First off—WOW! Issue number 40. This feels more exciting than my 40th birthday will! It has been a great pleasure and joy to be able to contribute over the years. There have most certainly been a lot of changes, and more are on the way. I can finally say with conviction: “the end is near. Cannabis WILL be legal before I die!” I’ve been waiting 43 years to say that, and have it be true. We have the whole world behind us now. It sure feels good!
December was cold and windy—the perfect weather to cheer folks up with Cannabis Caroling(READ). If you ever need to give your spirits a boost, one of the best ways to do it is to go Cannabis Caroling(WATCH). You don’t have to wait until December, and you don’t need a group, though it is a lot more fun and it sounds better with more voices. The smiles as people catch on to what you are singing about are amazing. We started singing at the Ministry of Health building, then went to serenade the folks at the Club for awhile because I wasn’t feeling very well. I went home and everyone else went downtown to continue singing. It was a very blustery night, but we sure had fun. It turns out it was our last annual caroling event, so I’m very glad I made the effort to attend. You can be sure I’ll be packing around my Cannabis Carol booklet…just in case.
January saw the Club’s 18th Anniversary Potluck Dinner. It was a night of good music, great food, and wonderful company. Oh, and a lot of sweet smelling herb floating through the air. Ted’s potato salad vanished, and Karli made a delicious soup—actually two soups. There were salads and baked beans and and and, it was all good.
Ted and I took a trip to Vancouver for the appeal of Owens court case. Boy, sitting in a room with three supreme court judges was intense. They were not at all happy that Owen was not in jail, and it felt like they wanted to put him there right away if they could. The matter ”of standing” was discussed at great length, and it seems to me there is no question that Owen should be acquitted because of this. The Judges were almost impossible to read, so we’ll have to wait and see what they come up with. Our recipe book was also discussed quite a bit, and as a result has been amended. I believe I’ve heard a rumour that the Hempology 101 Cookbook may soon be updated for print, due to high amounts of demand.
St. Fatty’s Day saw the end of the 10th annual Art Auction. A very great thank you to everyone who donated their most precious art work. I know a little piece of soul goes into every piece. And I am totally jealous of everyone who helped raise the $732 and getting to take home an original piece of artwork. I’m only jealous because I didn’t get to partake this year.
On that note, a little about me. Last fall I found a lump on my chest an inch above the mastectomy scar. I had a root canal that had been bothering me taken out right away, and then had the lump removed. It was cancer again. A few more tests revealed it has gone into my bones, which explains the few mysterious pains I’d been having. I have two expert Naturopaths working on me. Dr. Neil McKinney has written Naturally There’s Hope and Naturally There’s Always Hope, as well as Naturopathic Oncology—An Encyclopedic Guide for Patients & Physicians. (There is a copy at the Club if you would like to read it.)
Dr. McKinney is also one of the founders of the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine. He has recently introduced Cannabis to his medicine bag, and spoken at a conference of naturopaths in Arizona and the 15th Hempology Convention. He also helped Tommy Chong overcome prostate cancer. We have one more tool in the bag if the regime I am on now proves to be not working. Dr. Patrick Callas is one of the first graduates from said college and is Dr. McKinneys’ protege. He is helping me with the mercury detoxification program. I’ve had a lot of help from a lot of friends, with food, medicine, love and support. I’m a very lucky woman, and I believe I’m getting better. The mystery pains have gone and I’m just dealing with all the muscle spasms I’ve been coping with since the mastectomy.
I developed an extreme intolerance to cold since that operation, which makes my back muscles and diaphragm spasm. I’m eating enough cannabis that I should be comatose, but the other day I actually got stoned on my afternoon meds for the first time. I’ve had some other breakthroughs such as no more nausea and vomiting, and my appetite is coming back. With that, my energy is slowly returning as well. One of the most important things I’ve learned this time is to detoxify from CT and bone scans etc. You take two 10,000iu of Vit. A twice a day for two weeks.
The most important things to remember for avoiding cancer are: stay away from chemicals—don’t eat, breath, or wear them; sleep in darkness; sleep outside at least 2 weeks of the year; do not sleep with a tv or clock radio in your bedroom, or at least not next to your head; wear bare feet to get in contact with the Earth’s electromagnetic fields as often as possible: laugh a lot, sing often, and love yourself. I go for blood tests, to see if there are any changes yet, at the end of April when we get back from Ottawa. Ottawa…
I’m writing this on Friday, Mar. 21, 2014. A day we are going to celebrate for quite some time. Thank you John Conroy, Jason Wilcox, Sandra and Remo and Justice Manson, those who supported, contributed and had faith, and a host of other folk who brought forth some compassion from the courts and told Harper where to stick it. MMAR licence holders are permitted to continue possessing and growing under their old MMAR licences until such time as the matter has been through court.Everything seems to be the same except for leaving your home, which now has a 150 gram limit no matter what it was before. You may read the decision on the Hempology 101 or Cannabis Digest forums.
I think if is very important for everyone to take action now, even if it is with a pen, email, or phone call. And so, Ted and I will be going to Ottawa this week. It should be a calmer protest than we originally expected.
The club is looking wonderful thanks to an exploded hot water tank. Many thanks to the floor crew for your hard work, and to Jason for painting. I was surprised to find that vinyl does not seem to off-gas the same as most plastics do.
Ted is stepping down from most of his Cannabis activism. He held the last conventions he is going to organize at UVIC and UBC. Two long time fans, ‘Rocket’ and Markus will be taking over Reach For The Pot Tournament this year. He is going to be concentrating on the Cannabis Digest, looking after me, and planning for the future of the Little City Project. We are looking forward to exciting times ahead.
By Gayle Quin
