t know is how could that all happen? What made all that happen? So I took a course on equilibrium thermodynamics because that is 99% of what is taught, especially back then. Prigogine had not reached
Dr. Robert J. Melamede
the height of his influential development back then even though he was very brilliant to begin with. Equilibrium thermodynamics basically tells you that life is so improbable that it can’t exist. Now what’s the probability of taking all the molecules that compose you, putting them into a big die tumbler and throwing them out and having you appear? It is essentially zero! MCJ: I see... DB: Yet we are all here? So you are confronted with then that the basic laws which determine the physics of and chemistry of the world we live in as taught: says that life is impossible. And then with what Prigogine evolved was the far from equilibrium thermodynamics where the exact opposite is true; that life is just a natural unfolding of the increase in complexity generated on this planet by the fact that we are taking in sunlight at a high frequency and we are re-irradiating lower frequency light. Essentially, we capture that potential and use it to thrive the movement of the chemistry on the planet from the equilibrium; in other words, to power evolution. 33
Editorial
The endocannabinoid system
MCJ: That is absolutely amazing to me; it makes so much sense. DB: That thinking is my life constantly, its my religion and my world view is totally filtered by my knowledge of far from equilibrium thermodynamics. Think about it... If there is an underlying creative force that creates life and is responsible for health, then don’t we want to understand those principals and apply them to our lives so that we, our families, our communities, our nations and our biosphere because they are all totally connected by the same issues? Don’t we want to apply those and wouldn’t we be idiots not to? MCJ: Yes it would appear so. DB: Well that is what I am trying to do. MCJ: Can you explain to our readers out there about the product you are designing and trying to get approved by the FDA? 34
DB: Well whether or not it actually turns out to be a lozenge or not, it definitely is an oral medication and we have a number of them, you know, a number of targets that we are going to be going after. And essentially what we are doing, if you think about what we are trying to do is to spread the herb. With respect to the lozenge; what we are doing is we want to spread the herb. We want to promote the creation, the evolution and development of a healthier society. One that is a big change from the aggression and the greed that has characterized our development to this point. In fact it was probably necessary for our development to get us close to this point. Now those models are no longer acceptable if we want to survive as a species. So you know what we have with our company Cannabis Science, our symbol is CBIS on the bulletin board and we are a fully reporting company. What we are doing is essentially using capitalism to spread activism. What we want to do is have available to anyone, anywhere in the country to be able to go to a pharmacy with a prescription from their doctor and get an FDA approved medicine; a cannabis-based oral extract. What we are targeting initially, is going to be Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain in veterans. We feel that it is just totally outrageous that people who go out, fight for freedom and then get injured; are then further harmed by our health care system and by the drugs that are being given very freely by the FDA. In terms of, you need more narcotics? Then here! Then of course their constipated and depressed because that is what narcotics do and you know... they make you an addict and they give them antidepressants and of
course the consequences and side effects of a lot of these antidepressants is suicide! So this is what we are seeing; we are making drug addicts of our soldiers who have done so much to promote freedom and then you know, we promote them being suicidal as well? It is just totally outrageous and insane! So they are going to be our very first target. The other thing, that is kind of a nobrainer in my mind, and I have had personal experience with it so I know that its true, at least for me and a few other people is that there has been pure scientific reviews and documentation that THC inhibits what is known as Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome in mice. Initially certain pro-inflammatory, very hyper-inflammatory strains of influenza such as the Bird Flu and to a minor extent; however, not minor if your one of the 5% that died from, the swine flu. In both of those cases it is not the virus that kills, but rather it is your immune-response that kills you. So what we are urging is that people who are cannabis-users that if they come down with the flu that they should not smoke but rather, eat it. Eating it will turn down that excessive inflammatory response in there lungs. With smoking, even though there going to be delivering the same pharmacological activity, except they are going to be doing it with hot gases and particulate matter that is intrinsically inflammatory as to what you want to do if your are in danger from dying from it or an illness/condition rather that precipitated by the inflammatory response to the virus. We firmly believe that lives can be saved! It is not going to prevent you from getting the flu, its going to make you feel better while you have the flu because depending on
strains it could be a profound decongestant, dry mouth and dry nose right? (Laughs in the background)... I certainly would want to be alive with more viruses then dead with fewer viruses. MCJ: Yeah, I’d have to agree with you on that. Are there any final thoughts that you would like to add or anything you would like to plug. You have actually answered several of my questions without my inquiring. I will make sure to include your related-links and websites as footer to this interview. DB: Truthfully, I would hope that people would get out and get active, which is so critical! You know, join NORML! Join MPP, and SSDP! Get out there and do things because this is our future that is at stake at this point and I would certainly love it if people checked out our company: cannabisscience. com and got involved with what we are trying to do because we feel that we are similar to those other companies, in the means of what we are trying to accomplish. MCJ: Thank you so much Dr. Bob for giving us your time. The world needs more people like you. Have a great afternoon DB: It was my pleasure, thank you! Resources:
1. Cannabis Science Inc. - http://www.cannabisscience. com 2. http://www.cannabuzz.net 3. http://www.pr.cannazine.co.uk 4. http://order.ph.utexas.edu/Prigogine.htm 5. http://www.uccs.edu/~rmelamed/ 6. http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3194 7. http://www.thc-ministry.net/cannabisinfo.htm
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Alternative Health Care Options for the Riverside & Lake Elsinore Areas by Joshua Lewis Lake Elsinore, CA -- On Monday February 1st, 2010 Compassionate Patients Association (CPA) opened its door to the public in the midst of a climate clouded by prohibition, propaganda, and reefer madness. Just months after Fallbrook resident Bob Riedel applied for a local business license requesting to open a facility for growing, manufacturing and distribution of medical cannabis. CPA has opened its doors despite the recent 10 month moratorium. CPA’s President exclaimed, “he was well within his right to do so because he not only had all of the legal paperwork to prove the legitimacy of his business but he is also a medi36
cal cannabis patient and a State of California registered caregiver as well.” CPA’s mission statement is as follows: Compassionate Patients Association (CPA) is a legal medical marijuana association specifically for patient members who live in the Inland Empire. Based out of Lake Elsinore, California CPA strives to provide safe-access, compassion and a higher-quality of medical cannabis for its patient members. We are in full-compliance with The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 and S.B. 420.
“...some of the best quality medicine I have ever had the opportunity to use.” - Joshua Lewis, MCJ
CPA provides medical cannabis for patient members who have a medical-condition, valid California I.D. and pre-verified doctor recommendation. 37
Editorial Candy Kush, by CPA
Our cannabis is strictly for medical-use only and is not intended for any other purpose, illegal or otherwise. As a local member of CPA I can assure you that they have some of the best quality medicine I have ever had the opportunity to use. They have many strains and all are top-shelf without the top-shelf price. If you have ever heard of O.G. Kush these guys have the real deal with a D9-THC content between 28% and 32% on CBN/ CBN approx. 9%. I also recommend their Candy Kush which is my personal favorite. Check out their website: www.cannabiscpa.org If you are looking for quality meds, compassion and even a delivery service then I suggest applying to become a member of Compassionate Patients Association in Lake Elsinore. They look out for their patient’s best interests so if you are a hardship case and you need medicine these guys won’t deny you provided that you are legitimately sick and literally cannot afford to treat yourself. They understand the hoops patients have had to jump through just to obtain safe access and I can honestly say that CPA is my one stop for compassion, quality and O.G. Kush. With all the recent raids going on in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego commuting to Lake Elsinore for your meds is a great idea, and I assure the cannabis is worth the trip. Also check out their amazing edibles.
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Editorial regiments of prescription drugs. The pain, weakness, and confusion made it impossible for me to work. I had to leave my certified welder and pipefitter position with Ameren, our local electric utility, my computer consulting business, and close our much needed benevolence ministry and food pantry.
A Cannabis Patient By Mark Pedersen
History and Illness I have worked with not-for-profits since the 80’s, having co-founded Victory Storehouse, Inc., a benevolence ministry that strived to meet the needs of our county’s poor. During that time, I also founded a food pantry association that coordinated the efforts of pantries over a three county area. I currently live in St. Louis, though that has not always been my home. I was born and raised in Herculaneum, Missouri. The Doe Run Lead Smelting plant, its smoke stack and constant noxious discharge were an ever-present reminder of the toxic chemicals that my friends, family, and of course, myself, were ingesting every hour of every day. It was there in Herculaneum, while remodeling our home, that I was exposed to very high levels of lead, cadmium, and arsenic, bi-products of lead smelting. Dust, scattered and airborne by company trucks passing on the street, contaminated the 40
yards, then tracked and blown into the old house over decades, harbored in the walls and carpet until I disturbed it. Soon after I became very ill. After an exhaustive line of expensive medical tests at the hands of the best physicians and specialists St. Louis had to offer, my condition was labeled “Fibromyalgia with severe migraines”. Hardly a suitable description for the agony I suffered daily. Most weeks, I experienced two to three moderate to severe migraines. Each migraine was like a mini seizure, with a little more of my long term memory disappearing with each episode. Pharmaceuticals did little to control the headaches. Consequently, my migraine specialist injected me with experimental medications, with horrific results. My stomach was constantly upset; from the illness and the continually changing
Later, we lost our cars, our home, and eventually our marriage. In 2001, my eldest daughter passed away unexpectedly from the illness that has affected my whole family, including my two surviving children, my now, ex-wife, and just about everyone we knew there, in our home town. During that time, Herculaneum was on local and national television regarding the large number of varied illnesses due to the pollution that the local industry had created. My ex-wife and I, along with other residents, were featured on local news programs and on the CBS News Program 20/20. In 1997, I went on full disability. It was also that year that I discovered information regarding cannabis and its treatment for Fibromyalgia. What followed was anything short of miraculous. After just a few weeks of dosing with cannabis, my long term memory began to return – a bonus I didn’t expect. The pain from the Fibromyalgia lessened substantially. After a few months, my migraines became largely non-existent. I have now been a medical cannabis patient for over fourteen years. My memory has continued to sharpen with the years. The only difficulties that I have encountered
with my health have occurred when my medicine was not available. A year ago, while rationing my meds, I had my first full blown seizure. Activism Up until 2006, my involvement in the medical cannabis movement was limited to writing on the web and contacts with state Representatives and Senators. In April of 2006 I left Charleston, South Carolina bound for San Francisco, California with a group called Journey for Justice 7. I drove a support truck and was the on-road coordinator for the project, which featured three bicyclers. The lead biker, Ken Locke, who founded this project, is also a medical cannabis patient. Our purpose was to educate people across the country about the benefits of cannabis for the treatment of the chronically ill. That was also when I began collecting the testimonies of medical cannabis patients, their family members, and physicians on video. Following 4 1/2 months on the road, I spent another two months in North Carolina collecting additional interviews, returning the following two years to continue the work. I have also collected patient testimonies from all over my home state of Missouri and surrounding states. I contributed to the writing of Missouri’s medical cannabis Bill and also organized and lead patient delegations to our state capital to lobby for its passage. Our Medical Cannabis Compassion Bill will be re-introduced this December. My Work Currently, I have conducted over 150 interviews. Many of my video can be viewed
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Editorial
Mark Pedersen interviewing medical cannabis patient
on my YouTube channel, (www.youtube. com/cannabispatientnet). Many, many more wait. Daily, I am contacted by the chronically and terminally ill from every state, indeed, even around the world. My interviews can be seen embedded on web pages all over the country, most particularly, the new Patients Out of Time website. I also use these testimonies in my writing on my Blog, (www.cannabispatientpatientnetwork.com) and will be featured on the new CPN website that I hope to introduce soon. Most recently, I have made a number of trips to neighboring Nebraska where I have worked with Patients Out of Time’s Ralph Smith and my brother, Ervin Dargan to help the Monson family. Dana, who suffers from cancer and DeJay who is plagued by epilepsy, have been devastated by the drug war. Along with their five children, on their rural Nebraska farm, they have persevered in the face of persecution on the part of a corrupt Sheriff’s department.
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In Iowa, I have interviewed two of the remaining four Federal cannabis patients, participants in the Investigative New Drug Program. Barbara Douglass and George McMahon are two special heroes of the medical cannabis movement. As a correspondent for Patients Out of Time, I covered two of the four Iowa Pharmaceutical Board hearings on the rescheduling of cannabis. During the final hearing in Council Bluffs, I testified on behalf of Cannabis Patient Network and presented the board with twelve of my interviews on DVD.
What Works? The vast majority of the chronically ill don’t know that cannabis is real medicine and that this God given plant could give them a better quality of life. That’s where we, the cannabis patients, come in. Its so simple that most activists can’t fathom it. All we have to do is tell the truth. Our own, personal story. That’s all. The world wants to hear it. They know that the drug companies are killing us. What they don’t know is that cannabis could very well save their lives, or at least, make them more tolerable.
