by Chris Bodenner

A reader writes:

I always went back and forth about writing to you regarding my self-medication of Asperger's Syndrome, but the reader posted earlier convinced me.  I, too, am diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome; people tell me I'm intense, committed, hard-nosed, highly principled (on a borderline-pathological level), honest/blunt to a fault, overly formal/polite, etc. 

I was entirely against substance use - from caffeine to alcohol to illegal drugs - until a close friend of mine unexpectedly passed away when I was 21.  I had smoked periodically starting that year (maybe 5-10 times ever), but after he died, my use/abuse really took off. In short, I stopped giving a damn about what I put in my body.

At that time, I also became friends with a group of people that, had I not started smoking cannabis on a regular basis, I would have never been friends with.  I started going to parties (something I had never, ever done before), speaking out about issues that moved me, and just generally interacting with people in a manner I had never been comfortable with.  That is not to say that I'm a shy person; I have never been a shy individual, I've never hesitated to "tell it like it is" or to speak up if I feel wronged.  But something about cannabis made me socially "normal" (a word I don't agree with; I support neurodiversity as a concept).

Cutting through the haze of daily cannabis use (and there is a haze; take it from someone who's been smoking daily for 7+ years now) can be difficult. But for me at least, that haze is a moot point, and sometimes even a bonus.  Ask my girlfriend; about a year ago, I told her I was going to stop using cannabis.  After two weeks she was ready to kill me. She told me that our relationship was in jeopardy if I didn't get back on the cannabis.  It sounds extreme, but she said it in one of those half-kidding/I'm-really-being-serious kind of ways.

 

When I'm not using cannabis regularly, I become an incredibly manic over-achiever who does not let petty obstacles like peers, social stigmas, or friends get in his way.  When I'm not on cannabis, it is nothing for me to end a years-long friendship because I perceive it as getting in the way of my achievement (and this has happened before; it took a lot of work to bring it back).  Not only that, but my "routines" (AS term) aren't nearly as important to me if I'm regularly smoking. 

 

Example: my morning routine is to wake up early, put on a pot of coffee, let the dog out, pour my cup of coffee, let the dog back in, stir in my cream, then sit on the couch and read or listen to my iPod until my coffee is done.  If I haven't been smoking regularly, and my girlfriend comes down and lets out the dog BEFORE I put on the pot of coffee, that will completely ruin my day if not my entire week.  I'll be irritable by the time I get to work, and liable to snap at the smallest provocation.

 

On the other hand, if I had smoked the night before, I will notice that my routine has been jockeyed, but it just won't bother me that much. The same goes for my social connections; when I smoke, I reflect upon, and come to value a social connection, but it's a cognitive process for me... It's not something I do naturally, and it's not something I'm inclined to do if I'm sober (my mind says, "THERES NO TIME, THERES NO TIME")

 

I guess you could say my overal point is this: All people are different.  All people choose to use substances for reasons that you may not understand, or care to understand.  But one thing is consistent with every single person I have ever met in my entire life: Everyone has vices in which they indulge, whether it's ducking outside of work to smoke a cigarette, ordering an appetizer and dessert with dinner, making your partner wear handcuffs to bed, laying around and playing video games, snorting coke in the bathroom at the bar or club, skipping religious service, blazing up after a hard day's work, or having a nightcap... And everyone has reasons for doing these things.  And until they decide that those reasons are no longer worth doing whatever it is they're doing, societal stigmas, oppressive laws, and shaming will only alienate people.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/05/the-cannabis-closet-dealing-with-aspergers-ctd.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PwMmSxZANE



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWPUrwsw51c



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNDkXtyrqWw



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPZMSF95lC4



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcqOBqXf1Ms



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqe8RwmzBsk



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maz7wVmjsbM



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6TNz95kt7U



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F8-2mBAuW4



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F3bbcKzkco



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YVBCmnfayY

I never envisioned that one day I'd be buying marijuana for my kid

Posted By STEPHANIE NIELSEN

I never thought I would be buying "pot" at my age, but that's what's so interesting about life -- you just never know what's around the corner, do you?

There are no limits to what a parent will do for their sick child. On July 9, 2007, we made our first trip to the Medical Compassion Clinic in Toronto. Our son suffers from Tourette syndrome and had run the gamut of medications. I hoped one day pot would be made legal -- anything to help him mellow out and stop the tics. Well, it is legal now, but not for everyone.

