Segment 1

I’d like to start with a bit of a cannabis. Rant instead of the usual history, politics, and science that we typically discuss.

The thing is… I need cannabis to help correct a multitude of conditions my 65 years on this planet has grown.  And now that I understand what the plant can do for me and how we got to this political mess over schedule 1 ranking along with the newly discovered scientific facts about it, the road to recovery looks shorter now, than ever.

Yes, I’m a hippie. Yes, I smoked pot as a kid and loved it.  Yes, I put it always as an adult because I used it as my toy and I had to act like a responsible grown-up.  Besides, it was illegal and often frightening to get. Always looking over my shoulder in dark and seedy places where pot sellers lurked. Never mind that I didn’t know that first thing about the plant except that it made me feel better.

Sometimes I’d be able to lose every bit of anxiety or tortured thoughts, forget about abuses and just simply relax.  The restorative sleep it offered replaced fitful tossing and allowed a fresh morning to blossom with hope of less pain.

That was then… always fearful of just smokin a joint… out of sight of police… to find a little relief… knowing I’d go jail if I got caught.  It seemed worth it.  Doubt if that’s what all the pot prisoners would say, through. Boy was I naive.

Let me tell you how I use cannabis now.

Today, I am a registered Florida Medical Marijuana Patient.  I have the RIGHT to use cannabis as my medicine, guaranteed by the state of Florida.  It gave me an “attitude” of superiority over the illegal activity that still consumes our country.  Why the attitude?

Well… because for me, cannabis is a medicine that manages many of my personal medical conditions.., arthritis, severe nausea, horrific hand pain, headaches, high blood pressure, anxiety, and marital intolerance.[1] (#[2] )

No… these are not life-threatening issues.  But they are a true concern for my quality of life.  Debilitating nausea, crippling hand pain, and all the3 rest is exhausting.  Easing that daily stuff makes a huge difference in my happiness and attitude to everyone else.  Living with pain sucks and makes you angry and depressed.  Cannabis can alleviate(#[3] ) all that and give you back your real self.  The one everybody loves you for.

So what’s the bother about Adult-Use? If cannabis won’t hurt us and I like getting high, what’s your problem with that/. Well I’ll tell you…

Cannabis is NOT a toy!  It is a medicine.  When you begin treating it as such, you don’t want people abusing it for the sake of the high.  But the already happened in the 60’s.

The hippies began growing pot for the highest high… So they cultivated certain chemovars they thought were good and allowed other to wane.  Problem?  They weren’t score twists and didn’t know which of over 400 compounds (or importance of…) they were cultivating OUT. OF THE PLANT! So now the cannabis grown in the U.S. is suspect for all the natural chemovars that originally grew in the plantings before the hippies got to it.

They still want the highest high.  That translates into extremely high percentages of THC in concentrated products available through dispensaries.  And they’ll proudly tell you which of their products are concentrated the highest.  So what’s wrong with that?

They’re selling the “high”… not really the medicine.  Oh Sure, they’ll tell you to “start low and go slow”. But they’re still selling the high.  Yes they can help you determine which chemovars will be effective for your conditions… so it’s important to pay attention to your body’s response to individual types of cannabis, whether it’s an over-the-counter CBD or owner of a jillion choices in a medical marijuana product from a licensed dispensary.

Segment 2

Now don’t get me wrong… I love the high.  it makes me happy.  And there is definitely a reason behind wanting to be high… For the depressed, it feels like your mood lifted to a cloud and suddenly has all the patience of a grandparent who loves you.  As well, if you’re a creative type like me, you may need the cerebral elevation to create articles, music, crafts, and sometimes, dinner.

Humans need the freedom to create.  That comes from inspiration. Which is fired from your neurons when excited through connectivity.  Cannabis fires your neurons (#[4] ) reallllly well.  Especially if you’re using the right kind.

In my humble opinion, EVERYBODY is a patient and should be allowed to consume when needed or desired.  Those young kids lookin for a high?  How many of them have stressful homes or school lives they can’t deal with? How man y of them have homes at all? How many of them eat and sleep well? How many of them have ADD? How many of them have a perfect life with two loving parents? See my point?  Even kids need cannabis.  And don’t forget the ones with approved illnesses like cancers and seizures and other horrible-yet-approved reasons a child might receive cannabis as a last resort, after suffering all the available synthetic prescriptions that didn’t work.

‘Adult-Use’ is really someone using cannabis for a medical reason undisclosed.  They just haven’t been able to articulate it.

“Oh… I just smoke it to relax.” Yep, your body is telling you it needs to calm down.

“Oh… I just smoke it before bed.” Yep, your body is telling you to sleep better and cannabis helps that.

“Oh…I just smoke it to forget about the stresses of the day” Yep, your body wants its peace back.

“Oh…I just smoke it because I like to be high.” Yep, you’re an inarticulate hippie. There are so many reasons to use cannabis that HAVE been articulated over the millennium.  We’ve collectively forgotten about those reasons because of the political propaganda machine.  That ‘machine’ tried to eliminate this completely viable solution to mankind’s conditions.  And now that a light has been shown on the modern science of the plant, that machine can no longer work.

Here’s the other really important factoid of medical marijuana… Florida state mandates that all dispensary cannabis be third-party lab-tested for microbial bacteria, molds, mildews, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and heavy metals.