My association with Patients Out of Time affords me access to their wealth of science and medical research, an obvious compliment to my interviews with the chronically ill. Likewise, I support their efforts toward a common goal, educating our nation about the medical benefits of cannabis. They have inspired me to research the illnesses and injuries of those I interview; the pharmaceuticals that the patients have or continue to take, and results of their regular dosing with cannabis.
I have interviewed patients with multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, fibromyalgia, epilepsy, chronic-pain, migraines, breast cancer, lung cancer, testicular cancer, lymphoma, acoustic neuroma, skin can-
cer, brain aneurism, stuttering, PTSD, Crohn’s, lupus, chronic-depression and anxiety, other mental issues, Neuropathy of the feet, Neurological pain due to paralysis, and many more that I don’t venture to try to spell or pronounce. The truth is in the telling. We are real people. We are a portion of the middle class that affects 100% of America, because every family has at least one member who is chronically ill. No one escapes it. And when that time comes to you, chances are, cannabis could be a vital part of your treatment. - Mark D. Pedersen | www.cannabispatientnetwork.com
I currently have multimedia presentations in the works to show in the communities where I travel and DVD’s that will be available for general distribution as tools for educational and lobbying efforts. I have the curious ability to gain the trust of otherwise reluctant chronically ill individuals. I’m constantly looking for more of the chronically ill who would be willing to sit for an interview. I’m convinced that most people don’t realize the power they have in their personal testimony.
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Meeting Mark Pedersen By Joshua Lewis
MCJ: How are you doing today? MP: I am doing pretty well. MCJ: Can you tell us a little about Cannabis Patients Network? What is your mission, so to speak? MP: Sure. Cannabis Patient Network’s primary purpose is to give a voice to cannabis patients; basically to the chronically-ill, excuse me... which is a bit broader. I used to always say, “a voice to the medical cannabis patient” but now I realize that the vastmajority of the people are chronically-ill and far exceeds those people who already found a use in cannabis. What a lot of people don’t realize is that cannabis can be an alternative to pharmaceutical medicines; therefore, I had to change my verbiage a little bit there. I travel around the country and I interview people who have found that cannabis is effective in treating their chronic illness. I have interviewed people with Multiple Sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s Disease - my brother in North Carolina, Ervin Dargan interviewed a person with Lou Gehrig’s Disease, Cathy Jordan, ...let’s see...epilepsy, Hepatitis C, Fibromyalgia, cancer - acoustic neuroma, brain cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, testicular cancer, skin cancer, Ethlers-Danlos Syndrome 44
and a vast number of different mental-conditions, PTSD, Muscular Dystrophy and I already mentioned Multiple Sclerosis and there are quite a few others that I can’t think of right offhand. I have conducted over 150 interviews to date. Probably, again there is a least half that many still waiting to be interviewed. There are patients with neuropathy, neurological-diseases, and paralysis. The list goes on. I have been doing this for the past few years now. MCJ: What was your first video Testimonial? MP: I believe it was a person with Muscular Dystrophy. A gentleman from South Carolina. The husband had Muscular Dystrophy and the wife had Multiple Sclerosis and they had found that cannabis helped them with their pain, and as far as the spasticity and the other different problems associated with their illnesses. The unfortunate thing about that was that once they found relief through using cannabis, Family Services found out and took away their children. The last time I touched base with them, which was sometime last year, they still did not have custody of their kids. They could only visit there children under structured and supervised visitation. That is an incident that I have encountered with
other people in the country as well. The powers that be seem to find cannabis use as an excuse to remove your children. MCJ: That is unfortunate. I am currently reporting on the Case of Drew Hayes in Lakewood, California; it’s a similar situation, where the powers that be deemed it necessary to take his children away from him despite his total compliance with the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. What was the most affected you have ever been by a patient testimonial? Or rather which patient testimonial affected you the most? MP: There were a number of them but one in particular was a gentleman by the name of Buddy Talley. When I interviewed Buddy, he was 86 years old in North Carolina and Buddy had suffered for a number of years with neuropathy of the feet, which basically meant that he had extreme pain in his feet after walking a very short-distance. He also suffered from a number of other different illnesses as well. When I interviewed him, (I interviewed him in his home where he and his adult son both had suffered from chronic illness for an extended amount of time. The scenario while I was interviewing him - while I was sitting next to him and I realized that the camera couldn’t capture what I was seeing. Buddy was bald and he had different types of skin cancer across the top of his head - I realized that the camera could not pick it up the different colors - red, brown and such. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said, “if I have to live like this, I would just rather be dead!” He added,
“why is the Federal Government trying to keep us from being able to use this,” referring to cannabis. “What’s the harm in it, when there is harm caused from all kinds of pharmaceuticals - toxic and dangerous drugs that are prescribed by doctors?” MCJ: I know that you are a patient yourself, do you feel comfortable with describing some of your symptoms and does cannabis help? MP: I have been a medical cannabis patient for over fourteen years now. In the early 1990’s I was exposed to heavy levels of lead, cadmium and arsenic which are the by-products of the lead smelting industry. Where I lived in Herculaneum, Missouri lead-smelting was the primary industry. Virtually everyone in the town where I lived was sick from being exposed to high levels of carcinogens. Basically I worked 80 plus hours a week. I was a certified-wielder and pipe-fitter for
Recommended Websites Cannabis Patient Network
www.canncabispatientnetwork.org
Sensible Missouri
www,sensiblemissouri.org
Patients Out of Time
www.patientsoutoftime.org
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the local electric-utility. I also had a computer consulting business. I also Headed Victory Storehouse, Inc., and a benevolence ministry that I founded and ran for a number of years. When I got sick, I went from working 80 plus hours a week down to zero. I lost my cars, my home, my marriage, my career, my ministry; everything! I was suffering from extreme migraines. At one point, I was even being given experimental drugs for my migraines, quite often with very horrific side effects. My diagnosis was Fibromyalgia with severe migraines. The migraines I had were like mini-seizures with short and long term memory-loss. A great deal of pain! In 1997, that was the year that I went on disability. It was also the year that I heard about cannabis through a Fibromyalgia newsgroup. It was just a little snippet posted that said cannabis could be effective in the treatment of Fibromyalgia. So I thought, well what have I got to lose; I had virtually been on every kind of pharmaceutical known to man. Actually, all of the drugs devastated my stomach. After dosing with cannabis for three weeks, not only was my Fibromyalgia pain dramatically lessened but I was far more mobile. The migraines significantly reduced, I went from having at times upwards to two or three moderate-to-severe migraines a week down to having very negligible headaches and, significantly, my long-term memory began to return. The interesting thing about memory is of course, you don’t realize how much you have lost until you start to gain it back again. Memories of my three children, when they were born and things like that were rather significant, as you could imagine. My headaches continued but less 46
and less. I have no headaches today! My memory continued to improve over the years that followed. My ex-wife and I joke about the fact that I basically have a technicolor-memory, and a better long-term memory than she does. MCJ: What are your thoughts on the I.N.D. program? MP: The Investigational New Drug Program? I have interviewed on camera two of the remaining four patients that have survived up to today. Barb Douglass and George McMahn. George is a close personal friend of mine. We became friends following my interview with him. I don’t know if you are familiar with the Missoula Study? They documented the health of these patients through the years. George has been a patient since 1990. They closed the program, I believe, in 1991 that is one of the fine (sarcasm) things we can blame George Bush Senior for doing! It’s fascinating, when I interviewed George McMahn in 2008, we talked about the program and about the kind of medicine he receives. The interesting fact is that the 300 cannabis cigarettes that he receives in a candy drum are devoid of the tops (flowers) they are not involved in any of that. They literally cut the tops off; they grind the leaf along with the stems and seeds to produce what they actually roll the cigarettes from. MCJ: That is horrendous! MP: Even though he doesn’t get the majority of the medicine from the cannabis he still manages to get benefit from it which further exemplifies the benefits that we see
with the work of people like Rick Simpson: who works with whole plant extracts. MCJ: It would be nice for the Federal Government to re-vamp the IND program and get the IND patients some fresh and safer medicine. On the tin containing the medicine it has a manufacture date of something like April of 1996? That does not seem healthy to me especially considering the fact that THC’s properties become inert after 3 years? It just doesn’t seem healthy to me? With molds and mildew, etc.? MP: Oh, definitely not! As George speaks through the course of the interview, he makes a statement that, by their own definition, that the cannabis he is receiving should have absolutely no medicinal value because of how old it is. In Mississippi, where they are growing it...You got to ask yourself the question, where is all this medicine going, and not only that where are all the tops going? MCJ: That is very bizarre. Do you feel that the Department of Justice Memorandum released by the Obama administration is a step in the right direction? MP: Yes I do. Its interesting because if you read the report you find that it is definitely - well, by reading it - there is really not that significant amount of information there. There is not much for teeth in that memorandum but the fact that the press and the public at large has really run with that story which has given it a whole lot more value. And the fact that more people understand or rather realize the validity of cannabis as medicine because our govern-
ment is finally come out and is admitting that cannabis is medicine. Our Federal Government, in 2003, actually took out a patent on cannabinoids that publically stated that cannabis is in fact medicine for the treatment of Alzheimer’s’ disease, Parkinson’s disease, for the prevention stroke and for the treatment of patient following a stroke. Even in light of those statements the same Federal Government was still arresting and prosecuting innocent patients for using it. The same government at the same time is providing cannabis to a select group of patients; the patients from the IND program? MCJ: Are you for legalizing all drugs or just marijuana? And are you for responsible adult use or just for medicinal use? MP: Well this is kind of a loaded question...? MCJ: Yes, I apologize! MP: Medicine of any kind should be monitored to some degree but you know its a thing where we are our own best physician first and foremost. The statements and prognosis of physicians is something of consultation, they are not God! So there should be medical supervision, particularly when dealing with chronic-illness? Of course there should be! We should monitor our children regarding any kind of medicine. In the same light we need to have the understanding, too, that cannabis is safer than cough-medicine. We also have to understand that cannabis is effective in treating auto-immune disease. Auto-immune disease is a very broad line. There are a lot of diseases that can be treated. The vast 47
Editorial
majority of our country could benefit from cannabis in one way or another. Cannabis can treat a wide-range of auto-immune disease. So cannabis alone, do I feel that there should be far less of a restriction on it? Of course I do! Its safer than Tylenol. Tylenol you can buy over the counter! A lot of medications you can by over the counter. But with cannabis you cannot overdose on it! You cannot die from it! You can die from nicotine, you can die from caffeine! MCJ: Did you know that you can overdose on water? MP: Yes you can! As a matter of fact, my exwife works with the adult mentally handicapped. She has people who she cares for that you have to monitor them because they will literally overdose on water. MCJ: Wow! MP: Yes it’s interesting that you mentioned that. MCJ: That is interesting! MP: As far as the legalization of all drugs, my statement in regard to that is that I have never been a firm believer in prosecution as a means to curb people’s bad judgment. You cannot legislate, you cannot police bad judgment. People are going to harm themselves and you know you cannot keep them from doing that if that is their wish. I am also a very firm believer in education as an alternative to incarceration. It would cost our society a fraction of what they are currently paying to arrest and incarcerate.
MCJ: Is there anything that you would like to mention before we go ahead and conclude? MP: One of the things that I am working on currently is I am in the process of “unionizing” the patients of Missouri. What I mean by that is I have founded a statewide-organization for Missouri. It is very important that its statewide because there are so many patients in the state of Missouri and it is important that all parts of the state be represented in this. Its sole purpose is to be a bargaining body, I guess you can say; for the purpose of lobbying and the purpose of education in every part of the state. Early on, I was lobbying in our state capitol. I had one hard-nosed politician tell me that he would not back cannabis legislation in any way. Now this is following bringing a delegation of patients down there to talk to him and to talk to different people about our legislation. The problem we have in our state is we have a Republican House and a Republican Senate. The last two Speakers-of-the-Houses for our state blocked our medical cannabis bill; blocking it from committee, which in turn kept it from being heard by the House, our Senate, as well as the people of Missouri from ever having the opportunity to make that decision, one way or the other! I said, “I will do whatever is necessary; interview every citizen in the whole state if I have to. I asked them, “how many interviews would I need to do...?” and you know, of course he wouldn’t answer that. MCJ: Of course! MP: The most important thing that you can
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do is educate the general-public. MCJ: It sounds like that Senator already had his mind made up before you ever even spoke to them? MP: Well he said, “…this was a career killer!” Those were his words and he said that he, “could sympathize with your illness but if I were to vote for that it would be a career killer!” to repeat his words. MCJ: That sounds typical of our government officials! MP: I have quoted many people saying that it had prevented unnecessary pain, suffering and even death! I have had people snicker before when I use the term death, yet when you talk to some of these people with Progressive MS, AIDS, or any of a host of other illnesses - that is why the founding of this statewide organization was so important; because you can throw any measure of statistics at people in regards to the benefits of cannabis but the fact is that those are just statistics. When you see someone with a chronic illness, when you talk to an actual patient, you hear their personal story. Every patient can say that they are an expert regarding their own experience. MCJ: The statewide union that you have founded in Missouri, does it have a name?
people who have already signed up and I probably got another 20 or so on my list at home that I haven’t added just yet, and a great deal more in southern Missouri and some other places that are waiting for me to get out and see them. The thing is that everyone in this country can and will experience chronic illness. Everyone in this world, at some point in their life. It’s a fact of life, part of living; at some point, we all deal with chronic illness. If you have chronic illness, chances are that cannabis can benefit you in some fashion. That is something that people need to understand - that we are not just talking about people who currently benefit: we are talking about a tremendous number of people! For each patient I put on camera there a 100 that I talked to off camera who were too fearful to go on video. They did not want to jeopardize their disability benefits, or their college scholarships. They fear being arrested, on top of having to deal with and suffer with a chronic illness behind bars. MCJ: Thank you so much Mark for taking the time to speak with us today, I am looking forward to working with you in the future. Have a great day! MP: Thank you!
