Molly's No-Bake PB Canna Bites

I pride myself on being a fairly waste-not-want-not person.  I like to reuse, regrow, repurpose, or redistribute any time I can.  After many months' batches of Cannabis oil, I had quite a collection of little balls of cheesecloth filled with oily plant material.  Each had a different shade based on leaf to bud content or time in the oven decarboxylating.  I decided to practice some alchemy.

Alchemy, noun:  "a medieval chemical science and speculative philosophy aiming to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold, the discovery of a universal cure for disease, and the discovery of a means of indefinitely prolonging life." ~Merriam Webster Dictionary

My pooch is gettin up there in years.  By the 7x dog to human conversion, Molly would be 70 years young.  She's spry for her age, likely because she's been on the herbal for about four years now. Aside from second-hand Cannabis smoke and the odd stem or nug she may eat off the floor in the smoking room, we've been giving her Cannabis oil for several years now.

Thunderstorms and fireworks are Molly's kryptonite.  Oh, and the monthly fire alarm test.  She would sit vibrating for hours sometimes.  But now, she immediately goes and stands by the cabinet where I keep the oil and waits to be given her dose.  If I don't see her, she'll stomp in place tapping with her nails til I look.  Within 20 minutes, she's grabbing her ball to play.

Cannabis improves Molly's quality of life.

I decided to take the left over and now oil soaked Cannabis mashes and mix them with some turmeric for its incredible anti-inflammatory powers and peanut butter to please the patient.  In my trusty double boiler I added all ingredients with some added coconut oil to manage consistency.

1+ cup Cannabis mash                                                                                          

2 tsp Turmeric
2 Tbsp Creamy Peanut Butter

Mix together well and heat on low until desired consistency, that being like thick gravy.  Coconut oil hardens at room temperature and these will be stored in the fridge.  Pour out into a baking pan or tupperware dish and store overnight in fridge.  Portion accordingly starting with very small pieces until you know the effects.

I don't imagine there is much THC in the mash but there are other compounds that sedate like Cannabinol or CBN.  This cannabinoid is actually the result of age and oxidization of THC.  So there are times and for some conditions where the older, dryer, and shakier the product you're using, the better.  The research is still out as to how long you'd have to leave your buds to oxidize before conversion takes place.  Add that to the list of needed studies.  People suffer needlessly daily due to sleep problems and insomnia.  Cannabis can help.

***This article and the products referred to herein, is Molly approved.

Cannabidiol: Nature's Anti-Anxiety

A dog barks three blocks away and Sarah suddenly wakes.  Like bubbles rising slowly up the side of a glass of pop, her consciousness comes to.  Within seconds she remembers that tomorrow is a work day and the tsunami begins.  In a rush it starts below her stomach and up into her heart--it feels like it skips a beat.  She's now wide awake, feels like she's drowning, must breath purposefully and deeply. Soon begins the nausea and that dull, unwavering ache deep in her stomach, pushing on her lungs.

Sarah used to suffer badly and she still suffers, but at least now she's found something that will help her in the moment, whichever moment it happens to be.  The pills they prescribe for anxiety are oftentimes overly sedative and addictive.  And one wonders, how can one medication treat all of the many opposing symptoms that come along with an anxiety diagnosis?

As Sarah learned very quickly through this investigation into medicinal Cannabis, the Canna she uses to treat the anxiety she feels at 3 am is not the same Canna she should use to treat her anxiety at 8 am. Sarah's early early morning anxiety requires Tetrahydrocannabidiol to put her thoughts to bed.  While her before work anxiety requires Cannabidiol or CBD only because CBD is an anxiolytic, meaning it treats anxiety.

For we anxiety sufferers, this revelation of separating these two medicinal compounds for certain situations was life altering.  And for many of us, the process is simply putting different Canna in the bowl, vape, doob, or drop of oil.  No big deal!

