From the developer of Harlequin, one of the first CBD-rich strains use as medicine, May 11, 2018.
In the years I have worked to provide the best possible version of cannabis therapies to the members of our not-for-profit mutual benefits association, the percentage of those members who inhale cannabis as medicine has dropped to almost zero. The few that still use cannabis that way are all younger veterans of those all-expense-paid trips to the Middle East our government has offered since 2003. Every other member of House of Harlequin uses oils, tinctures, topical creams and suppositories. We see benefit in an incredible range of conditions that mirror the conditions listed by Russo as “endocannabinoid deficiency syndromes”.
The real trick in cannabis as medicine is finding the ‘sweet spot’ that exists when the type of cannabis, the method of ingesting into the body, and the dose allows the patient to enjoy life.
While watching the Medical Board hearing I realized that I have more practical experience with cannabis as medicine than all the doctors on the medical board put together. This is heartbreaking to me. California’s Medical Board serves as an example to such boards across the country. Here in California we have more than twenty years experience in using cannabis as medicine. Where are those clinicians with that experience and why are they not on this board?
Whenever I hear talk of cannabis and kids I can not help but think of cases of pediatric epilepsy where kids are given all kinds of pharmaceutical drugs to control seizures and have side effect like rage, depression, social withdrawal and addiction that are accepted as needed to ‘help’ control the seizures. And then to see them come out of their drug induced shell and become seemingly healthy kids whose seizures are decreased or controlled with plant medicine is a miracle to me. Or kids with epidermolyosis bullosa (E.B) where their skin sloughs off. Medical answer is opioids and topical ketamine, both of which only help with the pain and do nothing to help with healing of the skin. We see dramatic results from a properly prepared topical cream that alleviates the pain and helps the skin to heal. E.B. is a genetic condition so cannabis does not heal the underlying cause of this often fatal illness but the families we help are very certain that their child is much more comfortable and the skin does in fact heal.
After watching the April 20 meeting of the CA medical board, I feel a need to speak up because there is so much misleading, incomplete or outright false information about cannabis as medicine. The doctors I know who are willing to work with their patients in exploring what cannabis might be able to do for those patients, are in fact brave pioneers in the face of the medical establishment and the ‘drug warriors’ who cling to lies about the ‘dangers’ of cannabis. I wish to offer a huge thanks to the men and women who have fought for years to bring our culture and government out of the darkness of lies and into the truth of Cannabis as Medicine.
Sincerely,
Wade Laughter
Founder and Director
House of Harlequin