MP: Not yet. As a matter of fact, I am allowing the patients of Missouri to determine a name for the organization. We are in the process formulating that now. I am communicating across the state. I have had 54 49
Meet the Team
MEET THE TEAM
ABOUT MCJ 50
medical
cannabis JOURNAL
Joshua J. Lewis, Editor In Chief for Medical Cannabis Journal (MCJ) is a medical marijuana patient, ASA Ambassador and activist with over a decade of experience in journalism and free lance writing. As a published writer Mr. Lewis has had several poems and works of prose published by the National Poetry Society and are archived for viewing at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Aside from publishing poems and prose he has written a number of political and philosophical essays, commentaries, short stories and ramblings that have appeared in many independent fanzine publications internationally over the past 15 years. Mr. Lewis’ history and long journey with journalism began when he was just 16 years old and already the Assistant Editor for his high school newspaper. Aside from being Editor In Chief at MCJ and an activist, Mr. Lewis is also a contributing member to OC NORML, ASA, OCASA, and MAPS. To contact Joshua, send an email to:
[email protected].
Megan Wright, Marketing Contact and Writer for MCJ, as well as serving on the Advisory Board, Megan has spent most of the last 10 years working in the medical field from medical assistant and laboratory technician to licensed pharmacy technician. Since 2005 when cannabis medicine first improved her medical condition, she began her search for understanding the use of cannabinoids as medicine to treat a variety of human illnesses. In 2009 Megan began work as an activist, donating her time to local patient groups, and then joined MCJ in 2010. To contact Megan, send an email to:
[email protected].
Garret Overstreet, Art Director / Webmaster for Medical Cannabis Journal (MCJ) is a law reform activist assisting several national and sub-regional organizations working to ensure patients’ rights including NORML, SSDP, DPEG, and several decriminalization initiatives coast-to-coast. Garret is currently the President of Tulsa NORML and a Marketing / Business Consultant in Tulsa, Oklahoma. To contact Garret, send an email to:
[email protected]. Ron S. Niehouse, Executive Director for Medical Canabis Journal (MCJ) and Americans for Safe Access Ambassador. Long before being an activist, Ron spent many years working as a veterinary technician. The duties he performed took him into a diverse array of clinical and medical environments; from the laboratory, surgery, orthopedics, radiology and pharmacology. Afterward, Ron spent several years as a professional marketing agent for a large insurance company. At the age of sixteen, he met Mr. Jack Herer on the boardwalk in Venice Beach. Ron read the now and then world famous book “The Emperor Wears no Clothes” and learned the extremely important value and the crucial role of hemp and cannabis. As an adult, he became an activist for medical cannabis as well as a father. Being one of two founders of MCJ, his duties do not stop with Executive Director. He is also a writer for MCJ, as well as head of marketing. To contact Ron, send an e-mail to:
[email protected].
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Need An Update? DOES THE MEDICAL CANNABIS PROGRAM IN HAWAII
by Ron Niehouse
Hawaii -- Medical cannabis patients in the state of Hawaii are asking for safe access to get their medication. The group that is evaluating the medical cannabis program in Hawaii is preparing to make recommendations to the state legislature. The name of this group is The Medical Cannabis Working Group.
Currently, there are close to 5,000 patients in Hawaii who are legally able to use medical cannabis for their treatment. Many of whom are having a very difficult time acquiring the cannabis they need.
a movement to get the state of Hawaii on board. Distribution Centers are something medical cannabis patients in Hawaii seem to all agree is a great step. Although Hawaii is considered an agricultural state, there is a driving momentum to ask the state to include within their crops, medical cannabis for the few patients in Hawaii that require it. It would take very little effort on their part and it seems it would be a better alternative than having patients resort to the illegal-operations which the authorities are responsible for preventing. Right now those same people are making a profit strengthening the cartel and illegal-activity that Hawaiian law-enforcement with which will eventually have to face and deal; however, I do not think anyone in their right mind would consider this a good policy.
There is a movement in Hawaii now just gaining traction for people like this who cannot find a legal means to get the medication they are recommended to have. If a patient purchases medication it is most likely from the black market. This has sparked
The Medical Cannabis Working group was developed for the Hawaii medical marijuana program. They have been gathering input from the community on this nineyear old bill. The recommendation could be a model of what the Department of Justice’s
Nine years ago, Hawaii became the first state in the country to legislatively approve a medical marijuana program. Most patients, doctors, and caregivers believe this nine-year old law is outdated.
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(DOJ) new guidelines are representing. The DOJ’s guidelines are very clear: that this country will not spend taxpayers ‘ money and precious time tracking down legitimate cannabis patients when there are real criminals out there with whom need to be dealt. For immediate release: on October 19th, 2009, the Obama administration chose to deviate from their guidelines to benefit state medical cannabis programs. It has been a long time, yet this was always President Obama’s position on the matter. There is also video footage of him stating that this would be his decision long before he was ever elected president. This latter footage can be viewed or streamed on Google Video or YouTube. Again, “Hawaii’s medical cannabis law is in need of an reform” according to Hawaii’s Medical Cannabis Working Group. Many have stated that the laws are just not properly defined. One thing I feel patients would agree on is that there is no need to involve the Public Safety Department’s Narcotics Enforcement Division, which is an invasion of basic doctor/patient confidentiality. Medical cannabis law in Hawaii must be reassessed, updated and reformed. Given the gravity of the situation this issue will be taken very serious and there may even be state sanctioned medical cannabis growing operation in the flower state of Hawaii relatively soon. Resources: 1. http//: www.mpp.org 2. http://www.dpfhi.org 3. http://www.mjmaui.org
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Strain Review
DAKINI COLLECTIVE
PURPLE PINEAPPLE KUSH INSPECTED BY GEO Grade: A Type: Indica Color: Dark Purple and Deep Green Smell: Like pine needles and pineapples exploding together in a potent medication Taste: Fruity Kush-aftertaste, awesome Indica overtones Suggested Donation: $55 / 1/8th oz Texture: Dense and sticky, nicely cured FX: Creeper, heavy medication, couch-lock AM/PM: PM Duration: 3 hours. Do not drive or operate heavy machine. Suggested For: Pain, insomia, relaxtation Review: Dakini is a collective based out of Costa Mesa, CA. They are in compliance with The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 as well as S.B. 420. Dakini is all about compassion which becomes immediately obvious when you see that they are capped at $55 an 1/8th for Top-Shelf Meds with a wide variety of amazing strains available at the $45 donation level as well. After sampling several of their quality strains I found myself completely in love with the Purple Pineapple Kush which is grown by the collectives’ growers with lots of TLC. If you are a patient in orange county and you want to be guaranteed kind medicine then MCJ says be sure to check out the Dakini Collective. Register on their website: www.dakinicollective.com or call: 1(714)421-0679. PATIENTS MUST BE VERIFIED! NO EXEMPTIONS!
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Strain Review
COMPASSIONATE PATIENTS ASSOCIATION
BLUEBERRY INSPECTED BY GEO Grade: AType: Indica
Color: Blue and light green, lots of trichomes. Smell: Fruity, earthy, blueberry aroma Taste: Amazing. Like blueberries Suggested Donation: $65 / 1/8th oz Texture: Frosted tight nugs FX: Heavy body high, couch-lock AM/PM: PM Duration: 2 hours. Do not drive or operate heavy machinery. Suggested For: Pain, insomia, relaxtation Review: Great Blueberry. This is not DJ short, but its one of the best blueberry strains
Notes: Compassionate Patients Association (CPA) is a legal medical marijuana association specifically for patient members who live in the Inland Empire. Based out of Lake Elsinore, California CPA strive to provide safe-access, compassion and a higher-quality of medical cannabis for its patient members. We are in full-compliance with The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 and S.B. 420. CPA provide medical cannabis for patient members who have a medical-condition, valid California I.D. and pre-verified doctor recommendation. Our cannabis is strictly for medical-use only and is not intended for any other purpose, illegal or otherwise. www.cannabiscpa.org
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Strain Review
COMPASSIONATE PATIENTS ASSOCIATION
O.G. KUSH INSPECTED BY GEO Grade: A+++
Type: Sativa Dominant Hybrid (California Chemdawg Mother) Color: Bright Green, with florescent red hairs and rainbow trichomes. Prism-like! Smell: Like Flintstones vitamins mixed with lemons and orange Tic-Tac’s Taste: Like orange-flavored Tic-Tac’s Suggested Donation: $65 / 1/8th oz Texture: Dense, lots of trichomes FX: Instant Boost of insane energy which lasts for hours, resolves into a warm body high AM/PM: AM or PM (Heavy Smokers) Duration: 4 hours. Do not drive or operate heavy machinery. Suggested For: Pain, depression, relaxtation Review: Some of the best medicine I have ever smoked in my life! There is no burnout. This is so potent it works well for many things!
Notes: Compassionate Patients Association (CPA) is a legal medical marijuana association specifically for patient members who live in the Inland Empire. Based out of Lake Elsinore, California CPA strive to provide safe-access, compassion and a higher-quality of medical cannabis for its patient members. We are in full-compliance with The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 and S.B. 420. CPA provide medical cannabis for patient members who have a medical-condition, valid California I.D. and pre-verified doctor recommendation. Our cannabis is strictly for medical-use only and is not intended for any other purpose, illegal or otherwise. www.cannabiscpa.org
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Strain Review
COMPASSIONATE PATIENTS ASSOCIATION
CANDY KUSH INSPECTED BY GEO Grade: A+ Type: Indica Color: Colorful as a Rainbow
Smell: Like Kush and hard candy mixed in a jar Taste: Like a beautiful bouquet of citrus fruit and mist from the Afghan Kush Mountains Suggested Donation: $65 / 1/8th oz Texture: Huge fluffy nugs. Well cured. FX: Heavy body high that happens immediately. Try to stay awake on this strain. AM/PM: PM Duration: 2-3 hours. Do not drive or operate heavy machinery. Suggested For: Sleep, deep-relaxation, pain management and appetite stimulant Review: The most beautiful flowers I have ever seen. Preferrable Indica
Notes: Compassionate Patients Association (CPA) is a legal medical marijuana association specifically for patient members who live in the Inland Empire. Based out of Lake Elsinore, California CPA strive to provide safe-access, compassion and a higher-quality of medical cannabis for its patient members. We are in full-compliance with The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 and S.B. 420. CPA provide medical cannabis for patient members who have a medical-condition, valid California I.D. and pre-verified doctor recommendation. Our cannabis is strictly for medical-use only and is not intended for any other purpose, illegal or otherwise. www.cannabiscpa.org
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Editorial
A CONVERSATION WITH
Michelle Rainey BY JOSHUA LEWIS
They call her the Hostess with the Mostess. She is The Financial Agent for the B.C. Marijuana Party, The Director of Sales and Marketing for Treating Yourself (a Canadian/U.S. based medical marijuana journal), and she is a truly compassionate Patient-Advocate. Wanted by the DEA on trumped up changes of manufacturing marijuana, conspiracy, seed sales and money laundering. Her name is Michelle Rainey and she has managed to balance all of this on her plate while surviving Crohn’s Disease and Cancer. MCJ: Hello Michelle, this is Josh with Medical Cannabis Journal. How are you doing this afternoon? MR: I am fantastic, thank you very much. MCJ: Awesome. I Just wanted to start off by saying thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Could you please provide our readers out there with a little bit of background leading up to your trial and recent sentencing? MR: In the year 2000 I started to work for Marc Emery and we both formed the British Columbia Marijuana Party. From there we did quite a few other projects which were of course funded by Marc Emery’s Emery Direct Seed 62
Business which I actually ran for a period of time up until 2005 when the U.S. Government and the DEA came up to Canada. They decided to arrest Marc, myself and another fellow by the name Greg Williams. They charged us with three different counts one was conspiracy, the other was money laundering and another charge of manufacturing. On April 20th of this Year I pleaded Guilty to 1 count of manufacturing and I took a Plea- Agreement on July 17th, 2009 for two years of probation. Marc has not pled guilty yet. He will be doing that; apparently from what I’m told, September 21st. I have been told that he is also facing, not the same sentencing but rather the same charge of one count of manufacturing marijuana and that was due to all of my good diligence and hard work in negotiating for the past few years for myself. Once I was able to negotiate for myself then Greg Williams was allowed to have the same sentence as me. Marc will not get the same sentence, but Marc will be... I’m sure and I’m praying that Marc will not have to spend to much time in Jail. MCJ: Yes we are all praying for that as well. I really hope that he does not have to spend to much time in a U.S. prison. That would be terrible. Hopefully he can get out and back home to
Canada as soon as possible if he pleads guilty. How do you feel about your particular sentence being reduced to two years of probation? I’m sure you must be satisfied with your sentence because you were looking at hard time in a foreign country and I know that you have said before a prison sentence would actually be a Death Sentence. MR: Josh, I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful I am that the District Attorney Todd Greenburg was very compassionate in regards to my situation and he completely understood that I had quit a ten-year professional banking career in Canada to advocate marijuana legalization for medicinal reasons. I do believe in recreational but responsible recreational use. Just like with anything, whether it be alcohol or pharmaceuticals it has to be responsible use but regardless of that, I am very grateful that Mr. Greenburg understood that I have Crohn’s Disease as well as cancer and took that into account and at the same time decided to give me the compassion that I needed in Healing My situation with this battle with cancer for the past year. MCJ: I am so glad that your not serving time in prison because you are not a criminal Michelle. MR: It First started with a thirty-year sentence and that was four years ago. I was able to negotiate it down to a six month sentence for myself, then from six months to three months and all the way down to a two-year probation.
