Cannabis enthusiast, cure thyself!

Medical marijuana helped change a man’s life. I wanted to see if it could change mine.

My best friend DB had done a number on his body over the years working as a diesel mechanic for the County of Los Angeles. His job was to keep the machines at the county landfills running and he did that, day in and day out, for over twenty years. Dealing with heavy machinery, working in a rough environment and dealing with a sour work crew can get a man down, but when the work starts to really damage your body in a way that you never get away from it, either at work or at home, then something has to change.

So, my friend retired from the County and looked ahead, not only to healing his body but to an active, enjoyable  retirement. One of the first things he did was to enroll in a physical therapy program, the other was get his California Medical Marijuana card. With his doctor approval in hand he took his signed note down to his local state office, paid his annual fee and picked up his card the same day. By the time the dinner dishes were done and out of the way that evening he had his favorite strain, Pineapple, packed in his bong bowl, delivered straight to his door. 

Since then he has expanded his med circle to edibles but his daily regimen has pretty much remained the same: wake up, take a bong hit, do an hours worth of stretches and muscle building exercises then spend the rest of the day doing house repairs, chores and cooking. His life has improved dramatically, his happiness level is up, his marriage is more robust and his family life is settled and secure. He went over twenty years without marijuana because of Federal Transportation laws. His favorite pain killer of choice back then was alcohol. With cannabis he drinks less, is in far less pain that he has been in years and he gets along better with everyone in his life. I thank cannabis every day for the changes it made in that man’s life.

I like to think that with the endocannabinoid system at work in our body at all times that it needs and recognizes the benefits of daily cannabis maintenance. To that end I like to do a dropper of tincture every day, a sub-threshold dose, just to keep the machinery greased and the body ready for bigger or even stronger therapeutic doses. 

But my feelings about grass were not always this way. There was a time when life was all party-party-party and herb was just another monkey wrench in my wild man toolbox. Moving back to California made it easier for me to get in touch with my old pal. Seeing the changes that medical marijuana made in his life helped me shift my consciousness about cannabis and to seek a way to get a card so I could legitimately reach out to dispensaries to help myself. It was a good thing I did for myself for the day I went in I got an alarming blood pressure count. The nurse at the wellness center in Hopland almost sent me to urgent care to bring it down but proceeded with my physical and issued me my card. It was there that I learned about CBDs and the anti-inflammatory curative powers that that particular cannibinoid possesses. I went out and got hemp oil but better a tincture from a local dispensary that I use to this day. From that day on my blood pressure, with the help of both allopathic and naturopathic medicines, is now under control.

For me, getting my med card was easy as the range of medical problems and issues a person can in order to qualify for a card seem almost limitless. The day I got my card was the day I began my new understanding of the medical benefits of cannabis, but more, opened up to me the world of legal cannabis shopping.

Mendocino County, as a part of the Emerald Triangle, is awash in cannabis. I knew people in the trade who openly sold and traded weed but I never took advantage of those friendships. Frankly, there was never a need to buy dope when it was shared with me so readily. But with my card I had access to dispensaries anywhere in California and I proceeded to start investigating the moment I walked out of the wellness center. Hopland’s dispensary charmed me but there were many others in the county, notably Compassionate Heart in Ukiah, Herban Legend in Fort Bragg and Leonard Moore in Mendocino, that became my go-to favorites. Each had their charms but all had magnificent weed of various strengths, looks and availability. 

Venturing further afield I was able to take in dispensaries in San Francisco (SPARC, the Green Door) and Oakland (Harborside). The closer I got to the city the more expansive the services became, the closer the stock and the mentality of the budtenders got to providing top notch medical marijuana understanding and service. I know that if I had taken my pal to Harborside, for instance, he would have gotten a much more focused product overview on products that would have aided his healing than he would have gotten in Ukiah, where the emphasis seemed to be providing the customers with products that would get you ripped.

Once I moved to Colorado my need for a med card was somewhat nullified by the legal aspect of weed here but it still would be nice to be able to continue to ally myself with that cause. When I go into a rec shop I know that most of my fellow shoppers are not there to cure anything but rather are getting ready for another blast of THC laden fun. Me, I still do my studying online, look to see what will suit me and my health best and buy products that I know will further my new found understanding and appreciation for the cannabis plant.

Casey, back at Happy Day Farms, truly was the one who helped get me to that high level of appreciation probably more than anybody else. I met him one evening at a community event in Laytonville. I had recently watched a video of him online as he went on about his farm, talking the good talk about healthy living, organic farming and outdoor grown weed. That night we had a chance to share a short talk, and on the way out the door he called me over, walked me to his truck and then proceeded to gift me with a pint jar filled with a strain of dope that looked like green sunshine. I got a chance to meet with him numerous times over the course of the year, listen to him talk in classes and meetings, met his compatriots and fellow farmers and took that passion he inflamed in me to a place where I was signing up and participating in local organizations preparing to get legalization on the ballot in California.

It was through experiences with men like DB and Casey that I turned a corner in my need for and understand of cannabis. With that new found knowledge and freedom I experienced in California I was able to set up a cannabis reference library in Ukiah and was able to meet players in the industry from all around the north coast. Here, in Colorado I’ve continued my research and broadened my knowledge to the point where I am looking hard at the industry and seeking a place in it where I can share my appreciation, admiration and enthusiasm for the plant with my fellow enthusiasts.

Cannabis. It’s a good thing. Ask my friend DB. He and his family would tell you it not only changed his life but that it saved his life.

Salud!

California medical marijuana information:
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/MMP/Pages/default.aspx

Colorado medical marijuana information:
https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/medicalmarijuana