And of course, it's not quite this simple either.  I mean, all of the magic in the Cannabis plant is not only due to these two cannabinoids.  There's a whole supporting cast, a whole team of back up singers, a band of brass or woodwinds.  And, those two cannabinoids do behave differently when in the company of different ratios of these oftentimes silent partners in the healing.  Most mornings, Sarah chooses a CBD only sativa dominant strain or the Oil made thereof.  The terpenes and other cannabinoids in a sativa helps to wake her up and begin to think about things other than barfing. While at 3 am she'll choose an indica dominant strain to sedate the body and induce sleep.

The Canna-World is evolving so quickly and mad-scientist/ tree-huggers are seed-breeding their little hearts out creating new ratios of indica/sativa dominance in the Cannabis you can buy.  In doing this, they're almost custom making medicine hand-in-hand with Mother Nature.  Now, that's a team I'd like to be on!

The Farmer's Eye Fattens the Cow & the Crop

I work in a clinic that assesses patients for medical cannabis.  Our doctors also respect your right to grow.  The gardeners are coming out of the woodwork to partake in some horticultural therapy.  A patient was given a grow script a few weeks ago and in conversation about growing asked me how a person avoids getting mold, mildew, or spider mites.  I told her plainly from my own limited experience but also the knowledge I'd been given by friends and articles I've read that you can keep any botanical ailment at bay with careful daily inspection.  

I grew up in rural Farmerville Ontario with horses, so I learned a lot about animal husbandry.  At some point in time I was told an old adage that is more like a way of life than a mere saying:

"The farmer's eye fattens the cow."

The best farmers spend time with their animals getting to know each one.  These are humans who see farming as a partnership not a master-dominant industry.  And just like cattle, ensuring your green Goddesses are healthy requires among others, two major things:  time and your attention.

This is one of the main reasons why I herald the new home cultivation rules of the ACMPR.  Not only is growing therapy for the grower, but it saves us money too.   Some are worried that the average Canadian can't grow this plant safely but growing 5 to 20 plants is much different than growing enough plants to fill a factory! Careful daily inspection is a bit harder to perform when you're talking about 100's of plants.  And outside in the sterilizing rays of the ultra violet Sun mold is not the same problem that it is inside a factory.  The Sun kills the harmful microorganisms while it gives power and vigor to others that feed on them!  Any time we can take the strain off of the legal producer program, it's a good thing.  And growing your own leaves you with so many more usable parts of the plant!  From leaf to root there's medicine.

Growing can also be purely selfish and that's okay too.  Great effort must have some reward or it would never be repeated.  There is therapy in sharing energy with a plant such as Cannabis.  It grows like it's its job!  Each cycle growers revel in the sheer speed of growth seen by many strains out there. Others treat gardening like a courtship, getting to know each plant's evolving personal watering preferences.  Weeks later they harvest and repeat the whole thing over again.  It reminds me of the construction and then the destruction ritual of the Tibetan Sand Mandalas.

There is ritual in that cycle of life however bounteous the harvest.  The time a Cannabis grower invests in his or her crop can often be immeasurable though.  But the benefits of the time spent can be therapy that evens it all out in the end.  One gardening rule stays:  the closer the attention, the better the outcome.

Licensed Producers In the Best Position to Push For Insurance Coverage

Millions of Canadians are prescribed medications that are paid for by insurance coverage.  For many of them, this coverage is what allows them to take the prescriptions their doctors prescribe, as they simply couldn’t afford them otherwise.  Coverage encourages prescription compliance, and the studies are there to prove it.

In 2012, CMAJ published an article that researched the effect of cost on adherence to prescription medications in Canada.  They found that approximately 1 in 10 Canadians report cost as being a reason they don’t fill their prescriptions.  When they considered respondents with insurance coverage, their findings were clear, “After multivariate adjustment, we found that lacking insurance for prescription drugs was associated with a more than fourfold increase in the odds of cost-related nonadherence.”  There are even statistics that show a direct correlation between co-pay fees and adherence.  The lower the co-pay, the more likely that prescription will get filled.