MCJ: You are very lucky that you got your sentence reduced to two years of probation. A thirty year sentence would be ridiculous. MR: Its beyond lucky. At the same time extradition is 99.99% concrete in Canada. Anybody that is up for extradition... I am now one of the 0.01% that has not been extradited. I have made history, not only personally but as a Female in this Country. Just for that reason alone. MCJ: Wow that’s wonderful. We will probably be reading about you in all of the history books... As a patient and advocate for medical marijuana, what would you was the most significant moment in your life? MR: Well that is a question that I never have been asked before actually. MCJ: I will take that as a compliment. MR: I guess that is because there have been so many profound moments, that I can’t pin-point the very one. For me putting together seventy-nine candidates and seventy-nine districts for the British Columbia Marijuana Party (BCMP) in 2000; being the FinancialAgent as well as a candidate. That was a huge moment in my life’s history as well as for Marc. We worked extremely hard during that campaign we put 1/2 Million Dollars of the Emery Direct Seed money into that. Made History because the Province of B.C. Had 63
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never had a political party that was capable of putting all the candidates in, and in one year... So that I will say, is a Hudge Profound moment in my life. It just showed the world and brought the awareness and attention to cannabis prohibition in a different aspect politically and the power of politics. We’ve got 3.5% almost 4% of the vote and that was a substantial part of the vote. We also used Former President Ronald Regan’s Tour Bus. MCJ: That’s great. MR: Which caused a lot of flak and the BBC covered it, CNN covered it. It was just absolutely phenomenal and there has been other moments. Like when I was able to get my Possession and Grow License. I was finally validated by my physician that medical marijuana had saved my life. I had not used pharmaceuticals in fourteen years and had been surgery free. That was of course a profound moment and finally it was recognized that it worked. I could actually go on but I will leave you with those two. MCJ: No problem, that was a great answer. What does becoming federally exempt for medical marijuana in Canada entail? How exactly do you go about doing that in Canada? MR: Well, in Canada, it’s federally illegal. There is a program and there are 33 pages that Health Canada requires you to fill out. The information that you have to give of course is all about 64
your personal life which comes down to your health, home security issues and if you are going to grow yourself or if you’re going to purchase... the purchasing process is a gray area because a lot of the pot that Health Canada is offering through the program is only one strain and it has been grown for the past ten years in an old mineshaft in Manitoba. MCJ: That doesn’t sound very good, or safe, for that matter. MR: No! Because the whole area surrounding the mine shaft has been irradiated. MCJ: Irradiated? MR: Its called the Film Flam Flop and there is a lot of history surrounding that situation, especially to us patients. Like I said, it’s kind of a gray area. A lot of people would prefer to grow themselves or patients will appoint somebody to grow it for them. Sometimes they will get it from compassion clubs across Canada. Compassion clubs run in a graynzone in Canada. They are not legal. MCJ: Is it similar to the United States in that it is illegal federally, but legal within participating states? MR: No, they are not legal at all. Compassion clubs fall under a society. The police and the communities tolerate them as long as they’re run safely and all the paperwork has been done.
There is an application process when you go to a compassion club; your doctor must acknowledge the fact that you are going, if the compassion club is run under that gray area, the police tend to not raid them here in Canada like they do in the United States. There seems to be an abundance of problems when it comes to raids with your dispensaries but here in Canada our raids are limited. MCJ: I wasn’t aware of that, I am so wrapped up with what goes on here in my home state of California. Do you think that there will ever be an end to the drug-war and do you see a light at the end of the tunnel? MR: Yes I do actually. I am 38 years old now. I turned 38 in June, and when I first started out in marijuana-activism, after quitting my bank career, it was very bleak. That was in 1999/ 2000. There wasn’t as much attention placed on it. Now after ten years every single day there is news about marijuana. Every single day, politicians and lawenforcement officials, your neighbors and business owners are recognizing the fact that marijuana does not kill anybody! That cannabis is a somewhat harmless substance that can help people medicinally. It can also help a community financially if it was legalized. This has been something that has been discussed many times now, considering we have had a global economic crisis and so many countries are failing economically that if you do decide to tax or regulate marijuana, that money
can be fueled right back into the economy that it so desperately needs. It can aid in healthcare reform, education, and to refinancing people’s homes. It’s a sad situation when you have a majority of Americans who have a huge debt due to healthcare. The surgeries I’ve had here in Canada for my cancer recently; I’ve had three of them, for a very life-threatening cancer. They would have cost me six figures if I didn’t have the Health Care that I do in Canada. I am very fortunate that I do though. Very fortunate. Sadly, in your country the U.S., the health -care system has failed and a lot of people have been marginalized and the solution would be ‘Yes to legalize’ and tax the hell out of the pot. MCJ: I agree. MR: There are so many people buying cigarettes, tobacco and paying tax on that, they’ll be buying pot and paying the tax on that; refuel the economy. Mexico has had a huge problem with gang warfare: 8000 people died within a period of a year or less. There is a lot of ex-presidents and ex-leaders of countries. Whether its Bolivia, Mexico, or even Canada and the United States have all discussed the fact that its time to look into ending the drug war and the waste of money involved. MCJ: It sounds like you are grateful for Health Canada? MR: I am, because I married an American man five-years ago and I am very 65
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proud of that. My husband was born and raised in Chicago. He has given me an education, even though I did do research before I was ever married to him. Now I have a better understanding of the system in the United States I have a better understanding of the infrastructure, a better understanding of how the political-system works. Just from him alone, and I am grateful for that. In Canada we take care of our people and wevfff should be taking care of them even better then we are. I am hoping that maybe somehow we can set an example in the U.S. for that very reason.
teenager and I’ve had 2 surgeries for it. The drugs didn’t work, neither did the surgeries. I found that my body was rejecting the necessary pharmaceuticals whether it was steroids to Tylenol 3 for pain suppression. None of it worked, but I started an experiment using marijuana when I was about 23 or 24 years old. I successfully weaned myself off of the pharmaceuticals, took away the nausea, the pain and was able to function, not to mention work fulltime. I have used a few strains over the years one was called Williams Wonder which I found to be phenomenal but I lost that strain years ago, sadly.
MCJ: I do as well, Michelle. Can you tell us a little more about your husband, Jeff Tek?
MCJ: I hate it when that happens!
MR: Well he was born in Chicago worked for many years in the heating and air industry. He came to Canada to be with me five years ago. He’s a successful journalist now and a successful photographer and writes for a variety of magazines and Jef also helps me with my garden. MCJ: I noticed while watching your YouTube channel that you are always trimming and harvesting some very kind-looking Afghani Bullrider. What is it about that particular strain that works for you? MR: It provides a lot of necessary relief for my symptoms of Crohn’s Disease and Cancer. The Crohn’s I have had a terrible time with since I was a
MR: Yes, and then the Afghani Bullrider came to me 5 years ago and it has been a strain that has saved my life. I cannot even begin to describe the necessity of it as well as what the components are. It is a cross between Sativa and Indica so it allows me to function as well as suppress the pain and that is extremely important. I have a lot of spasms in my intestinal track due to Crohn’s Disease. I don’t take any of the pharmaceuticals. I have chronic diarrhea and I will have it the rest of my life. I eat and a couple hours later, I am in the bathroom. The nausea is very bad as well. I have never been pregnant but when I hear women talk about morning sickness... I have that feeling 24 hours a day. Seven days a week. So I am very fortunate that the marijuana combats that as well. MCJ: With the Afghani Bullrider is it 67
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more of a Sativa or Indica? MR: Half! Yes the Afghani is Afghani and the Bullrider is a Shiva Skunk we figured out. MCJ: Interesting. Well you have had a lot of great answers to my questions. Is there anything that you would like to add before we conclude? MR: I’d like to mention that I put together from the past year and a half my Medicinal Cannabis Education Package that which hasn’t been done yet. You know the pharmaceutical companies will give you a whole package with samples as well as pamphlets concerning there new drug and the affects of it. So there is nothing like that in the U.S. or here in Canada. Not that I am allowed to give out any samples which I cannot do, but what I have done is I have taken those 33 pages of the Health Canada Forms. I have also taken 4 pages of beneficial information which are books and websites that verify cannabis’s therapeutic value and also a list of other websites that are related to cannabis as well as the American College of Physicians paper that they recently published which states, “That they believe in marijuana’s therapeutic value. There are 124,00 in that college in America that agree with the therapeutic value. So it is a package that I have been sending out to people who want to either be educated about the medicinal value of cannabis or who need help getting a legal exemption in Canada. I have facilitated over 100 le68
gal exemptions now and I have sent out 1000 of these packages. Whether it was to politicians whether it’s to other countries that would try to emulate something similar to that whether its police officers and neighbors the list goes on... I wouldn’t mind having mentioned that seeing how it is an important part of what I do it voluntarily. Helping patients get there exemption as well as advocating. MCJ: Awesome. MR: There are so many people that are doing so many wonderful things. That is another thing I’d like to say: there are great activists out there who not only work full-time, they volunteer fulltime like myself and we are all trying to make a difference in a very positive way, I feel we all have a voice and its important that we are able to defend ourselves with courage and respect. MCJ: Most definitely. Michelle, you are an inspiration to us all here a MCJ. I personally follow everything that you do and it is so important for the world at large to hear your story. On behalf of, MCJ, our readers and myself thank you for taking the time to do this interview. It was a pleasure talking with you. MR: Thank you, I appreciate that so much. MCJ: Take care, Michelle.