According to the Medical Compassion Clinic, medical studies have confirmed what people have known for more than 5,000 years -- that marijuana has practical therapeutic value.

In May 1999, Jim Wakeford, an AIDS patient, was granted the legal right to use marijuana. In July 2000, Health Canada set up a mechanism whereby other seriously ill patients could do the same. An exemption to the Canadian narcotics law now makes it legal for medical patients to use medicinal marijuana for symptom relief.

Medicinal marijuana must be prescribed by a medical practitioner, a person who has been authorized to practise medicine under the law of the province. There are several medical conditions that qualify: AIDS, HIV infection, cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, epilepsy, severe arthritis, fibromyalgia and Tourette syndrome are just a few.

In his Review of Human Studies on Medical Use of Marijuana (1996), Dale H. Gieringer discusses the fact that there have been hundreds of studies on the medical use of marijuana. He states one of the best uses of smoked marijuana is in cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy. As well, anecdotal evidence supports the benefits of marijuana in reducing ocular pressure and in the treatment of depression.

The Medical Compassion Clinic is a federally incorporated company that pays corporate taxes. GST is paid on every gram of medicine bought. The government makes revenue through the taxes collected from the clinic. It is run by medical patients for other medical patients.

The process to become eligible for medicinal marijuana takes time. An application form can be downloaded from the clinic's website. This form has to be filled out by your doctor. It's the doctor who determines whether you qualify or not.

Two forms of valid identification are also needed, including at least one photo ID. If that's not possible, two passport-size pictures signed and dated on the back of each photo by your doctor will do. These need to be submitted along with your completed application form. All of these can be mailed to the clinic or brought in person.

Once accepted, you receive a registration number and personal photo identification card. Now you are able to purchase medicinal marijuana through the clinic.

Members of the Medical Compassion Clinic always need to present their photo identification card to the staff before making their purchase.

Members can also elect to be participants in ongoing medical research. So far, it has been observed that the Indicas stimulate appetite, settle nausea, have a relaxing effect on the body, quell neuropathic pain and induce sleep. The Sativas give energy and help with depression. Hybrids combine the effects of Indica/Sativas.

We made our first visit to the clinic last July. My son had his picture taken and was issued his registration number. Security was tight. A buzzer sounded and we entered a closet-sized room. We faced a small window. Behind this window was another small room in which a staff member took our prescription. He measured out the marijuana, placed it in a small plastic bag and affixed the clinic's label to it. The buzzer was rung again and the door opened. Back in the main office, we paid our bill and were issued a receipt.

Unlike illegal street drugs that can be sprayed with chemicals, the marijuana at the Medical Compassion Clinic is organically grown by licensed growers and checked by Health Canada inspectors.

Sativas and Hybrids are grown along with Indicas. The names are descriptive. The Indicas: Cali Orange, Blueberry, Northern Lights and Skunk. Sativas: Hazey, Kali Mist, Buddha and South African Durban. The Hybrids: Northern Widow, Jack Herer, Bubblegum and Northern Skunky Haze. Marijuana butter, cookies and Rice Krispies squares are also available.

Yes, I've learned the extent a parent will go to help their sick child. Our son has suffered from Tourette's for 10 years. He has gone through challenging times when his tics were so bad, he would not go out in public. In the past, we tried everything we thought would help -- traditional medications, blue green algae, essential fatty acids, mega vitamins and therapy.

Medicinal marijuana is addressing his tics and giving him a sense of wellbeing. Surely, it's something he deserves. And, until there is a cure or a magic pill, he'll continue "puffing the magic dragon."

For further information on the Medical Compassion Clinic, go to their website at: www.medicalcompassionclinic.com or e-mail them at info@medicalcompassionclinic.com. The clinic can be reached by phone at 647-291- 0420.

A special thanks to Walter, Franklin and the staff at the Medical Compassion Clinic -- your ways shine!

Stephanie Nielsen is a retired teacher and palliative care volunteer. She is a member of The Standard's community editorial board.

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1060581

By GENE JOHNSON

SEATTLE (AP) — Timothy Garon's face and arms are hauntingly skeletal, but the fluid building up in his abdomen makes the 56-year-old musician look eight months pregnant. His liver, ravaged by hepatitis C, is failing. Without a new one, his doctors tell him, he will be dead in days. But Garon's been refused a spot on the transplant list, largely because he has used marijuana, even though it was legally approved for medical reasons.