As more and more retirees show interest in cannabinoid therapy, they’re faced with the shocking truth that switching from pharmaceuticals to Cannabis means a few hundred dollars out-of-pocket a month. That's a hard pill to swallow when you've had almost everything covered for years.  Cost is a definite roadblock for many who want to try Cannabinoid therapy.  Not so single-payer after all eh?

Statistics from 2012 state that 2.3 million working-age Canadians were on disability, a quarter of which were considered severe.  Cannabinoid therapy works very well for many severe disabilities like chronic pain, Fibromyalgia, MS, some cancers even.  So as it stands today, if any of these income-limited citizens wants to try cannabinoid therapy they have to pay for it out of their disability payments.  Many juggle food and medicine each month, rationing everything at all times.  This undoubtedly affects country-wide healthcare costs.  As long as Health Canada refuses to consider medical cannabis a medicine, both patients on disability and patients with insurance coverage will have to pay out of pocket for their cannabis.

Insurers say they cannot cover our medical marijuana prescriptions because Cannabis has no drug identification number (DIN).  And, at least by the standards Western medicine has set thus far, they’re right.  Is this one little acronym going to keep safer medicine out of the hands of Canadians?

Upon further inspection I learn that the DIN has much less to do with how the drug affects you, and much more to do with tracking, categorizing, and marketing.  The number itself is computer generated and upon search, will tell you everything from the manufacturer to the mode of administration.  But since a DIN is granted only after testing is done, the DIN in effect, ensures that the product has undergone sufficient testing. You see the problem.  No one wants to pay for studies on something that they’re not going to reverse engineer.  And as far as the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled, we have the right to use this plant however we see fit (aside from using organic solvents).

Pharmaceutical companies spend millions proving the safety, efficacy, and detriment of the chemical concoctions they sell.  But with successful medicines, these companies reap the rewards.  If most LP’s deem themselves a part of this industry, shouldn’t we expect the same from them?  It must be choking for some pharmaceutical companies who only sell pills, to see certain LP’s posting profits, hiring celebrities, buying mobile units, and trading on the stock market for selling something that they spent no funds to prove or create.  Who else would we expect should pave the way to not only societal acceptance through studies, but to attain insurance coverage for their patients?

We seem to be at a standstill in Canada where studies are concerned.  So many are done on animals not humans.  So many are done in other countries, where standards differ from our own.  But who better to perform these crucial human studies than the ones who have all the plant product!  They’re literally growing more every day!  And as time flies by, some of these LP’s are even opening storefronts where information and assistance can be attained.  Those outlets would be a great place for data recovery and study product distribution.  Sort of like study headquarters for participants to report to.  All under the strict guidelines that the ACMPR demands of the Licensed Producers.

From a Licensed Producer’s viewpoint, I want you to adhere to your doctor’s authorization, and have a recurring monthly order with me.  But from a patient perspective who sees the prices LP’s charge, I can tell you that isn’t likely to happen every month.  ACMPR patients supplement their medicine by buying elsewhere, meaning the LP’s are missing out on revenue.  Putting in the time, resources, and might that is required to legitimize this medicine to the point of insurance coverage is good for their bottom line.  Insurance coverage encourages compliance, and Cannabis compliance may just have more to do with convenience than with price or quality.

Like Pharmaceutical companies, Licensed Producers just want the bill paid.  If a DIN or the equivalent thereof is required for that to occur, it just seems logical that the Licensed Producers themselves be the ones to foot that bill.  I foresee a CDIN (Cannabinoid Drug Identification Number) perhaps grouped by ailment identifying ranges of cannabinoids and terpenes found therein.  Or one umbrella DIN to cover the whole team.