Here are some websites to check if you would like to learn more about Michelle Rainey: www.MichelleRainey.com www.youtube.com/michellerainey www.twitter.com/michellerainey www.myspace.com/michellerainey www.treatingyourself.com www.pot-tv.com www.cannabisculture.com
MR: All right, you, too. Goodbye, Josh. 69
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Lessons from the Road by Barbara MacKenzie In 2005, after the 3 year San Diego Federal medical marijuana court case that ended with the death of my partner, Steve McWilliams, I began the long arduous journey to restore my health once again with cannabis, having severely regressed in those 3 years of not being allowed to use it. Due to patient concerns regarding cultivation by 2005, I was unable to resurrect the collective model Steve & I had worked with SD’s Medical Cannabis Task Force to approve in 2003. In early 2006, it became financially necessary to put my belongings in storage and move into my van. I was able to travel, staying with many friends and family as well as learning how to sleep on the streets. I recently was able to relocate into a home in Colorado. All who took me in were kind and generous, often in the midst of their own financial and physical difficulties. Many were patients and fellow activists trying to cope with the challenges of California’s evolving medical cannabis law and the need for affordable and adequate cannabis. It is the concern of patients and activists regarding the continuing problems of implementation expressed to me during that journey that I am addressing here. Much of what I observed and learned echoed problems, issues and concerns that we had been dealing with in San Diego for 70
years yet there were differences and changes after 2006 that gave hope at the same time adding new worries including, full access at affordable levels and the viability of all cultivation methods. Dispensaries had become a reality, but often were not able to meet all patients’ needs or to maintain a presence due to continual issues with local politics and unsupportive law enforcement. The concerns of the patients that came out of many discussions during my time on the road are presented below and are based on data from 30 individuals I had contact with from February 2006 until May 2009 living in the following counties: San Diego, Imperial, Riverside, Los Angeles, Ventura, Marin, and Mendicino. Patients’ ages vary from the late-twenties to the late-seventies. The worries of these patients were also related to me by many others in my long travels throughout California. Included in the overall picture are observations from my own health history as well as from the many patients Steve and I worked with since 1997. Despite the passage of The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 and legislation to add other protections, those with knowledge of medical cannabis are fully aware of the long, difficult fight it has been to be able to benefit
from those measures. Availability depends on locale, financial means and changing political conditions which may threaten access at any given time due in large part to the ignorance of local officials and populations as to what the law actually allows and the resistance to the law by many. Those that I have spent time with had all been active in medical cannabis on some level since 2005, with 33% having been involved with Prop 215 since the 90’s. In looking at patients’ concerns, diagnosis is the most important aspect of understanding an individual’s needs and anxieties. 40% had more than one qualifying diagnosis which can affect the type of cannabis a patient requires, both in strains and in application. The most common combination of diagnoses was chronic pain accompanied by depression. Often, as in my case of chronic pain, depression and PTSD can be a precipitating factor in accidents. Using cannabis to treat the pain also gives added benefits to dealing with long-standing psychological trauma. In order to get an overall picture of the core needs of patients, I have only used the primary diagnosis for the statistical analysis. When working with more than one diagnosis, the information related to other diagnosis included here can be used to integrate the additional medical requirements. Of the 30 patients interviewed, 67% were being treated for chronic pain. Their ages ranged from the late 20’s to mid 60’s. The cannabis usage among most chronic-pain
patients ranged from 4 to 10 grams per day, with leaf needed for ointments and low THC edibles, as well as high THC bud for inhalation. Generally Indica dominant strains are preferred. The second largest population group, 20%, was diagnosed with depression either by itself or as Bipolar Disorder. The dosage used by those with depression averaged 2-3 grams per day with edibles added when available. Those with Bipolar Disorder averaged 5-7 grams per day. These dosages are based in large part on what was available with many factors affecting that availability. Sativa dominant strains were generally preferred but that was not as predictable as with chronic-pain and seemed to vary more with Bipolar Disorder. The edible formula also varied from the chronic-pain in that edibles with higher THC content were preferred. The remaining 13% of patients had diagnosis including optical problems, H.I.V. and cancer. Sativa was preferred by all diagnoses, but edibles were preferred with leaf containing little THC. Of overall riding importance for the majority of patients was to have an adequate, affordable and reliable cannabis source without fear of law enforcement. 93% of those surveyed had previous negative impacts from law enforcement actions. 66% had been personally raided since the passage of Prop. 215 with 77% losing the source of cannabis as a result of these raids The loss of medicine due to police activity
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Editorial was the number one patient concern. Law enforcement raids not only directly harm patients’ immediate health, they set up the fear factor that continues to create further damage to already weakened health states. Patients become afraid of growing their own if they have been doing so, which increases their costs, limits the plant material they need for edibles and ointments and if left without another local source, contributes to further health damage and early deaths. For those who have depended on dispensaries, the void can not be easily filled and many have little means to cultivate. The fact that there is frequently not another source is too often the situation that a large portion of California’s population has faced since the passage of The Compassionate Use Act of 1996. Even with the possibility of dispensing collectives and co-ops, the fact remains that they are found in select areas with many communities banning them and in many areas where they have been available it has become a political challenge with law enforcement and anti-cannabis community members uniting to negate the law in the attempt to provide workable solutions. The loss of medicine due to police activity has both immediate and long term consequences for patients. After the raid on Steve & I in 2002, within less than 6 months, one of our cancer patients, who had been in remission and was beginning to start walking with the help of edibles, died. Another committed suicide due to loss of medicine. At the time of that raid we had been down to less than 10 patients, including ourselves.
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Those left disappeared, fearing contact with us and I do not know their fate. The issue of being able to actually grow one’s own medicine or to help others to do likewise was the next biggest stress for 67% of respondents. Cultivation conditions were also an issue, with 50% expressing concern for the need to grow outdoors to achieve the quality, quantity and leaf to bud ratio of the plant essential for the medicalapplications required. Patients want to have the highest quality medicine for all the methods that help with their health. This was an issue for 80%. It follows therefore that organic plants as well as quality-ingredients used in ointments and edibles be of top priority. The inhalation, ingestion or dermal -application of plant material can contain contaminants including, but not limited to, harmful petroleum based chemical fertilizers, mold, fungus, bacterial, viral and animal pollutants. This is a major issue no matter how and where it is grown. Patients are generally dealing with compromised immune systems no matter what their diagnosis and a clean source of medicine is vital. Organic standards can be adhered to and despite the inability to have the medicine certified organic due to the federal government’s current position; cannabis can be certified as clean green under the Clean Green Program. A free introductory video, as well as the process to be certified as a clean green grower, is available at http://mccdirectory.com/clean_green_precertification_part1.lasso. A link on that
page leads to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances, the products one does not want to use on medicinal cannabis. The cost of medicine was a problem for 63% of patients in that it did not allow an adequate supply to fully treat their symptoms. In many cases patients had to add pharmaceuticals with harmful side-effects that they had previously been able to eliminate or sharply decrease. Numerous had previously grown there own and this right had been limited by legal actions to themselves or others resulting in a reluctance to claim their right to grow. Additionally the use of alcohol was resumed or increased when cannabis availability was inadequate which also contributed to decrease functioning. In one of the thirty, increased alcohol consumption was a contributing factor in that individual’s death. The increased use of prescription medications rose. 83% of patients reported a lack of enough cannabis to treat their symptoms even when cost was not a factor. Inability to grow outdoors contributed to not enough cannabis as well as increasing the cost. Prices reported ranged from $640 to $1,200 per quarter pound for outdoorcultivation, solar greenhouses or small indoor grows through collectives. Dispensary prices ranged from $45 for 3.5 grams of lower-quality medicine to $90 for 3.5 grams for high-grade cannabis with an
average of $70 for 3.5 grams at many places. I have had reports of $120 per 3.5 grams but not seen it. The range per quarter pound for patients needing that amount at verified dispensary prices would be from $1,440 to $2,880 with the average price of $70 for 3.5 gm per quarter pound being $2240. I can function with at least 3 ounces of very good quality Indica, what some would categorize as A-, per month. My cost at a dispensary averaging $70 per 3.5 grams would be $1,680 for a 30 day supply. This does not include leaf for ointment and edibles. For those who grew there own, cost was lower, but time and energy required to produce a good crop was like any other gardening situation with the outcome dependent on knowledge and a wide variety of environmental conditions. The pleasure of growing one’s own medicine is a determining factor in addition to cost for those who do so. Edibles are available at dispensaries, but the ones I visited were making them with trim that was too high in THC and too low in the much needed non-psychotropic medicinal cannabinoid compounds. That is not to say that there are dispensaries operating differently, but I have yet to visit one that can fully meet my needs, or the many other patients I have had contact with. I found only one dispensary out of the 14 I visited (7%) providing ointment, but that formula used too little cannabis to be as effective for pain that one with leaf in larger proportions would provide. All who I
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Editorial taught to make ointment using my formula, now swear by it and have a new appreciation for the need to grow plants with a high ratio of leaf. I found a large number of patients and caregivers believed the larger cannabis leaves, including fan leaves, did not have much medicinal value. These leaves were usually thrown away. Most small trim goes into hash or into edibles with high THC, creating a product that can leave one high or sleepy and which can then affect alert functioning. Edibles with a higher ratio of the other cannabinoids which are more predominating in leaf provide different physiological affects which have big health benefits. .Those with depression find edibles made from trim with high THC to be helpful, but others, including chronic-pain patients, often find they do not help relieve their symptoms but leave them unable to maintain normal activity due to the psychotropic properties. For those who use large amounts of cannabis on a daily basis, once the receptors are filled, one does not get high, but normal functioning, including mobility, become a reality. Both Steve & I were able to stay more focused with increased creativity. I have noted that with others also. For us edibles with some THC were not too overwhelming, but they did not offer as many positive benefits that those made with leaf Indoor grows do not produce the large amount of leaf that is found in outdoor grows, another reason the patients I worked
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with were concerned with the need to grow outdoors.
the day to keep one calm, alert and functioning.
modulator, 5) Appetite stimulate , and 6) Hypothernigenic & Other.
The compounds that are abundant in leaf, CBD, CBN, CBG and many others just beginning to be identified, have shown in recent studies to contain many valuable therapeutic properties. The use of the whole plant is becoming increasingly important for optimum health.
When we were growing our own with an abundance of leaf, I became so healthy I began to wonder if I had imagined the severe pain of my condition. As it takes a while for the cannabis receptors to empty out it was a few weeks after the Federal action in 2002 before I really noticed that I really was severely disabled once again. I have yet to return to that state of health.
With this extensive range of conditions that are treatable with cannabis, it is understandable that meeting these needs is challenging, especially when having to fight for the right to do so. The concerns of patients related here are shared with others who use medical cannabis to treat conditions not yet disabling but which allow for improved functioning with equally positive health results. All have concerns when it comes to the ability to access adequate cannabis and to utilize it to help achieve one’s fullest health potential.
CBD, cannabinol, is non-psychotropic and makes up to %40 of the medicinal-compounds in cannabis extracts. Medically it is indicated for inflammation, anxiety, nausea, seizures and to inhibit cancer cell growth. Recent studies indicate effective treatment with CBD for schizophrenia and reduce growth of breast cancer cells. It also reduces intraocular pressure.
Considering the wide spectrum of medical application for cannabis, it is important to be aware of the varying needs of individual patients. Many have more than one diagnostic use for cannabis which can affect the cannabis applications required as well as the amount and type of cannabis used.
CBG is non-psychotropic with sedative effects, antibiotic properties and reduces intraocular pressure. The presence of CBG in leaf and it’s benefit for glaucoma is why many glaucoma patients can get by using leaf when available.
Conditions for which cannabis is therapeutically effective were reported by the late Todd H. Mikuria M.D in 1999 with an updated accounting in O’Shaughnessy’s Journal of the California Cannabis Research Medical Group which included additional conditions. The issue was released in 2007 but is not available on-line. Earlier issues of the journal with valuable medical information can be accessed at http://ccrmg.org/ journal.html.
Edibles and ointments made with leaf high in these cannabinoids help reduce inflammation, edema and pain from arthritis, fibromyalgia, and a host of other chronicpain conditions. Such edibles help one sleep without feeling groggy in the A.M. and a few nibbles on cookies throughout
The medical diagnoses in the 1999 list number 155 and range alphabetically from ADHD to Whiplash divided into six diagnostic classifications: 1) Psychotherapeutic-Antidepressant /Anxiolytic, 2) Harm reduction substitute, 3) Antispasmodic/ Anticonvulsant, 4) Analgesic/ immuno-
CBN, cannabinol, has weak psychotropic properties. It decreases heart rate, inhibits platelet aggregation and has anticonvulsive properties.
Restoring health as well as maintaining and improving health to allow increased functionality is one of cannabis’s greatest gifts. Its ability to provide pain relief, especially neurogenic, is beyond par. The freedom to use cannabis for health is what patients know to be the most beneficial in achieving that quality of health. Understanding the wide variables encompassing the divergent needs of the broad base of patients is paramount to insuring that the freedom for health through cannabis is not only sustained but expanded to improve the quality of health care that this unique plant can provide.
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Cannabis & Glaucoma by Norman Lepoff, M.D. (Retired Opthalmologist)
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When I prepared for my testing by The American Board of Ophthalmology in order to be “Board Certified,” there was a “Board Question” regarding Cannabis. It specifically regarded the effects on our eyes. The question was “What are the ocular effects of Cannabis?” The answer was “lowering intra-ocular pressure, redness and dryness.” We Ophthalmologists have known for years that Cannabis lowers eye pressure, yet this vital information has been neglected thanks to our government. Many people are suffering and needlessly losing their vision from Glaucoma, despite all “conventional” therapies. They are forced to take dangerous Ophthalmic drugs, or undergo risky surgery, when they could possibly benefit from something with the highest safety profile of them all for treating elevated eye pressure; Cannabis. I have asked representatives from the pharmaceutical companies why they don’t research Cannabis for the treatment of Glaucoma. The answer was always the same. “The Federal Government will not allow that. We would like to. We know it has benefits. We can’t.” About 50% of patients with Glaucoma will suffer irreversible vision loss despite all
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government approved medical, laser and surgical therapies. All of the prescription glaucoma drops and pills are dangerous and some even have life threatening side effects. Surgery is always dangerous, and is best avoided. Cannabis, on the other hand is safe. It is sad that our government will not allow patients access to such a relatively harmless and safe substance as Cannabis. I think vision is precious and have dedicated my life to preventing blindness and restoring people’s vision. I wish our government shared this perspective. I never hesitated to verbally endorse Cannabis when I was practicing medicine, but I was afraid of the consequences from the California Medical Board and The Federal Government. Today, thirteen years after we passed The Compassionate Use Act, there are still constant threats against physicians who recommend Cannabis, collectives that provide Cannabis, and the patients themselves. The cruelty and hypocrisy of our elected officials, as well as many members of law enforcement regarding Cannabis never ceases to amaze me.
