Category: Activism News

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Wendy Love Edge – Love, Health, Hope

Wendy Love Edge is a mother, wife, artist, author, TV show host, journalist, activist and a survivor. Against the odds of modern medicine, Wendy took back her health, and life, while helping others to do the same. 

Pictured: Wendy on the left, Topher Kogen on the right

In 2013, Wendy Love Edge was totally disabled. She was diagnosed with several autoimmune diseases. At that point, Wendy was unable to drive, suffered from double vision, and wasn’t able to take care of herself. Wendy faced sickness after sickness, with a destroyed immune system, and experiencing adverse effects from the massive amount of pharmaceutical drugs her MD had prescribed. Modern medicine couldn’t save Wendy. She was told by her Doctor that early death was certain, by either the autoimmune diseases, or caused by the pharmaceuticals prescribed to treat her conditions. At that time, Wendy believed her Doctor, and accepted that her fate was sealed. 

That same year, Wendy’s wife decided a separation was necessary. Before she left, she told Wendy that she knew if she left, she’d find her strength. Not too long after, Wendy’s inner voice told her that her body knows how to heal itself. She began to research ways to do just that. Still unable to do many things for herself, Wendy reached out to a friend to do a grocery run for her. The friend was unable to help, but did recruit the help of a mutual acquaintance.

Wendy was in the process of weaning herself off of the prescribed pharmaceuticals, and experiencing opioid withdrawal. When the acquaintance arrived at Wendy’s home with groceries, she asked Wendy if she had considered using Cannabis as a treatment. Wendy was hesitant, concerned about adding a new drug into her life, while she was in the difficult process of weaning off of morphine, but decided to give it a try right then and there. Much to her surprise, Wendy experienced immediate relief from body pain and withdrawal symptoms. 

It had been quite some time since she had consumed Cannabis. Wendy had toked with friends in high school, and a couple more times in college. She had a career in healthcare, where consuming Cannabis came with the risk of job loss, so she had abstained for years. In hindsight Wendy knows that her high school Cannabis use, helped her then deal with PTSD, anxiety, and depression that was a result of childhood sexual abuse. While in bed, convinced she was dying, Wendy had written a book about her childhood experiences, under a penname. 

With her eyes being reopened to the miraculous plant, Wendy began using Cannabis on her journey back to health. Following her intuition, and trusting her research, Wendy also started eating right, stretching, meditating, exercising, and using herbs. Within 2 weeks of consuming Cannabis, her double vision was gone. Wendy found that by making these changes in her life, the autoimmune diseases became manageable. Her wife was right, Wendy did find her strength. 

Wendy before on pharmaceuticals and after using cannabis

The couple remained separated during a time of healing and personal growth for them both. The wives allowed each other the time, and space, to work on themselves, while still having occasional contact. Life had not been easy for them together, during Wendy’s total disability. With the outrageous cost of healthcare in The United States, the couple had often visited food banks, and sold belongings, in order to eat.

Wendy was nearly bankrupted while just trying to survive the multiple medical conditions, and also had a desire to help others with similar struggles. She started making plans to start a nonprofit organization.  After 6 weeks of no contact, Wendy’s wife sent her some music she had been working on. An original song titled: ‘Bulldozer’. During meditation, Wendy would often visualize a yellow bulldozer pushing a pile of prescription bottles away from her. This synchronicity, made it official, the name of her non profit would be: Bulldozer Health. 

Bulldozer Health became a non profit organization in 2014 to help low income patients have access to medical Cannabis. This was done so on a free basis, by donations from medical providers to patients. No money was exchanged.  Bulldozer Health used a grassroots fundraising approach, holding concerts to raise funds. The non-profit helped income challenged patients obtain medical Cannabis recommendations from a doctor, as well as helping with other alternative health visits, such as chiropractic, and acupuncture.

For 6 years, Bulldozer Health helped many patients with financial difficulties take back their health, while reminding them that they have the power to do so.  Unfortunately 2020 has brought new changes to our world due to Covid-19. Fundraising events are no longer possible. After a great 6 year run helping so many, Bulldozer Health will sadly be no more. All remaining funds from Bulldozer Health will be donated to the Matt Adams Foundation, a non profit that aids others on the road to opiate recovery. It’s a bittersweet ending of a great thing for Wendy. She’s looking forward to what will come, as well as putting some focus onto the lack of patient homegrow rights in Arkansas, as well as a government imposed medical Cannabis shortage across the state, with only 5 cultivators to supply patients. 