In the end I believe that this DIN argument is simply a foot-dragging attempt to delay progress.  Someone is profiting, so why change the status quo?  Because the status quo isn’t benefiting the average Canadian.  When we adhere to our prescriptions, the country’s health care costs go down.  We need to demand coverage for all insured and all those on social assistance.  We know what needs to be done.

DIY Cannabis Skin Cream~ Enemy to Skin Infammation

The numbing power of THC has been a part of my skin care arsenal for a few years now.  It's incredible how quickly this cream relieves the sting of painful cuts and the ache of sore muscles.  For many of us our emotions are linked to the health of our skin.  Stress or emotional experiences can bring on irritating rashes that itch and all it takes is one minuscule tear in the skin's epidermis for infection to occur.

This happened to a woman I know.  Her rash always erupts on her 'decolletage' or chest/neckline. It's a good thing frilly scarves are in style right now.  Within days she had itched so much while she slept that she was red, sore, itchy, and bumpy from throat to nipple.

People who've worked with me can attest I'm one to whip out my own homemade meds.  In this case, I had some homemade Cannabis oil made with a high CBD strain in coconut oil that I told her to use over the weekend.

On Monday she reported that the oil didn't help the rash, though it made her skin soft.  So I decided to do an experiment.  That night I made a small batch of Coconut Cannabis oil with a moderate 16% THC Cannabis strain, and gave a small jar to the same woman.  After straining, I added a small chunk of Beeswax to make it a nice creamy consistency.  I'll add a nice aromatic oil of lavender or rose to future creams but didn't have any on hand at the time.

Within moments of applying this cream, my friend sat in awe of the total lack of irritation she felt. The Beeswax made it stay in place and kept it from rubbing off on her shirt.  She applied it several more times over the next day and was almost completely healed within three days.

What's even more encouraging is the fact that the texture of her decolletage, that ultra-feminine part of the female physique was now smoother, softer, and younger-looking than before.  This irritation had created a dry, almost scaley film on her skin that was nowhere to be seen or felt now.  Not only did the cannabinoids ease and heal her inflammation, but the idea that the cells themselves may potentially be invigorated and made more youthful is exciting.

If you're like the thousands of people who suffer from rashes, psoriasis, eczema and other skin issues, you should make a small batch of this cream.  The results are truly amazing and yet not surprising since cannabinoids are showing in studies to kill antibiotic resistant infections like MRSA.  Soon, Dr. Mechoulam and his awesome Israeli research team will prove that there are cannabinoid receptors in the skin as well as the gut, organs, brain, and bones.  More and more I see that our body craves cannabinoids.  This plant just does a body good!

Cannabis Oil today ... Cannabis Skin Care lines tomorow!  I say make your own :-)

We Have the Power to Change the ACMPR

I work with the LPs daily & I used to work with the banks daily.
Like many of you, I criticize some and support others.

I also own technology made by manufacturer's who don't care about their employees or source for materials.  We all own material goods with parts made in factories that have no clue what employment standards are.

We wish it were different, but we accept it because we like having material goods and we believe
our voice has no power.

What is really blowing my mind lately is how so many of us can't see the legal Cannabis industry in the same way.  We have no problem yelling about that.    Keep it up!

But I believe that every industry has good & bad players.  Some deserve our respect while others deserve legal action.  To cloak them all as evil is incorrect in my opinion.

We humans are adaptable, opportunistic, and eager.  Some of us learn very quickly how to make money.  You can't really be surprised that the LPs are taking advantage of the absolutely chokingly lax regulations surrounding their operation!!

Don't harass the player, HARASS THOSE WHO MAKE THE RULES & REGULATIONS!!!

I love reading your rants and I love seeing your passions in print, on protest signs, in tweets, on forums.   Keep it up!!

But put pen to paper PLEASE and yell at your Members of Parliament!

They think the status quo is working!!  They believe that Canada's legal Cananbis program is efficient and doesn't require their attention.

When they see the many ways that this entire program is inefficient, unsustainable, and NOT about health, they'll pay more attention!

