During these last few years of writing, most of it has been opinion-based or experience-based, and most definitely from a personal place. This isn’t an article about Weed Woman or Tracy Curley but a subject that has certainly impacted my life: depression and cannabis.
Last year, Canadian Therapeutic Cannabis Partners Society received an email from Health Canada to be part of the legalization round table consultations. I thought it was spam or a joke. I nearly fell out of my chair when I opened the email and realized it wasn’t.
Cannabis has been misunderstood until very recently. The past couple of decades have unfolded revolutionary evidence of the role cannabinoids play in our bodies. And while today’s society adapts to that notable presence, it gets criticized among its objectors and becomes more researched by its admirers.
It may well be the saddest day in the history of Canadian activism: July 1st, 2015 in Vancouver, BC. Cannabis Day.
For over twenty years, activists had gathered on July 1st at the Vancouver Art Gallery, in the centre of the city, to protest Canada’s participation in the U.S. driven attempt to prohibit the use of Cannabis worldwide.
For me, 2015 was my seventeenth year in a row — first as a concerned citizen/volunteer wanting to help change a very bad law, and for the last ten years as an organizer and a vendor. Cannabis Day had become a mainstream event complete with entertainment and many potent speakers during the day. But most importantly it included a vibrant farmers’ market, with over a hundred vendors selling all things cannabis in defiance of the law forbidding it. It is the law against selling cannabis that is so destructive to our society; denying access to such a wonderful life-saving medicine. That’s why we feel it’s important to openly break that law.Read More
The Liberal government is actually soliciting feedback on the proposed regulation of cannabis in Canada. When we first gained access to the Cannabis Act there were a lot of questions, and blurry suppositions. And everyone had their own reasons for being concerned.
So now we have our say, until January 20th, 2018. But in order to have legal cannabis before July 2018 the government won’t radically alter anything. And they won’t release any more drafts of the regulations. So this is pretty much it.
Here’s the page to start from: Consultation on the Proposed Regulation of Cannabis.
As a society we now know that prohibiting drugs carries a host of unintended and undesirable consequences. These include an increase in demand, a guaranteed unregulated underground market, and great disrespect for police and laws. But the most glaring example of the failure of prohibition is the current opioid overdose crisis.
This crisis, recently declared a public health emergency in the USA, has also killed many thousands of people in Canada over the past two years — mostly due to street opioids being adulterated with fentanyl. Here in British Columbia there have been over 1000 overdose deaths already this year. Politicians, health care professionals, and society in general are trying to find solutions.
I was asked to cover this year’s Legends Valley Bio Cup about 24-36 hours before it changed over to the High Times Cup. That was about two weeks before the actual event, so I can only imagine what was going on behind the scenes.
I know much of the Vancouver cannabis community was up in arms about sponsorship, guest judge, and entertainment changes. With last year not going as smoothly as some would have hoped, there was — and still is — some real animosity towards the event, too. But I figured Alexander Pope had it right when he said “blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.” Guess what? I’m happy I went in with that mindset, because I am sure that I enjoyed myself so much more.
I host a weekly podcast (Cannabis and Coffee with Tamarijuana) that brings experts and patients together. I have been doing this now for just over a year. And what I hear in most every conversation — be it with an advocate, activist, doctor, etc. — is worry about over-regulation. This recreational legislation by the Canadian government is still going to leave patients with gaping holes in their medical program. Patients still fear losing the plant counts and prescriptions.
Twelve High Chicks thanks guest contributor Chris Visser for this article on using CBD for anxiety.
A long time back now, I wrote an article about tackling some of my health issues with cannabis instead of pharmaceuticals. Cannabis helped mostly with arthritis and pain caused by a hormone disorder. And it helped with daily stress, which mostly kept down my anxiety. But it could also sometimes make my anxiety, panic attacks, and PTSD symptoms worse.
Twelve High Chicks is throwing our second Mail Order Marijuana competition — M.O.M. Cup 2018 — featuring our very own Chicks, and we would like you to join us again!
Dates: February 23-25th, 2018.
Location: Private Venue in Vancouver, BC (announced to attendees day of).
Must be 19+ to attend.
Email [email protected] with any questions not answered here.
I don’t know if I hugged everyone who worked through the weekend of the M.O.M. Cup 2017. There were so many people who played a part in the success of the event, I hope they know how important they were to our soirée. Being our first cup, we had a lot of lessons to learn; but with all the help we had from a thousand different directions, we pulled off one hell of a stoner event.