"I'm not angry, I'm not mad, I'm just confused," said Garon, lying in his hospital bed a few minutes after a doctor told him the hospital transplant committee's decision Thursday.

With the scarcity of donated organs, transplant committees like the one at the University of Washington Medical Center use tough standards, including whether the candidate has other serious health problems or is likely to drink or do drugs.

And with cases like Garon's, they also have to consider — as a dozen states now have medical marijuana laws — if using dope with a doctor's blessing should be held against a dying patient in need of a transplant.

Most transplant centers struggle with the how to deal with people who have used marijuana, said Dr. Robert Sade, director of the Institute of Human Values in Health Care at the Medical University of South Carolina.

"Marijuana, unlike alcohol, has no direct effect on the liver. It is however a concern ... in that it's a potential indicator of an addictive personality," Sade said.

The Virginia-based United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees the nation's transplant system, leaves it to individual hospitals to develop criteria for transplant candidates.

At some, people who use "illicit substances" — including medical marijuana, even in states that allow it — are automatically rejected. At others, such as the UCLA Medical Center, patients are given a chance to reapply if they stay clean for six months. Marijuana is illegal under federal law.

Garon believes he got hepatitis by sharing needles with "speed freaks" as a teenager. In recent years, he said, pot has been the only drug he's used. In December, he was arrested for growing marijuana.

Garon, who has been hospitalized or in hospice care for two months straight, said he turned to the university hospital after Seattle's Harborview Medical Center told him he needed six months of abstinence.

The university also denied him, but said it would reconsider if he enrolled in a 60-day drug-treatment program. This week, at the urging of Garon's lawyer, the university's transplant team reconsidered anyway, but it stuck to its decision.

Dr. Brad Roter, the Seattle physician who authorized Garon's pot use for nausea, abdominal pain and to stimulate his appetite, said he did not know it would be such a hurdle if Garon were to need a transplant.

That's typically the case, said Peggy Stewart, a clinical social worker on the liver transplant team at UCLA who has researched the issue. "There needs to be some kind of national eligibility criteria," she said.

The patients "are trusting their physician to do the right thing. The physician prescribes marijuana, they take the marijuana, and they are shocked that this is now the end result," she said.

No one tracks how many patients are denied transplants over medical marijuana use.

Pro-marijuana groups have cited a handful of cases, including at least two patient deaths, in Oregon and California, since the mid-to-late 1990s, when states began adopting medical marijuana laws.

Many doctors agree that using marijuana — smoking it, especially — is out of the question post-transplant.

The drugs patients take to help their bodies accept a new organ increase the risk of aspergillosis, a frequently fatal infection caused by a common mold found in marijuana and tobacco.

But there's little information on whether using marijuana is a problem before the transplant, said Dr. Emily Blumberg, an infectious disease specialist who works with transplant patients at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital.

Further complicating matters, Blumberg said, is that some insurers require proof of abstinence, such as drug tests, before they'll agree to pay for transplants.

Dr. Jorge Reyes, a liver transplant surgeon at the UW Medical Center, said that while medical marijuana use isn't in itself a sign of substance abuse, it must be evaluated in the context of each patient.

"The concern is that patients who have been using it will not be able to stop," Reyes said.

Dale Gieringer, state coordinator for the California chapter of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, scoffed at that notion.

"Everyone agrees that marijuana is the least habit-forming of all the recreational drugs, including alcohol," Gieringer said. "And unlike a lot of prescription medications, it's nontoxic to the liver."

Reyes and other UW officials declined to discuss Garon's case.

But Reyes said that in addition to medical concerns, transplant committees — which often include surgeons, social workers, and nutritionists — must evaluate whether patients have the support and psychiatric health to cope with a complex post-operative regimen for the rest of their lives.

Garon, the lead singer for Nearly Dan, a Steely Dan cover-band, remains charged with manufacturing weed. He insists he was following the state law, which limits patients to a "60-day supply" but doesn't define that amount.