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Editorial
Letter To
Iowa Board of Pharmacy by Mark Pedersen, Cannabis Patient Network
My name is Mark Pedersen. My organization is Cannabis Patient Network. I also work closely with Patients Out of Time. I currently live in St. Louis. I was born and raised in Herculaneum, Missouri. The primary industry there is lead smelting. It was there in Herculaneum that I was exposed to heavy metals, the by products of this industry. And it was this exposure that caused my chronic illness. After countless doctor visits and hospitalization; after tens of thousands of dollars and a myriad of prescription drugs, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia with severe migraines. Many weeks, I experienced two to three moderate to severe migraines a week. Each migraine was like a mini seizure, with a little more of my short and long term memory disappearing with each episode. Pharmaceuticals did little to control the headaches. Consequently, my migraine specialist regularly injected me with experimental medications, often with horrific results. My stomach was constantly upset from 78
the illness and the continually changing regiments of prescription drugs. The pain, weakness, and confusion made it impossible for me to work. I had to leave my certified welder and pipefitter position with Ameren, our local electric utility. I also had to leave my computer consulting business, and close my ministry, which provided a much needed food pantry to our county’s poor. My exposure to lead and it’s byproducts cost me my career, my home, my cars, and my marriage. In 2001, my eldest daughter passed away unexpectedly from the illness that has affected my whole family, including my two surviving children, my now, ex-wife, and just about everyone we knew there, in our home town. In 2002, my family, along with others in Herculaneum, was featured in a story on the news program 20/20. For the last fourteen years, I have treated my illnesses virtually entirely with one holistic medicine. Cannabis. Apart from a brief time in Colorado where I was a legal patient, I have been forced to exist as a
criminal. The fact that cannabis took away the pain of Fibromyalgia, the fact that cannabis alleviated my migraines and seizures entirely and restored my long term memory completely, and the fact that cannabis even eased the intense pain of degenerative joint disease in my shoulders and lower back, didn’t matter to law enforcement. It is for that reason that I began the work that has come to be called Cannabis Patient Network. Cannabis Patient Network was founded with a solitary mission that persists to this day. We are dedicated to the purpose of giving a voice to the chronically and terminally ill. CPN is not a membership organization; There is no voting body – only me, and those who volunteer to assist me. Along with Patients Out of Time, we provide science and medical research to back up the stories we document. We extensively research the illnesses and injuries, the pharmaceuticals that the patients have taken, their side effects, and results of their regular dosing with cannabis. I have made a promise to each and every patient whom I have interviewed to ensure that their image and voice will be used to bring about an end to the arrest and persecution of the chronically and terminally ill whose only crime is choosing a safe, effective, holistic alternative to dangerous, addictive pharmaceuticals. I have interviewed patients with Multiple
Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Fibromyalgia, Epilepsy, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, chronic pain, migraines, breast cancer, lung cancer, testicular cancer, Acoustic Neuroma, Lymphoma, skin cancer, brain aneurism, stuttering, PTSD, Crohn’s, Lupus, chronic depression and anxiety, other mental issues, chronic, debilitating pain such as Neuropathy of the feet and neurological pain due to paralysis, and many more. Funded by whatever part-time work I can get and an occasional donation from patients and advocates, I travel the country interviewing the chronically and terminally ill who, like me, have found relief from their debilitating illnesses with cannabis. I have currently interviewed somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 people on camera. But for each and every testimony that I have recorded, there have been literally hundred more patients that have told me their personal story – those too fearful to be seen on video; too fearful to risk their Disability or Veteran’s Benefits; those unwilling to risk their government funded housing or jobs. Twelve of my interviews were selected to be presented to you today. Cathy Jordon has been living with Lou Gehrig’s disease for well over twenty years, now. My good friend, Ervin Dargan, has spent many hours over the past few years recording her battle with this extremely progressive disease. There is no doubt to her why she has lived so very much longer than most. Though her disability is
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Editorial evident in her voice and in the fact that she is confined to a wheelchair, what is not so obvious is the fact that cannabis halted the progression of her illness. She persists in life and in her dedication to others with debilitating disease as she fights for an end to cannabis prohibition in her state, Florida, and nationally. Brenda of Ohio and Catherine of Missouri are breast cancer survivors. They have vivid memories of their chemotherapy and radiation treatments. For those who have gone through it, most will tell you that it is as painful and debilitating as the cancer itself. And yet, they found relief from the wasting and nausea with cannabis. Beth Wilkinson lives in Lawrence, Kansas. She had a horse fall on her during a riding accident when she was in her late teens. That’s been many years ago, but the injury lingers in the way of tonic clonic seizures. Her epilepsy has in fact gotten so bad that her doctors have had to resort to implanting a device in her left shoulder. The implant, similar to a pacemaker, sends electrical bursts to her vegus nerve to fend off each episode. Unfortunately, it does not always work. A couple of weeks before I recorded Beth’s interview, she awoke to find herself in a familiar place. The emergency room. The physicians and nurses there know her by name. She’s been there a lot. Beth’s only other conventional hope would be brain surgery. Unfortunately, her chances of survival are bleak. For Beth, there is only one alternative. Cannabis. When Beth medicates with cannabis, she feels a sooth-
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ing in the sides of her head and the seizure is avoided. If cannabis would have been available to her earlier in her life, maybe she would still be driving and not had all those car accidents; maybe she wouldn’t have to be on Disability. Maybe. Heather was thirty-six years old when I interviewed her. She has Vascular type Ethlers-Danlos Syndrome. Her illness confines her to a wheelchair. It also thins the walls of her vascular system and internal organs. So much so that a hard cough or retch could cause a rupture and internal bleeding. For her, chronic nausea is also a symptom. Heather takes $2600 worth of Medicaid Pharmaceuticals per month. One of her medications, Marinol makes up over half of that cost. Though legislatures claim that Marinol is a sufficient substitute for the natural plant, despite it’s hefty price tag, Heather still suffers. The oral nature of her meds and their slow reaction time makes them of little comfort. Cannabis is not only the most efficient choice for combating Heather’s illness, in this time of economic struggle; it is also the most cost-effective for the tax payer. Medicare / Medicaid costs affect everyone who pays taxes. If cannabis were legal for medical purposes, Heather would not need any other medicine. If you had never seen anyone come back from Progressive Multiple Sclerosis, then you need to meet Jack Chavez. This is the same illness that killed comedian Richard Pryor. A Denver resident, Jack has run the gamete of this illness. At one point in his struggle, he could only move his eyes and
that with great difficulty. Fortunately for him, his roommate would place raw cannabis under his lip each morning. Whether it was his sheer will to live, the natural neuroprotectant properties of cannabis, or the combination of the two, Jack slowly made his way back from the brink of death. Jack, along with his grown son, now works as a caregiver in Denver providing safe “legal” holistic medicine to others who are chronically ill. The atrophy in his arms is all but gone. He can do most tasks unassisted. He knows that in most other states, like Iowa, he would have been dead long ago. Buddy Talley is 86 years old. Even at his advanced age, he has spent most of his life working. Now, he spends very little time apart from his recliner or his bed. His son, also a “shut-in” because of chronic illness, cares for him. Conventional narcotics don’t effectively treat the neuropathy he experiences in his feet or his arthritis. The opiates that he is prescribed cause him horrible intestinal problems and are poorly effective in treating his kind of intense pain. Buddy sees little hope for his future, unless the one medicine that has been documented to work with his type of ailment was legalized. Cannabis. Todd is a student at the University of Missouri, Columbia. He has accomplished much in overcoming his disability. He has been a paraplegic for several years now, following an accident that left him permanently paralyzed from the chest down. It’s tough for Todd to describe the kind of pain that he deals with every moment of every
day. Only someone who has experienced this type of injury can relate to the constant burning, stabbing pain that is his constant companion. The worst part for him comes at night when he’s trying to sleep. The majority of “flare-ups”, as he calls them, come then. No narcotic is effective in relieving the discomfort that robs him of his rest. They only dull his senses, making his educational pursuits virtually impossible. Cannabis not only replaces the harmful, addictive prescriptions normally prescribed to people with his type of injury, it distances him from his pain so that he can sleep; so that he can be alert and functional the next day. And that’s all he wants. To have the same opportunities that he had prior to his life-changing tragedy. He’s not asking for much. Just to be able to legally treat his condition the safest, most effective way. You have already heard from Jacqueline, but her story bears repeating. As a medical cannabis patient, she has been forced to make choices not unlike those of others that I have interviewed; to flee to a “legal” state or face being incarcerated and/ or lose your children. Some, like the Davis family of South Carolina (Eddie has Muscular Dystrophy and his wife, Diana, has Multiple Sclerosis), were not as fortunate. The state took their children five years ago when Family Services discovered they were using cannabis to treat their conditions. They’re still only allowed structured visits. The Davis children have been abused in foster care. Jacqueline has not only strived to make a new home for herself in Califor-
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Editorial nia where her medicine is relatively legal, but has returned quite often to the states where she was persecuted to help others. If there were anything good to say about prohibition, it would be that it has forced us to band together. It has made us brothers and sisters in one cause; to one day ensure that the pursuit of freedom is not only a right for the fortunate, but also for those who are chronically and terminally ill. Marena Collins suffers from chronic arthritis. Without cannabis, she quite literally cannot move. Prescriptions have damaged her stomach and liver. A holistic alternative is all that is left for her. Fortunately for Marena and her husband, their children are grown now, which made the sacrifice of moving to a “legal” state somewhat easier. It’s not easy starting over in a strange place, particularly when you’re on a fixed income, but for the Collins’, to remain in Missouri would most certainly mean eventual arrest. And whether that would mean prison or being denied the only medicine that brings an end to Marena’s suffering, that would equate to no life at all. Now, the Collins family resides in Colorado Springs where Marena actively serves her new found community as a caregiver to others with debilitating disease. Joe Cullin lives in rural North Carolina. He suffers from a condition called Charcot-Marie-Tooth. It’s similar to Multiple Sclerosis. He spends most of his waking hours in a power wheelchair, since his illness robs him of his balance. Like Multiple Sclerosis, he
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ferent anti-depressants, as well. Linda has been able to limit her intake of prescription drugs by medicating with cannabis. She finds that quite often she doesn’t even need her pain medicines. Cannabis also helps her appetite, which is vitally important for her since she tends to be anorexic.
Mark Pedersen interview Joe Cullin, North Carolina.
experiences pain and spasticity as his autoimmune disease slowly and defiantly robs him of his mobility and atrophies his limbs. Pharmaceuticals, though somewhat effective in relieving his pain, cause side effects that are often as bad as the illness they are meant to treat. Joe has found that cannabis, when it’s available; when he can afford it on his limited income, relaxes his muscles and provides comfort from the pain, far more effectively. He can function. Joe wonders what medical advances regarding autoimmune diseases like his may have been availed to him if only cannabis were legal. Linda Yelvington is no stranger to pain. She has dealt with Scoliosis all her life. A hip replacement following a car accident added to her problems, as degenerative joint disease became an issue for her as she got older. Linda has also struggled with depression as she has struggled to make a life for herself despite her debilitating condition. Along with the many dangerous narcotics that she has been prescribed over the years, (hydrocodone, darvon, darvocet, vicodin) her physicians have prescribed dif-
If these testimonies, or the many you have heard from every part of your state are not enough to convince you concerning the efficacy of cannabis as medicine, I have more. Many more. Please visit my website at www.cannabispatientnetwork.com or my YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/ cannabispatientnet. Still more are coming. I have at least ten currently in edit. I’ll record another ten or so this weekend. I have at least thirty more patients throughout the Midwest that have been waiting for quite sometime for me to get to them. More are being added daily to the list.