After 3 years of separation, Wendy and her wife got back together. They found themselves and what they wanted. Their love continues to endure, and shows the world what true love is all about. Wendy continues to educate and entertain others through The Wendy Love Edge Show With Topher Kogen, The CBD Gameshow, and articles she writes for Cannabis Chronicles of Oklahoma. Her wife recently launched a radio station, WJAE420, focused on music and Cannabis. Keep an eye on Wendy’s current and future projects. She is a light of hope for self empowerment, showing others it’s possible to take control of your life and health. 

Originally written by: Kerry Cannon for cannabisactivismnow.com

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This Man Cured Over 3500 People From Cancer And This Is How He Did It

High THC Cannabis Oil has been used by numerous people for centuries, but it was banned in the second half of the 20th century, as a result of the rise of the billion-dollar pharmaceutical industry.

Mike with a batch of 60 gram syringes

Mike Wise is a skateboarder and national champion wakeskater with The University of Texas where he graduated with a degree in Radio-Television-Film in 2009. He has never been a fan of doctors, so when he got diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2014 he decided to take his health into his own hands.

Nowadays, he is one of the most well known activists in the world fighting for the legalization of cannabis oil. Using this treatment, he has cured over 3,500 people from a variety of diseases including extremely terminal ones such as Cancer and Glioblastoma (brain tumors).

Since moving to Europe in 2017, he has spoken at over 30 different countries all over the world on this topic. He is also currently filming a documentary with Rick Simpson to tell his story and help to get this information out to the public.

He states that cannabis oil can cure a vast variety of serious health issues, like diabetes, arteriosclerosis, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, asthma, psoriasis, as well as some of the deadliest forms of cancer.

Mike recently recounted his story to a magazine in the Czech Republic: “I always tell people – Cannabis will cure you, and you will see that at present, it is the best cure there is in the world!”

He began his story: “It was 2014.  I had been dealing with symptoms related to Crohn’s disease since 2000. As an athlete, I was always busy traveling and competing. Doing so caused much damage to build up in my body after years of this abuse. The symptoms got worse and worse until I began vomiting blood every morning at 4am when I would wake up, and several times throughout the day; every day.

I had been studying plants as a hobby for years, and had been growing cannabis illegally since 2005 to smoke and occasionally make into edibles. After moving to Colorado in 2014, I began to learn a lot more about growing from other local growers and about cannabis as a medication from other local activists, caregivers, and enlightened doctors. I was filming a movie about families who had to move and relocate from another state to access medical cannabis in Colorado for their children entitled: ‘Illegally Alive’, which you can watch for free with this link.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOn142GAjsU

During the production of the film, I got in touch with Rick Simpson and flew out to Zagreb, Croatia to interview with him in person. While I was out there, we attended a conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia where Rick was speaking. I had to run outside in the middle of the conference to vomit. Rick saw me and said: ‘Mike, you really need to get on this oil brother’.

After getting the kick in the butt I needed from the godfather of cannabis oil himself, I ingested 90 grams in 120 days of high THC oil and cured all my symptoms relating to Crohn’s disease. This first 45 grams I ingested orally, the second 45 grams I took via suppository. Now I only take 1 gram per month as a maintenance dose.

It’s important to note that I never elected to undergo any surgeries. I did not let the doctors mutilate me and remove any organs or other body parts. I also completely changed my diet eliminating all processed foods, sugars, and carbohydrates. If I ingest any of these substances, I will need to take oil to prevent any new symptoms from showing up. I also eliminated as many sources of stress from my life I possibly could.

After curing myself, I decided to share my story publicly on social media. I immediately began to receive hundreds of messages a week from friends and acquaintances of friends. Everybody needed cannabis oil for their brother, mother, sister, daughter, father, grandmother, grandfather, etc…

I decided to get my Caregiver License in Colorado and immediately planted 500 seeds in my basement and began to supply the oil to anyone who asked. I have never turned anyone away since I started making the oil for myself and others started asking for it. I even used to make it for free. I would tell patients if they could bring me the materials and solvent needed to make the oil, then I would make it for them for free and would not charge them for my time or labor.

Mike with his plants in Colorado

To take my activism a step further, I created an activist run and oriented company called: ‘OG Labs’. On my website (www.oglabsgenetics.com) anybody in the world can now reach me and have the oil made and sent discreetly to their doorstep to any state or country in the world. I believe, as the great Thomas Jefferson did, that ‘if a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so.’ I am hoping that by openly offering the oil for sale publicly, that other activists around the world will see what I am doing and feel empowered to stand up and make the oil for patients in need as well.”

Cannabis oil therapy is equally effective in all cases, for it knows no age limit. It can even be given to babies. People who publicly claim to cure cancer are threatened with 5 – 40 years imprisonment, according to laws in North America. Mike says the preparation of this miraculous oil is extremely easy. The standard protocol starts with several drops of cannabis oil three times a day.