"He's just a fantastic musician, and he's a great guy," said his girlfriend, Liesa Bueno. "I wish there was something we could do legally. ... I'm going to miss him terribly if he passes."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h3B3x4_UQedX-vvWm3cQMTXI_d1gD909LVV80

THE DO IT YOURSELF GUIDE

 

For those of you who have watched the documentary "Run from the Cure", this should answer any questions about producing your own oil. I recommend that people grow their own hemp either in a small indoor grow system or outdoors. Growing it yourself will eliminate the high cost associated with buying hemp from drug dealers. The cost of hemp can vary greatly from dealer to dealer and so can the quality of the hemp. For anyone new to growing hemp a good book or video on the subject is a necessity. If you go to Cannabis Culture, the good people there should be able to point you in the right direction.

 

Caution:

 

Oils that drug dealers sell can have many contaminants and often little or no THC. From my experience, most hemp oil available on the street should be avoided for medicinal use. Make your own oil or have someone you trust produce the oil to assure a very pure, high quality oil is produced.

 

How much to make and take?

 

One pound (500g) of bone-dry hemp buds will usually produce about 2 ounces (55 - 60 mL) of high-grade oil. This amount of oil will cure most serious cancers; the average person can ingest this amount in about three months. This oil is very potent so one must begin treatment with small doses. A drop of oil about half the size of a grain of rice, two to four times a day is a good beginning. After four or five days, start increasing your daily dosage very gradually. As time goes on the body builds a tolerance to the oil and more and more can be taken. In cases where people are in a great deal of pain, I recommend that their dosage be quickly increased until it kills the pain. High quality hemp oil will stop pain even when morphine is not effective. The oil can be applied to external injuries for pain relief in minutes.

 

Will I get high?

 

Following the dosage previously described, many people can take the full treatment and never get high. In regards to hemp, getting "high" is a joke, even if a person does take too much oil the effect wears off quickly and no harm is done. No one has ever died from the use of hemp medicine.

 

Will I become addicted?

 

Hemp oil does not cause your body to crave more. It is non-addictive, harmless and effective for practically any medical condition.

 

Is this the same as hemp seed oil?

 

No! This is hemp oil, made from the bud and small leaves of the hemp plant. It is the essential oil of the hemp plant. Health food store sells oil made from hemp seed that is often mislabeled as hemp oil. Although seed oil is very beneficial, it does not contain enough THC to have any effect on cancer and other serious illnesses.

 

Are hemp and marijuana the same?

 

The word marijuana is one of over four hundred slang terms used worldwide to describe the cannabis and/or hemp plant.

 

Are all hemp plants the same?

 

When buying or growing hemp, procure a strain that has the highest possible THC content. To energize someone suffering from depression, I recommend a good Sativa strain. For most other medical conditions, I strongly suggest that Indica strains be used. Indicas relax a person and provide them with more rest and sleep.

 

How do I use it?

 

High quality hemp oil can be vapourized, ingested or used topically. Add the oil to creams and salves for external use.

 

Where can I get information about making the oil?

 

For someone new to making the oil I suggest that you go to "Run From The Cure". There you can watch our documentary in seven segments. Segment 4 shows how the oil can be produced at home or one can go to Phoenix Tears Movie and download the full documentary. You will need a high-speed internet connection and there is no charge. The process in the video could only be described as crude at best, but the oil that is produced will cure cancer. In reality, this medicine should be produced in a controlled environment, using distilling equipment, etc. to reclaim the solvent and to purify the oil. Most people do not understand distilling and do not have access to the required equipment. This is the reason such a simple method is descried in the documentary, so if need be just about anyone can produce the oil. As in the video, again we stress that this process, if not done properly can be dangerous and we bear no responsibility if this educational information is misused.

 

My process:

 

Starting material:

I generally work with a pound or more of good grade hemp starting material. You can use just one ounce. An ounce will usually produce 3 or 4 grams of oil. The amount of oil produced per ounce of hemp will vary from strain to strain, but it all has that wonderful healing power.

 

1 - Place the completely dry starting material in a plastic bucket.

 

2 - Dampen the material with the solvent you are using. Many solvents can be used. I like to use pure naphtha but it costs $500 for a 45-gallon drum. You can use 99% isopropyl alcohol, which you can find in your local drug stores. Alcohol absorbs more chlorophyll from the plant material than naphtha does. This gives oils made with alcohol a darker colour but does not diminish the potency of the oil to any noticeable degree. Ether, naphtha or butane and many other solvents can produce oils that are amber and transparent. Granted these clear oils do look better but dark oil can be just as potent. If the process is done properly, little or no solvent residue is left in the oil. I have been consuming oils produced using different solvents for eight years with no harmful effects. You will require about two gallons of solvent to strip the THC off one pound of dry starting material. 500 milliliters of solvent should be more than enough to strip the THC from one ounce of hemp starting material.

