Tag: medical marijuana

Seven Years of Weed Over Pills

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Would you believe it has now been over 7 years that I have been using medical cannabis over pharmaceuticals?  It’s kind of a big deal and here are seven reasons why it has been so significant for me.

1. No Negative Side Effects

For the past 7 years I have missed out on the groggy, uncomfortable feelings of side effects that I was experiencing with prescribed medications for pain and inflammation.  I’ve heard enough first hand stories of people who have been using the very drugs that I was being prescribed seven years ago to know that I made the right choice to stop them and find something else. Each year that I am able to avoid pharmaceuticals and their compounding negative side effects on my body is another year that I am able to enjoy a better quality of life and focus on health.

2. Adventures in Cannabis

Over the past seven years my choice to create a long term pain management plan using pot over painkillers brought me an unusual education about the plant and entry into a thriving unregulated medical cannabis scene that led into this current regulated adult use industry. I am blessed to have also gained professional experience in the cannabis industry doing everything from content creation, blogging, social media, speaking, networking, events, sales, trimming, garden work, lobbying, and protesting.

3- Multiple Symptoms Helped With One Plant

7 years of using one single plant, cannabis, to regulate my body’s homeostasis.  I do use it multiple ways for multiple symptoms (pain, inflammation, depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, migraines) but whether I apply it topically or put fresh leaves in my smoothies it is all coming from various strains of the same non-toxic plant.

4- Cannabis Helps Me Focus On My Health As A Lifestyle

7 years of working on my health with a focus on prevention, nutrition, and happiness. I have always been a health centric person but having an alternative method to manage my chronic health conditions has opened me up to different options and allowed me to find helpful treatments like acupuncture, Bowen, and the Scoliosis Activity Suit. Cannabis has definitely helped me to positively manage my chronic condition and significantly slow progression.

5- Seven Years Of Paying For A Medical Cannabis Authorization

You didn’t think this list would all be flowers did you? I bring this up to shed light on the current system for patients in Washington State. For the past 7 years I have annually been going to a doctor and paying for them to write and process a medical cannabis authorization.  My initial regular doctor wouldn’t even talk to me about it. The state of Washington has been so backward that when they implemented adult legal use they failed to upgrade and include a functional system for supplying medical cannabis to patients. Having to maintain my authorization and also register with he state so that I can have some arrest protections, grow my own, or get a weak discount at some pot shops for non-medical grade products has not been helpful or adequate for filling my medicine needs. I look forward to sharing and supporting fixer bills to medical cannabis in Washington State with you as they come along.

6. Growing My Own

For the past 7 summers I have been utilizing the rights provided to me by my medical cannabis authorization and grown my own. I have to say that experiencing the plant from a gardener’s perspective has given me much insight into how I can use it. Growing my own cannabis has allowed to experience the health benefits of gardening, consume it raw in my diet, learn how to harvest/dry/cure, and experience how to turn this plant into therapeutic tinctures, topicals, and edibles, etc. Knowing how to do all of that has been incredibly helpful in dealing with the lack of products in stores and my MMJ budget. However, having such a small plant limit is inadequate for filling my needs. WA-wa.

7. Learning To Be NORML

It was brought to my attention at this week’s Norml Women of Washington meeting in Seattle that even after 5+ years into us having ‘legalization’ in this state, there are still 600,000 people per year being arrested for marijuana possession in this country. When I hear stats like that I am motivated to get more involved in educating lawmakers and others in my community to end the social injustice that is wrapped up with cannabis.

7 things I would say to myself 7 years ago…

1. Take it slow.  At first I thought I had to feel high for it to be therapeutic. The higher the better. LOL.

2. Unless directed by your doctor to use high doses, consume as little as you need rather than consuming a lot to see how much you can tolerate.

3. Get a good flower vaporizer and use it more than smoking it when possible. I say this because I have often found vaping over smoking flowers to be the most beneficial for immediate relief of ending or at least muting a migraine headache.

4. Try not to lick the spoon too much when you are making edibles. You might get too high and that might be uncomfortable for a few hours.

5. If you ever take too much cannabis and feel too high, you are still going to be ok. Sip on some lemon water while doing something that helps you feel calm.

6. Stay low key about your cannabis medicine use but share your knowledge as often as appropriate. Don’t be shy about sharing your story if it might help somebody else have a different option that may benefit their health too.

7. Grow your own and expand your gardening knowledge from those who can not only grow impressive cannabis but also their own organic fruit and vegetables.

Here is to seven more, as needed.

