End Prohibition in Oregon – Vote Yes on 91

In a few short weeks we’ll know if cannabis will be legal in Oregon. I think we’ll do it this time. And soon, people will know what patients know..that cannabis heals.

I honestly had no idea about the extent of cannabis’s medical efficacy when I became a patient in 2010. My RA was out of control and it had been so for more than eleven years at that point. No matter what the doctors did, it would never move out of the severe range. The commercials for the biologics now available all say they work for moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. I would have given anything if mine had been moderate. My life would have been infinitely easier, but that was not to be the case. During year ten, I was finally given an additional blood pressure pill with a diuretic in it. I had only been asking for one since 1998. There was never a time during all of this where I didn’t retain fluid. In fact, it was the fluid retention which began first, before anything else. I was always swollen, everywhere. I now have nerve damage in both of my feet due to the continual swelling I experienced. I used to love walking barefoot on the lawn, but now it feels so creepy that I can’t.

Within two weeks of taking the blood pressure pill with the diuretic, I had lost so much fluid that it may have been what triggered a flare that would ultimately last two weeks longer than a year. If I thought I had severe RA up to that point, I was in for a rude awakening. I became so sick that I became convinced I wouldn’t survive. My life had been surreal up to that point, but it was about to get a whole lot worse.

Throughout my illness, I ran a business my husband and I owned. How, I don’t know. But I did it, and I never missed a day of work. However, I was a complete mess. Half way through the flare, my husband convinced me that I should get my medical cannabis card. I did some research and found that many people with RA did well with cannabis, so after talking to both of my boys, I decided to do it. I had used cannabis when I was younger, but stopped after having kids. I had no real idea what would happen, but I figured, since I was probably not going to survive this anyway, why not try cannabis?

Well now. While I waited for my first harvest, my new rheumatologist did a CRP test. He told me it’s supposed to be less than 5. Mine was 46.5. It apparently tests disease activity. My RA was running amok. Not that we didn’t already know this, but numbers matter I suppose. He prescribed CellCept. It’s for lupus and is also an anti-rejection drug for transplant recipients. A little off-label for RA, but we were out of options. The standard approach to RA treatment is to suppress the immune system. Understandable given that RA is an autoimmune disease, but in the process, you are susceptible to all kinds of things. As it turned out, the drug didn’t help and gave me side effects so terrible that I eventually stopped taking it. My rheumy didn’t know about the cannabis, or how I was using it to medicate. I had contacted his office to see if he would sign off on the paperwork, but his staff said he wasn’t interested. So, I smoked, vaped, and used tincture that was given to me while my plants grew. I harvested raw leaf off my plants to include in juice and smoothies. After a year and two weeks, my flare ended. In retrospect, I feel it was probably due to consuming raw cannabis. The plant acids are wonderful for healing and you don’t have the psychoactive effect when medicating this way.

I developed a massive infection in my jaw during this time that resulted in two dental implants, no doubt due to my trashed immune system. I waited until after the surgery to make my own tincture and capsules that I would then use to medicate with. I infused cannabis into glycerine to make the tincture, and into coconut oil to make the capsules. Then I decided on the amounts I would begin with, and I began medicating. I discontinued the narcotic I was taking for pain immediately. I then began discontinuing the anti-inflammatory drug I was on. Over time, I was able to stop the both blood pressure pills as well as the Metformin I was prescribed during my illness. Within two to three months, most of the fluid was gone, and the RA was dissipating. Six months later, I stopped eating anything with gluten because I read that it appears to exacerbate inflammatory diseases in some people. I highly recommend doing this. I can actually taste my food now, but that’s another blog post. Now, I take Sulfasalazine daily and inject Humria every other week. I’m not sure when I officially went into clinical remission because my rheumy never told me. I found out by getting copies of my medical records to give to the cannabis clinic. It would have been nice to know, however, because it could have been the beginning of a really enlightening conversation between us.

Those of us who have taken that leap of faith and become patients, often become activists. We really have no choice. The lies told about this plant have resulted in such devastation. Lives have been ruined by incarceration for a plant that has so much potential to save lives. Because when you don’t know if you’re going to survive what’s happening, and you find something that does what cannabis can do, you want to talk and talk and talk some more. And you’ll tell anyone who will listen, because in that moment, when you know it’s saving you, all that matters is getting the truth to everyone.

We have a champion in Sanjay Gupta. He’s done two documentaries on cannabis as medicine. Watch them if you haven’t already. Then research Rick Simpson. He illustrates an easy way to make cannabis oil. Lots of folks are using it for cancer treatment..successfully. I make and use it for RA. Some use it topically on skin cancer. I know from experience that it works. My eight mile daily walk proves it.

I realize for some, cannabis use is viewed and spoken about as addictive. It’s not addictive, but we’ve been inundated with propaganda for so long now that it may be difficult for people to take that leap of faith and vote for legalization. We see various states now allowing CBD only medicine, but that’s not enough. People need everything the plant has to offer. The last thing we need to be doing is limiting the cannabinoids available for healing. Particularly when vested interest seems to be driving this choice.

We’ve witnessed the successes and pitfalls experienced in Colorado and Washington with their legalization efforts. Oregon has a chance to do an even better job and set an example for the rest of the country. Measure 91 may in fact be the most sensible approach we’ve seen to date. It also legalizes industrial hemp which has so many uses that it just might end up saving the planet.

Please join me in voting Yes on Measure 91 and end prohibition in Oregon!