are a portion of the middleclass that affects 100% of America, because every family in America has at least one member who is chronically ill. You can be certain of one thing; chronic illness comes to us all at some point in our lives. I urge you – I beg you, to open your minds and your hearts to the truth. Iowa and our nation deserve a safe, holistic alternative for the treatment of chronic and terminal illness. Stop the persecution of your states’ most vulnerable. Free the medicine, ease the pain. Sincerely, Mark D. Pedersen www.cannabispatientnetwork.com
The vast majority of our countries chronically ill don’t know that cannabis is real medicine and that this God given plant could give them a better quality of life. It’s such a terrible, terrible shame that anyone should have to live out their life in needless pain and suffering. What’s more, as I have witnessed, the halt and even reversal of autoimmune disease can be possible, but not for those who are denied the knowledge of this often life-saving medicine. If only it makes one’s life more tolerable, why does our government persist in its deception? The truth is in the telling. We, the chronically and terminally ill are real people. We
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Editorial
DIAGNOSIS RAP SHEET ASSESSMENT by William L. Johnson (December 13th, 2009)
This is who I am, King of Pain. These are my legions, my demons; all who attempt to cripple me and my mission: • Depression – (chronic, bipolar, manic, possibly genetic) First diagnosed in 1976 at age 21 during service in the US Navy. Hospitalized one week mostly for rest and on a voluntary basis. I took anti-depressants (don’t remember the brand) in 1985-86 and again in 2008 to present as a condition required for receiving Hepatitis C treatment. • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – (seeds originated in 1970s, victim of two violent crimes in 1981 resulting in physical, mental, emotional distress) First diagnosed in 2007 just prior to interferon treatment for Hepatitis C. • Hepatitis C – (Survivor) First diagnosed in 1997, screened in 1998, treated with Pegasus Interferon and Copegus (ribavirin) from April 2008 to March 2009 with positive results, meaning the virus is no longer present, I am considered healed. However, my arthritis, depression and eyesight have worsened. • Stage 4 Liver Disease – (Cirrhosis of the Liver). Diagnosed in 2008 after biopsy to determine the course of treatment for Hep C. Latest tests have continued to show normal liver function. Conditions could improve now that the Hep C virus is no longer attacking my liver, but improvement and repair depend entirely on a healthy lifestyle – eating and exercising. • Complete deafness, right ear – (Sudden Hearing Loss Syndrome – stroke to the cochlea of the inner ear, possibly caused by deteriorating conditions of TMJ. First diagnosed in 1997 after a road trip over peaks and valleys. • Tinnitus & associated vertigo – (Constant ringing of the ears). First diagnosed in 1997, but first noticed several years sooner). Worsened when deafness struck right ear. Frequency and volume depend on stress conditions and noise levels. • TMJ – (Jaw disease) Diagnosed in 1988 during an infection in my saliva glands. The doctor had to pry my jaw bones apart to separate them from their lock position and to access my glands to drain them. This condition has de-
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teriorated my teeth and with recent interferon treatment I lost three teeth, making for worsened depression because I don’t want anyone to see me, also cause for roadblocks in seeking gainful employment or opportunity that is fit for my ability to cope. • Asthma, Emphysema, COPD – First diagnosed in 1997 and treated with intensity in 2007 with inhalants. Early origins believed to have been early in age as a result of a deviated septum, which was cause for chronic sinusitis and infection in the nasal cavities and cause for sinus surgery in 1997. I am still taking inhalants – Albuterol and Flovent. • Carpal Tunnel Disease – First diagnosed in late 1990s or early 2000s. Pain was constant to both left and right wrists, as a result of computer work. After leaving newspaper job in 2003, pain has left right wrist but continues to be a problem in left wrist. • Arthritis – I am not sure if I have an actual diagnosis for this, but it has worsened to the point that I do NOT want to move for hours on end because of pain. Some of the pain swirls around my body, covering almost my entire body from the base of skull all of the way to the hips. Note: I am double jointed on my left side, but not my right. • Thyroid Disease – I have low thyroid levels and am being treated. Diagnosed in or about 2008. • Cataracts – Diagnosed in 2008 prior to interferon treatment. Then considered small, but I believe they have grown to the point I cannot read small print (12 points or less), and even sometimes 14 point is difficult. I’m sure I could dig up some more demons but these are the things I face every day. Agitation from outside stimuli can cause conditions like PTSD and depression to worsen. One of the worst side effects of the interferon treatment is depression and in rare cases, patients have been known to commit suicide. Patients are monitored during treatment but fall off the radar screen after treatment, and that is where I am today, off radar, in pain, ballistic feelings of rejection, dejection, sadness, etc., etc., etc. Must I go on? Who can I lean on for aid and comfort? All questions I need answered.
CAN MARIJUANA PREVENT CANCER? By Lanny Swerdlow, RN
Dr. Donald Tashkin is a widely published pulmonologist who for three decades has conducted investigations for the National Institute of Drug Abuse and other government agencies on the adverse effects of marijuana and other drugs on the human body. Studies conducted by Dr. Tashkin in 1990 found that marijuana smoke has almost the exact same carcinogens (cancer causing agents) as tobacco smoke and that the concentration of these carcinogens was exceedingly higher in marijuana smoke. These studies are the basis for the government’s warning in thousands of ads that smoking one marijuana joint does as much damage as smoking four cigarettes. Since it is well documented that the carcinogens in tobacco smoke are directly responsible for the development of lung cancer in tobacco smokers, government marijuana prohibitionists reasoned that marijuana smoke must also cause lung cancer because it contains even stronger concentrations of these cancer causing agents. To document a connection between lung cancer and marijuana smoking, Dr. Tashkin received a very large grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse. With over 2,200 subjects, the research was one of the largest case control studies of its kind ever! The government was horrified at the results and did its best to ignore them as Dr. Tashkin failed to find any link between smoking marijuana and the development of lung cancer. In almost every category studied, a person was no more likely to develop lung cancer if they smoked marijuana than if they didn’t smoke marijuana. How can that be? The marijuana smokers should be developing lung cancer at a significantly higher rate than the non-smokers because they are taking carcinogenic agents into their lungs and the non-smokers are not. What is going on here? Dr. Tashkin’s study offers some evidence of what might be happening. In all the groups studied, the
“We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer, and that the association would be more positive with heavier use,” he said. “What we found instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect.”
Donald P. Tashkin, M.D.
smoker of marijuana was no more likely to develop lung cancer than the non-smoker - save for one group in which there was a small, but still statistically significant difference. This was the group of people who only smoked marijuana and nothing else compared to people who did not smoke anything at all. In this group of people the smokers of marijuana actually had a lower incidence of lung cancer than the people who did not smoke anything at all. This makes no sense. How can people who are taking carcinogens directly into their lungs have a lower incidence of lung cancer than people who are not? It makes no sense unless perhaps the cannabinoids found in cannabis are such powerful anti-cancer agents that they can prevent the development of cancers even in the presence of cancer causing agents. Does Dr. Tashkin’s study prove this? No it does not. But there is a lot of scientific evidence out there that appears to show this is exactly what is happening.
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Editorial In 2003 Dr. Manual Guzman from the University of Madrid authored a medically astounding report detailing current research into the ability of the cannabinoids in cannabis to control the spread of cancer including the results of his studies on cannabinoids injected into the brains of rats with brain tumors. Published in the peer-reviewed research publication Nature Reviews Cancer, he wrote: Cannabinoids inhibit tumour growth in laboratory animals. They do so by modulating key cell-signalling pathways, thereby inducing direct growth arrest and death of tumour cells, as well as by inhibiting tumour angiogenesis and metastasis. Cannabinoids are selective antitumour compounds, as they can kill tumour cells without affecting their non-transformed counterparts. The cannabinoids found in cannabis can not only slow the growth of tumors, they can actually selectively kill cancer cells. This is amazing! There are lots of anti-cancer drugs available that are very good at killing cancerous cells. The problem with all of them is that there are also very good at killing all the other cells around them. Cannnabis, on the other hand, can selectively kill only the cancer cells and leave all the unaffected cells alone and does it without the generalized toxic effects of conventional chemotherapies. Dr. Tashkin’s and Dr. Guzman’s investigations are part of a virtual cascade of recent research documenting the anti-cancer properties of the cannabinoids found in cannabis. In November 2007, researchers at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute published a report showing that the non-psychoactive cannabinoid cannabidiol found in cannabis can inhibit the spread of breast cancer. Investigators at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health reported in January 2008 that the administration of cannabinoids halts the spread of a wide range of cancers, including brain cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, and lymphoma. Like Dr. Guzman’s research, the report noted that cannabis offer significant advantages over standard chemotherapy treatments because the cannabinoids in cannabis are both non-toxic and can uniquely tar-
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get malignant cells while ignoring healthy ones. Is the evidence incontrovertible that cannabis can inhibit the spread of cancer, kill cancer cells and prevent the development of cancer? No it is not – but people are spending billions of dollars and ingesting all kinds of supplements on way less evidence then there is to support the anti-cancer properties of cannabis. When taking any kind of medicine or supplement, a person needs to decide if the claimed benefits of a product outweigh the risks. Many times the answer is no because many medicines and even supplements sold over the counter have significant debilitating and even deadly side effects. Cannabis, however, is not one of these products as there has never been a single death attributed to cannabis or any other significant debilitating consequences. Further, the vast majority of cannabis users report numerous beneficial effects of taking cannabis including stress reduction, insomnia relief and a general feeling of well being. If cannabis can prevent the development of cancer, then the appropriate ingestion of cannabis is desirable in the same way that the appropriate ingestion of calcium supplements can prevent or at least delay the onset of osteoporosis. Since for the vast majority of people, cannabis has no negative side effects and only beneficial effects, it would seem that the regular appropriate ingestion of cannabis as a cancer preventative agent would be a prudent course of action. Resources: 1. Tashkin, D.P., Pulmonary Complications of Smoked Substance Abuse. Western Journal of Medicine 1990 May; 152:525530. pg. 525-526. 2. Guzman M., [2003] Cannabinoids: potential anticancer agents. Nat Rev Cancer. 3(10): 745-55 3. Mia Hashibe, Hal Morgenstern, Yan Cui, Donald P. Tashkin, Zuo-Feng Zhang, Wendy Cozen, Thomas M. Mack, and Sander Greenland, Marijuana Use and the Risk of Lung and Upper Aerodigestive Tract Cancers: Results of a PopulationBased Case-Control Study 4. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers Prev. 2006 15: 1829-1834. 5. Sean D. McAllister, Rigel T. Christian, Maxx P. Horowitz, Amaia Garcia and Pierre-Yves Desprez Cannabidiol as a novel inhibitor of Id-1 gene expression in aggressive breast cancer cells, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, November 1, 2007 6, 2921 6. Cannabinoids As Chemo Treatment, Journal of Cancer Research, Jan. 31, 2008
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Editorial
The
U.S. War on Marijuana by Steve VanWormer December 5th, 2009
“...the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.” ---Harry Jacob Anslinger---
Harry J. Anslinger
The versatile plant that produces marijuana has been used for millennia around all around the world. The plant and its byproducts have had historic applications in social ceremonies, religion, industry and medicine. The United States is well known for being the “land of the free”, but not when it comes to Marijuana. The federal government, guided by special interest groups, has conducted a rigorous and systematic campaign of disinformation and criminalization against marijuana that has lasted through the majority of the twentieth century and continues today. The usefulness of hemp was not lost upon the founders of our country. In 1619 the Jamestown colony, the first European colony in the new world, passed a law requiring all farmers of the colony to grow hemp. Interestingly, hemp was the primary crop 88
grown by our founding father George Washington at Mount Vernon, and a secondary crop grown by the author of the United States Constitution, Thomas Jefferson on his plantation Monticello. Around the turn of the twentieth century, the federal government was in an unprecedented period of growth and expansion of regulatory power. In 1906, the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed to create the Food and Drug Administration giving the government control of medicine for the first time. Over the following decade, the disinformation was disseminated heavily to the public and lawmakers by conservative special interest groups. In 1913, California passed the first state anti-marijuana law. 1914 Harrison Act passed, outlawing opiates and cocaine. Other states followed, Utah , Wyo-
ming (1915). The United States ratified the eighteenth amendment outlawing alcohol in 1919. Encouraged by the federal, even more states passed prohibitions against marijuana, Texas (1919), Iowa (1923), Nevada, Arkansas, Washington, Oregon (1923), Louisiana (1924), New York (1927) and Nebraska (1927). In 1930 Harry J. Anslinger became the first US drug “Czar” with the title of Commissioner of Narcotics, Bureau of Narcotics, and United States Department of the Treasury. He took the short path getting there. Working as a railroad guard, in 1919 he married Martha Denniston, the niece of Andrew W. Mellon who later as Secretary of the US Treasury would appoint Anslinger to his 32 year post as Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.
Harry Anslinger commanded a fully funded federal department with equivalent resources to that of the FBI and he fully used those resources to advance his personal anti-marijuana agenda. He ignored and did not present any evidence that contradicted his claims when he testified before congress. I hesitate to call him a liar, he may have believed what he did tell congress at the time, but that is universally recognized today as being incorrect.
Harry J. Anslinger (Circa 1936)
Anslinger may have believed he was acting in the public interest. Incredibly, his repressive administration of the Bureau of Narcotics continued for thirty-two years through the administrations of U.S. Presidents Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy. Examples of the disinformation Anslinger created and distributed include the contention that marijuana had no medical value and an unscientific notion that marijuana if present at all, was the causative factor in any criminal activity. If anyone did anything wrong and was in any way remotely connected to marijuana, or had ever smoked marijuana, it would became part of the negative national statistic. The statistics that indicated whether there was also alcohol or other contributory factors involved were not presented. Anslinger also made infamous remarks intended to incite and alarm the white majority about the negative effect of marijuana on minority Americans that he referred to as “degenerate races”.