 

3 - Crush the plant material using a stick of clean untreated (chemical free) wood or some such device. Even though the starting material has been dampened with the solvent, you will find that the material can be readily crushed.

 

4 - Add solvent until the starting material is completely covered.

Use the stick to work the plant material. As you are doing this, the THC dissolves off the plant material into the solvent.

 

5 - Continue this process for about 3 minutes.

 

6 - Pour the solvent-oil mix off the plant material into another bucket. You have just stripped the plant material of about 80% of its THC.

 

7 - Second wash - again add solvent to the plant material and work it for another 3 minutes to get the other 20%.

 

8 - Pour this solvent-oil mix into the bucket containing the first mix that was poured off previously.

 

9 - Discard the twice-washed plant material.

 

10- Pour the solvent-oil mix through a coffee filter into a clean container.

 

11- Boil the solvent off. I have found that a rice cooker will do this boil off very nicely. The one I have has two heat settings - high and low - and will hold over a half gallon (2.5 liters) of solvent-oil mix.

 

12- Add solvent-oil mix to the rice cooker until it is about ¾ full.

 

      Make sure you are in a very well ventilated area and set up a fan to carry the solvent fumes away. The fumes are very flammable. Be sure to stay away from red-hot elements, sparks, cigarettes etc. that could ignite the fumes.

 

13- Plug the rice cooker in and set it on high heat.

 

14- Continue adding solvent-oil mix as the level in the rice cooker decreases until it is all in the cooker.

 

15- Add a few drops of water to the solvent-oil mix as the level comes down for the last time. The amount of water added depends on how much starting material you had in the beginning. If I am producing oil from a pound of good bud, I usually add about ten drops of water.

 

16- When there is about one inch of solvent-oil-water mix left in the cooker, put on your oven mitts, pick the unit up and gently swirl the contents

 

17- Continue swirling until the solvent has been evaporated off. The few drops of water help release the solvent residue and protect the oil somewhat from too much heat. When the solvent has been boiled off, the cooker that I use automatically goes to low heat. This avoids any danger of overheating the oil. At no time should the temperature of the oil go over 290F degrees  (140 C).

 

18- Put on your oven mitts and remove the pot containing the oil from the rice cooker.

 

19- Gently pour the oil into a small stainless steel container.

 

20- Place this container in a dehydrator or put in on a gentle heating device such as a coffee warmer. It may take a few hours but the water and volatile turpines will be evaporated from the oil. When there is no longer any activity on the surface of the oil the medicine is ready for use.

 

21- Pour the hot oil into a bottle; or as in the video suck it up into a plastic syringe. Putting the oil in a plastic syringe makes it very easy to dispense the medicine.

 

When the oil cools off it has the consistency of thick grease. Some strains will produce very thick oil and you may have trouble squeezing it out of the syringe. If this happens, place the syringe in warm water a few minutes prior to use.

 

To anyone starting to use hemp oil as a medication, here are some simple facts.

Hemp oil will lower blood pressure and if you are on blood pressure medication, you may find that this medication is no longer needed. The same is true for diabetics. I have seen hemp oil control blood sugar to the extent that insulin was no longer needed.

I am not a doctor and I do not have the right to tell people what they should do. Personally, I would not consider taking any cancer treatments currently in use by our medical system, I do not recommend that hemp oil be taken along with chemotherapy. What would be the sense of making your own cure and then allowing the medical system to give you massive doses of poison?

 

From my experience with hemp medicine, I have found that most pharmaceutical medications are no longer needed once a person starts using hemp oil. Hemp oil seems to mix well with most natural medications but I have had a few reports from people trying to take hemp oil and pharmaceuticals who experienced stomach pain etc. All problems ceased when they stopped taking the prescription drugs.

 

To anyone who is going to act on this information to help a loved one, I welcome you to the world of real medicine. Again, I caution you to be very careful when boiling the solvent off. The fumes are very flammable. Be sure to stay away from red-hot elements, sparks, cigarettes etc. that could ignite the fumes.

 

I wish you the best luck and health.

Warmest regards,

Rick Simpson.

 

http://www.phoenixtears.ca/diy.html

 

Watch Rick's movie, "Run from the Cure" - http://www.phoenixtears.ca/index.html