But right now, our members of Parliament think mail-order medicine is working.  They'll never know any different if we don't tell them.

Please write your MP & MPP and tell them how you feel about our legal Cannabis program.
Any contact is engagement, but remember ... hand-written is always better.

#OhCanada150

Canadian Member of Federal Parliament contact info.
Canadian Member of Provincial Parliament contact info.

Coconut Cannabis Alchemy~Apartment Style

**** the oil from this process was fairly weak.  If you have been ingesting Cannabis or oil made with it for a while, you may want to increase the amount of product used.  If you are a brand new user or are planning on feeding this to your pet, this recipe is a safe place to start.



Infusing Cannabis into a fat is a surprisingly straight forward process.  It involves two distinct steps that rely on strict heat control and timing.  There are a bazillion different methods and for small batches I've come up with this one.  Mainly, you need to set aside about 4 hours of your time and voila ... you just made your own medicine.

Cannabinoids bind to any fat, I prefer coconut oil.  I made some oil a few nights ago in my small apartment.  It yielded me about half a cup of medicine that I take sublingually (under the tongue).

I used:

2 grams Cannabis buds
1.5 grams Cannabis trim
1/2 cup Coconut oil

You will also need:

Heat-safe gloves/mits
A double boiler
medium sized mason jar
ceramic dish with lid
thermometer that goes over 200F
cheese cloth

The first process is called "decarboxylating" or "activating" your Cannabis:

To put it simply, in their natural form many of the medicinal cannabinoids in Cannabis are like jigsaw puzzle pieces that don't fit into our body's receptors.  Everything from sea sponges to humans have an endocannabinoid system~ a naturally-occurring system of receptors that accept this plant's compounds.  By burning or heating the Cannabis, you break off an excess piece of the jigsaw so now it easily fits.

For my fellow cooks, you're basically roasting here.  Pre-heat the oven to 290F.  While it heats, the Cannabis will exude an herby, almost onion-y scent.  Wrapping it in a little pouch of parchment paper definitely reduces the smell and also ensures even heating of the buds.

Break the buds apart with your fingers to cranberry sized pieces.  Many recipes tell you to grind, but there's a new train of thought suggesting that the cannabinoids leach out of the Cannabis more easily left intact than when ground into the organic material.  Halfway through the Coconut oil simmer, the buds easily mash up with pressure from a wooden spoon.

Place the parchment pouch inside a ceramic or glass baking dish with a lid (or foil in a pinch).
Roast for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, melt 1/2 cup Coconut oil in a mason jar.

Add your "activated" Cannabis.  At this point, I took the mason jar out of the
water and placed it into the ceramic dish so that if any buds fell too quickly,
they would be in that dish and easy to scoop out.

Halfway through, remove the oil from the double boiler and gently mash the
buds around to allow for effective leaching.

Simmer for 3 hours being careful that water doesn't boil dry underneath (kept
at #5 on my stove-top burner.)
Use a thermometer and ensure that the oil doesn't go above 220F.
The double boiler is a control measure as it's difficult to get the oil above 210F
or so.  At this point, the Cannabinoids need more time than heat to leach out into
the fat.

Strain when oil is cool enough to ring out with hands.
I always keep the bud in a waste-not-want-not fashion.  I usually add it to
my next batch.  It keeps for a long time in your fridge in a baggie.

And ... voila!  All you need now is a dropper/syringe measuring ml's.
Start low and go slow.  Dose on a full or partially full stomach.
Start by taking .25 ml held under the tongue and held for 30 seconds, then swallowed.
Wait 2 hours and judge how you feel.  Wait 4-6 hours before re-dosing at this point.

You can start increasing often when needed by .05 intervals until you reach the
proper dose.  This could take several days.  Go slow!  Each of us must find that
sweet spot.  If you cannot stand the taste,  gelatin caplets can be purchased online
or at any health food store.