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Editorial cotics Control Act adds more severe penalties. The 1970 Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act replaced and updated all previous laws concerning narcotics and other dangerous drugs. This new act placed full federal emphasis on law enforcement. In one of the biggest untruths ever perpetuated upon the American people, this the Comprehensive DAPC Act includes the Controlled Substances Act, in which marijuana is classified a Schedule one drug along with the most dangerous drugs with no recognized medical application. To reach the conclusions of the act, federally funded research programs attempting to determine the medical value of marijuana were cancelled or scrapped and abundant independent research that conflicted with their conclusions was ignored. 1396 American exploitation film, “Reefer Madness”
Reefer Madness (1937)
In 1936 the Propaganda film “Reefer Madness” was released. In the modern, educated eye, Reefer Madness is a comedy of epic proportions, however in 1936 it and other similar films were accepted as factual and achieved their intended effect of generating almost hysterical fear among the masses, which helped to justify the implementation of increasingly draconian measures of enforcement and punishment.
Marijuana Tax Act (1937)
In 1937 Cannabis made federally illegal in the U.S. with the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act. The 1951 Boggs Amendment to the Harrison Narcotic Act added mandatory sentences for offenders. Then the 1956 Nar90
The 1972 Nixon-appointed Shafer Commission urged that the use of cannabis be re-legalized, but their recommendation was ignored In 1973 Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Changes Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs into the DEA. Two years later the FDA establishes Compassionate Use Program for medical marijuana. In 1988 DEA administrative law Judge Francis Young finds after thorough hearings that marijuana has clearly established medical use and should be reclassified as a prescriptive drug. The ruling is ignored by the DEA. At almost the same time, the 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Act was being passed officially establishing a National Office of Drug
Control Policy and the modern Drug Czar. The draconian policies of the flawed and failed war on marijuana continued throughout the 1990s and 2000s. The number of non-violent offenders incarcerated for simple possession of marijuana is approaching nine hundred thousand. Feeding, housing and guarding nearly a Million non-violent Americans charged with what most Americans would agree are minor-offenses places an unneeded and unreasonable financial burden on society. The families of these Americans also pay an incalculable price economically and emotionally with the loss of a love one who is often the family breadwinner. As a result, very often these families also become a financial burden on society. America never had people or money to waste. Now, during difficult economic times is perhaps the best time to reconsider the other options available for all those people. Nobody can afford to waste more money on this ill advised war on marijuana. In the information age, it is increasingly more difficult for a special interest or other entity to perpetuate a lie on a grand a scale as has been done in the past. Reason and logic is slowly winning out over ignorance and hysteria. The present generation is no longer fooled by the anti-marijuana propaganda of a bygone era. The overwhelming majority of the population of the United States now supports marijuana for medical use and Americans that support general legalization reportedly have a very close majority. The Obama administration has indicated a change in the right direction by stating re-
peatedly that federal resources will not be used prosecuting medical marijuana patients in states that have laws to allow medical marijuana. It will be necessary to continue to watch and see how it turns out now that several political activist groups and some high ranking politicians have been advancing the cause of general legalization and the projected tax revenue that could help counter the current economic downturn in much the same way that the repeal of the eighteenth amendment helped to bring the United States out of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The current administration is to be commended for moving in the direction guided by the will of the people, but has very far yet to go. I find myself encouraged by the progress that has been made in recent years, yet still unwilling to hold my breath while waiting for this latest “Government of the People” to “Get with the program”. Resources: 1. Brainz http://brainz.org/420-milestones-history-marijuana/ 2. The National Archives. http://www.archives.gov/ 3. The Center for Sensible Drug Policy 4. Drug Crazy Gray, Mike, Random House (1998) 5. Reefer Madness (1937) 6. Reefer Madness http://www.reefermadness.org/propaganda/ prop.html 7.Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_history_of_cannabis_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_(drug) 8. Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control Kleinman, Mark (1989) 9. Concept 420 http://www.concept420.com/ 10. Schaffer Library http://www.druglibrary.org/Schaffer/ hemp/history/first12000/13.htm Images courtesy of: 1. The National Archives. http://www.archives.gov/ 2. Wordpress http://wordpress.org/ 3. Reefer Madness London http://www.reefermadnesslondon. com
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DIRECTORY
Lake Elsinore
Palm Springs
BP Medical Solutions (951) 678-2400 Compassionate Patients Association (951) 226-8744
The Desert Collective - Palm Springs (760) 219-5675
Lake Elsinore Medical Collective (951) 245-4446
Inland Empire Patients Group (909) 820-6420 Calm Collective (909) 989-8311
Wildomar West Coast Weeds (951) 286-0424
Temecula Mr. Herbs Collective (951) 595-1569 The Herbal Connect (951) 970-9740
Murrieta My 5 POINTS COLLECTIVE (951) 551-5692
Riverside The Medicine Chest (951) 272-4420 215-2-U (951) 269-6840/951-224-0772 Grade A Delivery Services (951) 236-6998 MedCare Cooperative 1(800) 420-4369
Corona Southern California Compassionate Sanctuary (951) 340-3850 Peoples’ Medicinial Coopoerative (951) 278-0250 92
San Bernardino
IEHHC - The Inland Empire’s Premier Cannabis Collective (909) 875-4200 G3 Holistic (909) 373-7086
Anaheim & Fullerton Premium Organic Treatments (P.O.T) PCA (714) 632-8812 P.A.M.A. (714) 408-4466 Hillside Medical Collective (714) 983-6664 Green City Collective (714) 635-9600
Santa Ana Premium Green PCA (714) 835-0500 OCCC (714) 476-9270 Green Coast Wellness Center (714) 542-2277 Unit-D (714) 590-91000 SoCal Compassion (714) 417-1322
Patients Premium Collective (714) 720-2735
Costa Mesa & Manhattan Beach Dakini Collective (714) 421-0679 BeachCitiesMarijuana.com (310) 894-6337 Newport Mesa Patients Assn. (949) 891-8289
Laguna Niguel H.U.G.S. Collective 1(877) 420-HUGS Laguna Lifestyle (949) 200-0712
Lake Forest & Irvine Bulzi Rx Cooperative (949) 459-3770 New Amsterdam (949) 600-6577 AAFE 420 Delivery = SAFE (949) 334-3065 SOCCA- All of Orange County. (866) 321-3459 Lake Forest Patients Collective Association (949) 455-9300
Laguna Hills BCC of CA (949) 716-2649
San Diego and Surrounding Cannabis Creations Wellness Cooperative (858) 356-7967 SDTMC (619) 275-7500 San Diego Organic Collective Inc (SDOC) (619) 501-7400 The Greenery Caregivers (619) 296-1300 The Glass Jar Collective (GJC) (619) 294-6847 Natural Healing Solutions (619) 243-4587 Rosecrans Herbal Care (619) 255-3813 New Earth Beginnings (619) 276-1008 Cloud 9 Co Op (619) 225-9128 Green Light Collective (619) 408-0198 Wisdom Organics (619) 272-0240 Ocean Beach Collective (619) 226-3300 Forty Two Caregivers (858) 270-9900 Green Kross Co-Operative (858) 412-5944 Fresh Selection Cooperative (858) 746-4207 Mother Earths Alternative Healing Coopertive Inc. (858) 746-4207
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Editorial
THE “STATE” OF NEVADA… WHAT HAPPENS HERE IN NEVADA…
STAYS UNIMPLEMENTED YEARS LATER… by James Parsons (December 5th, 2009)
It is now December 5, 2009 and after having almost a decade of the medical marijuana program in Nevada, we are still light years behind in implementation. Now normally this is where I would have to take a break and go medicate due to the sudden urge to internally scream until my toes hurt, but I am going to be strong at the moment…I am going to do my best to explain to you how difficult it is to help Nevada’s most health challenged patients when the government bureaucracy won’t do their jobs. My name is James Parsons, and I am the founder and president of the Medical Cannabis Consultants of Nevada; a 501(c)(3) Nevada non-profit corporation striving to educate and inform Nevadans (and all Americans for that matter) about the therapeutic benefits of cannabis. You see, not only do I live with chronic pain from my ailments and injuries sustained but I must also deal with the pain I feel every time I read the Nevada state constitution. I’m not sure if you have ever read the Nevada (or any state’s for that matter) constitution, but you would be amazed at what you can find. I just choose to focus on Nevada’s constitution because… well…that’s my home state now and it’s also why my toes hurt so much! Every single day I read Article 4, Section 38, Number 1, Letter (e) of the Nevada state constitution and I just get this feeling as if I
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have been slapped in the face with the “HaHa we tricked you and you will have to suffer” stick! Now before I just give it away and tell you what that line says, let me give you a little history about the evolution on the medical marijuana program in the state of Nevada as I know it. I’ll keep the story to the short version so as to save time (and some material for future writings-smile). First off, let me start by saying that I have been in Nevada since August of 2002. The program was already underway and the legislation had been written by the time I got here. To be honest, it was the main reason I moved here to begin with. I already had an ankle surgery while in the Marine Corps in 2001 and was now coming off a complete rotator cuff shoulder surgery in 2005 when the stomach just couldn’t take the medications anymore, and neither could my mind or my marriage. I decided to look into this medical marijuana program that I had remembered reading about when I was sitting at my desk one day while awaiting my honorable discharge from the Marine Corps. Now I had used “marijuana” before in my lifetimeand I use that term loosely when referring to pre-2002 experiences with the stems and seeds, but up until moving to Vegas I guess I just had never really seen cannabis that I would have considered medicine. But now that I was in constant pain and the mood swings made relationships often times un-
bearable with me, and my stomach was falling apart…well I just had to use cannabis now to see if it would help me alleviate my need for the chemicals destroying my body and spirit milligram by milligram...and like I said, the cannabis in Las Vegas is on a different level from anything I had seen before. Well, in August of 2006 I ordered my packet from the state to get the paperwork for the program. I was all excited the day I received my packet; I remember thinking how great it was going to be…so I thought. Let’s fast forward through the two years it took me to find a doctor willing to sign the form (there are currently only a handful of known qualifying physicians willing to sign the form for Nevada’s most health challenged individuals) and move to July of 2008 when I received my Nevada medical marijuana patient registry card. After the two years of exhausting, frustrating, depressing, exciting, teasing…everything you can imagine in the spectrum of emotion of trying to get my patient rights established, I knew that I needed to streamline this process for Nevadans immediately. From my experience I guess I just “lived into” my passion without even knowing it. Today I help qualifying Nevada patients get licensed in Nevada to use cannabis and that is what leads me back to that darn line that makes my toenails hurt when I think about it in our Nevada state constitution… Once again keep in mind that each state has different laws, so while I love California and the maverick trailblazers of the cannabis crusade there, Nevada is Nevada and well, like the title of the article says, what happened here in Nevada in 2000/2001 still hasn’t been implemented in 2009/2010(yet)…. Now, the line that I am referring to is the one the states: “The legislature shall provide by
law for:...”---sorry but my toes are throbbing again! I just get so upset because this line is what literally drives patients like me and everybody else crazy in the quest for safe access to our chosen form of therapeutic relief in Nevada…and it is letter (e) that states: “The legislature shall provide by law for: … (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPOPRIATE METHODS OF SUPPLY OF THE PLANT TO PATIENTS AUTHORIZED TO USE IT”??? Did I read that right? So if I am licensed to use it then the state legislature wrote into the law a method for me to get an “appropriate method of supply”! That’s awesome!!! So you are probably wondering if you are from other cannabis states asking, “what are Nevada’s appropriate methods of supply?” The answer will blow you away: do they authorize a way to get seeds? NOPE…Do they authorize or provide for the purchasing of clones? NOPE…Do they authorize anybody to be able to care give to more than one patient in Nevada? NOPE…Do they authorize the formation of dispensaries? NOPE…Do they trudge all over the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution? YES… You see, the problem is…THEY FORGOT TO IMPLEMENT THAT LINE!!! We don’t have an appropriate method of supply yet! My passion is helping to educate and inform others so that Nevada patients may too some day have a safe, respectable and comparable place to receive our doctor and state acknowledged therapeutic choice of treatment. If you truly want to help end the suffering and anxieties of patients being forced to the illicit drug trade in Nevada by our unimplemented state law then please consider aiding me in helping these patients. I am going to continue to battle against this recur-
Editorial ring cause of the pain in my toes by working tirelessly to educate and inform more so that we can fight to get the will of the Nevada voters implemented, FINALLY!!! In closing, I just want to say thank you and that I am honored to have been invited to submit my thoughts from Nevada to the Medical Cannabis Journal and I hope that those of you reading will please consider making a charitable contribution to the Medical Cannabis Consultants of Nevada, a Nevada 501(c)(3) charitable organization to help us continue to educate and inform others. Donations to the Medical Cannabis Consultants of Nevada are tax deductible on your federal income tax, since we have been approved as a 501(c)(3) by the IRS.
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This means your donations to the MCCNV will lower the amount of taxable income you must pay federal taxes on, LOWERING YOUR TAX BILL and helping the patients learn and sustain in Nevada...SAFE ACCESS NOW!!! Thanks again Medical Cannabis Journal and our readership that will make this a premier medical cannabis resource!!! Sincerely, James “Preacher P” Parsons Founder and President
Medical Cannabis Consultants of Nevada
www.MedicalCannabisConsultantsOfNevada.com