Tips For Growing Raw Cannabis In The Vegetable Garden

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As cannabis legalization slowly spreads around the world, more people are taking advantage of being able to grow small amounts of medicinal or personal recreational marijuana in their private gardens.

Growing cannabis in your backyard garden is a special thing. For the past several years I have been growing my own small amounts of medical cannabis outside in the vegetable garden during summer season. Learning as I grow this unique plant has been fascinating and challenging as something that I do to take charge of my health needs.

I grow cannabis with the intention of eating leaves off of them all season and then harvesting a portion of the buds during the end of the plant’s life. Yes, I eat my plants.

While you can find thousands of hot tips about growing cannabis, I have created for you a simplified a short list of things I do to successfully grow and eat off my plants until harvest time.

  1. Plant herbs and low growing root vegetables along borders and throughout the garden that will detract pests and feed nutrients to the soil.
  2. Let the soil dry slightly between waterings. This promotes stronger root growth as they reach out seeking water when the soil gets dry enough. Stick a moisture reader in the dirt to monitor how much water is needed. Watch the leaves, when they droop they may need a drink and when they are reaching up for the sky they are likely full enough.
  3. Feed your garden once or twice a month with probiotic organic teas to feed nutrients to the soil and roots. I make teas with powdered kelp, bokashi, cannabis leaves, flowers, molasses, etc…natural ingredients. Because I am eating my plants, they are never grown with the use of pesticides or chemicals.
  4. Defoliate around the new moon when the plant’s growth is concentrated on the roots. Take leaves near the bottom to increase airflow and the big water leaves creating shade. Taking off about 25% of the leaves off increases nutrient flow to forming flower buds without stunting the plants growth. Note that the biggest reason that you are defoliating is so that you can eat the leaves! Get them processed and stored in the fridge right away for fresh consumption.
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Organic compost tea.

5. Look at your plants everyday. I’ve been told this by more than one cannabis grower and while it seems overly simplistic, I would say that it is one of the most important tips for maintaining a healthy garden. Talking to your plants while you are spotting for pests, broken limbs, and problems as early as possible really allows for quick action to keep the growing season fruitful. On the other hand, part of the beauty of growing outdoors is that mother nature will look after your plants if you ever really have to leave them for a day or two.

Before you go out there and start planting Kush in with the broccoli, make sure that you are up on the local marijuana laws in your area. If you find out that you are not able to grow cannabis plants in your garden, the next step is to contact your legislators and ask them to support cannabis legalization and homegrown in your area. www.norml.org

Before we know it, with a little more work, gardening cannabis with vegetables will be normal.

Pam Dyer is a Holistic Health Coach who trains people with scoliosis and chronic illness how they can improve sleep, gut health, immunity, and brain function to live full and hurt less.  To book a consult with Pam please email:  butterflysessions@gmail.com  

Reefer Madness Was Wrong, Cannabis Can Help Prevent Suicide

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“People don’t commit suicide, they complete it.” – Patrick Kennedy

For the many people who have ever been told and still believe that cannabis is bad, unhealthy, addictive, and might make you crazy until you commit some kind of murder or rape, this failed propoganda could not be further from the truth.

(If you need help right now, please call the Suicide Prevention Hotline- 1-800-273-8255 or click the suicide hotline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/)

As a medical cannabis patient who has been using it daily for the past 7 years I can tell you that it hasn’t had a negative effect on my life. I haven’t actually found anything but wellness and healing from taking it.

One of the serious reasons that I take cannabis is for depression. I’ve especially found that during my darkest mental moments, I only experience peace and more life when I use cannabis.

Cannabis is one singular, but very substantial, thing that I use in multiple ways as part of the healthy lifestyle that I strive to live. In the big picture, all of the things I actively do to keep my whole self healthy appears to be paying off.

For example, a few weeks ago something significant happened, suicide was taken off the table as a life option. Since then my mental health and wellbeing made a positive turn.

Repeat. Suicide was mentally taken off the table as a life option.

From the age of 12 I have privately found some kind of deep dark comfort in the fact that if things got too bad, I could just off myself and all problems will be solved and my pain will disappear. This, my friends, is mental illness and depression at its most honest place. 

For some reason, I woke up one morning and said I no longer accept suicide as a life option. It was a new, strange voice inside of me saying that killing myself is not something I truly want or ever need to resort to. Ever since then, when I catch myself having dark thoughts this new voice emerges reminding me I don’t think that way anymore, it’s off the table.

I have to admit that more than once since then I have actually found it annoying to have my comfort of a suicide option taken away. Quickly, I remind myself what that means and how far I have come in my mental wellness work. After decades of mental anguish, I no longer want to kill myself. It makes me smile inside and out to feel free of such heaviness.