If you’re a cancer patient on traditional cancer therapies which cause a weakened immune system, contamination can kill you.  It’s already happened all over the states. And they only found out through autopsies.  It was NOT the cannabis.  It was the contamination of mold in the cannabis... aspergillus mold[5] (#[6] ).

In the history of the world, there has never been a death recorded by cannabis[7] (#[8] ).

But do ;et me tell you what it looks like from my point of view, when you have Adult-Use in play…

Segment 3

I visited my kids in Detroit last Christmas where Adult-Use just passed in MI.  The state decision to allocate placement of their dispensaries (called Care Givers) in the worst section of their dilapidated business neighborhoods (8 Mile!!!) made my son fearful of taking me to them.  He would let me go alone.

All of the stores looked like big warehouses with a small office in the front.  Before you ever walk in the building, there were huge warning signs of cameras and guards and guns and promises of prosecution if you step out of line.  You’re greeted by big burly guys with guns in winter coats because it’s cold in those warehouses.  Not much heating.  Pat down for weapons and then you go through the metal detector.  Sign in through a hole in a window to a youngster who looks all of thirteen and then you’re given a special document toy read and sign that says you acknowledge that the cannabis you’re about to purchase has NOT been third-party lab-tested for contamination!

Soon you’re welcomed to the back room where all the real confusion begins.

Wall-to-wall shelving crammed with gallon glass jars filled  to the brim with colorful candy-like packages of edibles, tinctures, pills and of course, loose leaf pot.  The kids behind the counter ask, “What can I get for ya?” But its your first visit and you’re completely overwhelmed.  What does the budtender think? Wellll… says the budtender, “I like Ganja Grape Daddy for the super high it gives and it smells so dank! Here! Take a whiff!”

What the hell does THAT mean? I”m here for meds and this kid is talkin about high and smell and wants me to back-flush my personal nasal bacteria into a jar of exposed product he intends to sell to others? How many people “smelled” it before me!? And what do I buy for nausea? Or IBS? Or Stuttering! I’m in the cannabis industry and know soooo much more than they do… and I was still overwhelmed!  I walked out without a purchase… from 5 different stores.

There’s so much we still don’t know about cannabis in modern science that must be illuminated as soon as possible.  But in this current wild wild world of mis-regulation we have to consider WHY we need it, want it, use it and abuse it.

Shame on those companies who don’t third-party lab-test their product for purchase from the public.  Shame on them who breach the trust of their clients. Shame on them for putting a contaminated product on the market like street weed for their unknowledgeable consumers to buy.  Shame on them for making patients sign that document which states you have not tested your own products, most of your clients won’t understand the meaning of that gross lack of concern and poison-pushing. And all of those concentrates you’re selling to unsuspecting patients? The contamination is ALSO concentrated!  Shame on you! It’s immoral and unethical business practices to sell cannabis without contamination-testing and verifiable results.  Did you know we can stamp a molecule now?  So tracking cannabis ain’t that hard.  Maybe Moore expensive, but obviously necessary.

I couldn’t wait to come home to sensible regulation in Florida that protects its residents from shameful business practices.  Yes Florida is a touch regulatory cannabis state.  And after seeing what Michigan did, I’m so thankful.

Segment 4

This industry is growing faster than you can imagine and that’s a good thing for society at large.  Cannabis was one of the first planetary grasses that was cultivated and has been used for all time throughout all societies and major religions.  It was only in the 20 venture that cannabis was rebuked by legislators trying to stall its replacement in other ;major markets like big Pharma, alcohol, p[lastics, cars, biofuel, cotton, building materials, water filtration, and so much more.

So for those who still believe they just like getting high… your body knows the real reason you want it, even if you can’t articulate it.  Because cannabis wants to manage everything you’ve ingested and make it play nicely together.  That’s its job.

And for those who stilllinsist that Adult-Use is all-important?  Ppppshawww.  You’re just a human needing relief.  Call it what you want.  But you too will soon reject the notion of contaminated weed when your primary doctor and laboratories send their bills for all your blood tests to discover what’s wrong with you.

And one last thing… your fur babies need it too.  All humans and animals on the planet are born with receptors waiting for cannabis.  Yep. Google it.  It’s your Endo-Cannabinoid System (ECS). And it’s responsible for managing your brain functions, endocrine system, immune tissues, and has a regulatory role in the secretion of hormones as well as so much more.  In short, you’re hoping to love the way this medicine can help you.

Fini

Host: Honey 26:57

You’ve been listening to another Cannaba Verum podcast with 21st century cannabis shaman Honey Smith Walls, about the importance of using safe hemp and marijuana products. Unless otherwise proven by a reputable third party lab test, please be advised that all street weed is contaminated. It may do grave harm to a patient with a delicate immune system. I challenge you to check the veracity of my statements in each episode by checking the medical citations posted on my blog at Cannaba Verum.com.

That’s C A N N A B A   V E R U M.com

• plant specifically grows, the acid form, the THCa –  https://academic.oup.com/pcp/article/46/9/1578/1812749
• all street weed is contaminated: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5022003/
• Handbook of Cannabis for Clinicians, Practices and Principles by Dr. Dustin Sulak – https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Cannabis-Clinicians-Principles-Practice/dp/0393714187 and healer.com
• Certificate of Analysis (COA) https://www.pharmtech.com/view/certificates-analysis-don-t-trust-verify