While all of this is super positive, I’ll be honest and tell you that it has also involved some  sleepless nights, necessary outside walks, and moments of sobbing out my soul. The dark racing thoughts and deep seated anxiety are some of the things that I have found soothing relief from with cannabis.

I’m not so presumptuous as to think I’ll never struggle with suicidal thoughts again but I definitely have to take this moment and celebrate it for all it’s worth.

It is not easy to write and share this stuff but I know that there are many people out there who deal with depression too and I think it is important to talk about it as easy as we talk about going to lunch. A mental health and wellness lifestyle is something to be embraced not just to keep from killing oneself, but to create true, positive change.

I write about cannabis and depression as often as my sensitive heart can because personally knowing how the two work together changed my perspective on mental health and my long term health treatment plan for managing depression and chronic pain. 

I also write to give hope to the many people out there who deserve better than to dwell under heavy clouds of despair that hold them down.

If you need help right now, call the Suicide Prevention Hotline- 1-800-273-8255 or click the suicide hotline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

Pam Dyer is a Holistic Health Coach who trains people with scoliosis and chronic illness how they can improve sleep, gut health, immunity, and brain function to live full and hurt less.  To book a consult with Pam please email:  butterflysessions@gmail.com  

 

The Legal Washington CBD/THC Suppository Experience

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*NOTE: This is an independent, unsolicited review of a legal Washington product in stores now. 

There is only one cannabis suppository in the legal 502 retail marketplace brought to us by the good people at CPC in Seattle. I’ve been really waiting to try it because I’m super skeptical about the effectiveness of their 10mg/THC dosages.

I like to keep cannabis infused suppositories in my medicine cabinet as a method of managing back and body pain, pelvic cramps, sleeping issues, or anytime I can feel my body is really run down. I swear by them as one of the most effective ways to benefit from medical cannabis.

The challenge comes in being able to buy a good cannabis suppository. Before legal retail cannabis was set up in Washington and consolidated with medical, I was getting my suppositories in the former system from a reputable medical provider and eventually  learned how to safely make my own.

My former suppository experiences have involved using 50-200mg/THC doses with the effects being substantial in relieving pain, and helping me have restful sleep without a heady high.  I’ve only ever used ones made with coconut and whole plant cannabis concentrates, not a very solid product at most room temperatures.

The product I tried from CPC is made with two ingredients, shea butter and cannabis concentrate. From briefly talking to the gentleman who created them, I learned that they chose shea butter due to its ability to hold a form and still be bioavailable to people who are sensitive or allergic to other commonly used oils such as coconut, a personal favorite of mine.

The packaging was easy to read, allowed me to see exactly what I was purchasing, and was not messy to get into. Major bonus.

I also know that the cannabis oil they use is from a company who is conscientious about only using plant matter that was not treated with pesticides. This is a very important point for me.

I took a dose about an hour before bedtime and waited. In the past I would feel a warmth in my pelvis that would wash over my lower body and relax everything in about 15-20 minutes and depending on the dose put me into a restful sleep. After about 30 minutes I still felt nothing. The nagging ache in my hip was not softened or muted, it did nothing to help me sleep that night, plus I woke up just as sore as I would have any other morning.

Basically, taking this suppository felt like a total joke to me, not noticeably beneficial at all. Because of state laws on dosage control, this product is limited to provide 10mg/THC. Weak.

When using it, I appreciated that it mostly held its form during insertion even being stored at room temperature. I would definitely suggest putting it in the fridge or freezer before use to make it a little more firm for easy insertion.

The bottom line for me was that the overall experience was weak and totally overpriced. I certainly can’t blame the company for not putting out a higher dosage when they are limited by laws. More than anything I appreciate that they have stepped up to put out a quality medical type product in a recreational market.

However, would I ever buy it again? Probably not until the dosages significantly increase. I would rather go through the effort to make my own higher dosed recipe with reputable concentrates and coconut oil at home than ever waste my budgeted medical cannabis money on this particular product again.

I have talked to only one other person who has used these and they said they did feel slightly less achy the next morning when using it before bed but did not have a significantly therapeutic experience.

There must be somebody out there finding them helpful though because they have stayed on the market for a while now. If there is ever a better product to come out in the legal market, I will let you know.

Peace.

Pam Dyer is a Holistic Health Coach who trains people with scoliosis and chronic illness how they can improve sleep, gut health, immunity, and brain function to live full and hurt less.  To book a consult with Pam please email:  butterflysessions@gmail.com