“The usual dose I start cancer patients on is 60 grams within 90 days. If the patient has undergone any chemotherapy or radiation they will need much more than 60 grams”, he explains.

“Cannabis is not a miracle drug in the sense that most people think. The cannabis itself doesn’t necessarily cure you; your body heals and cures itself. Cannabis simply triggers this reaction to occur. You see, cannabis works like a key inserted into a lock. Your bodies contain what is known scientifically as CB1 and CB2 receptors spread throughout it’s entire system and on every organ. When cannabis gets into the body and into these CB1 and CB2 receptors it works like a key opening a lock, the receptors then began firing correctly and any imperfections or illnesses which are contained within your body will immediately begin to get healed because these receptors are literally located everywhere within your body.”

“This is significant for 2 reasons,” he continues “cannabis can help to heal or cure nearly any illness or disease because these receptors send signs to your body and organs to begin functioning correctly and to stop misfiring. In the case of cancer, these receptors will tell the body how to identify cancer cells and can help to specifically target and kill them without the use of any harmful or invasive treatments.

The second reason this is important is regarding chemotherapy and radiation specifically. I personally believe that these treatments do more harm than good. There are numerous studies out there stating that more people die from cancer treatments than from the cancer itself. To put it plainly, chemotherapy kills more people than it heals. After treating so many patients with cannabis oil, I began to notice a pattern. Patients who have taken chemotherapy or radiation always require more oil than the standard 60 grams in 90 days.

I know some patients who have taken dozens of chemo sessions, and have now consumed over 350+ grams of oil. They have consumed a lot of oil, and continue to take it today; but they are still alive. They often come to me after the doctors have given up on them, with only weeks to live. Their bodies are extremely frail and damaged. I believe that this is from the chemotherapy.

It is not a targeted treatment. It kills all cells in your body, unlike THC cannabis oil which helps to identify and kill only the cancer cells. This is why patients who are diagnosed with cancer and have not done any chemotherapy or radiation typically need 60 grams in 90 days before switching to a maintenance dose, as opposed to those who have done chemotherapy or radiation. They need more oil because their bodies are far more damaged from both the cancer, and the chemotherapy; as opposed to being damaged by just the cancer itself. Your body needs more oil, and more time to rest and heal from all the damage incurred.”

And, it is never too late for the patient to start cannabis oil therapy. Mike believes that every country in the world should allow their citizens to cultivate and use cannabis for medical purposes. He also points out that pharmacies should be opened for those who can’t cultivate it if they can supply it at fair rate for all people, not just the rich.

“Little is known that cannabis has been used as one of the most healing remedies for hundreds of years before Christ.

In the ancient Persian religious scripts, which among other things describe the most healing herbs, cannabis takes the first place,” concludes Mike.

His biggest wish and goal is to live in a world without cancer where every person can legally cultivate as many cannabis plants as they would like on their property or in their home, and where every person in the world can legally and openly consume cannabis in every place where you can legally smoke tobacco or cigarettes. Until that day comes he tells us that he will continue fighting for our rights to do so.

If you have access to materials and would like to watch his detailed video on how to make it yourself, you can do so here:
https://fb.watch/pauNSt-HqK/

He also hosts a page completely dedicated to cannabis patients on Facebook which can be found here:
www.facebook.com/MikeWiseShow

You can watch Mike’s latest documentary ‘Rick and Me’, which details his healing journey with cannabis oil, for free using the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjeR_J3Z-jQ

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Malawi legalizes cannabis amid hopes of fresh economic growth

Law change hailed by supporters as chance for country to benefit from rising global demand for medicinal cannabis products

Small-scale farmer Itumeleng Tau stands among his cannabis plants in a hothouse in Krugersdorp, South Africa.
Malawi follows in the footsteps of other African countries, including South Africa. Photograph: Denis Farrell/APGlobal

Malawi has passed a bill decriminalising cannabis for medicinal and industrial purposes, almost five years after a motion to legalise industrial hemp was adopted.

The country follows in the footsteps of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Lesotho, neighbouring south-east African states that have legalised medicinal cannabis, as well as South Africa, where medicinal and recreational use was decriminalised in 2018.

“Today is a very glorious day for me personally and, I think, for the entire nation,” said Boniface Kadzamira, the former MP who tabled the topic in 2015, following the successful passage of the bill on Thursday.

The economic potential of the fast-growing global medicinal and industrial cannabis industry has been the main driver of the law change in Malawi. In 2019, the World Bank said Malawi “remains one of the poorest countries in the world despite making significant economic and structural reforms to sustain economic growth”. The national poverty rate was more than 50% in 2016.

While Malawi is famous internationally for its recreational cannabis strain “Malawi Gold”, the bill to legalise medicinal and industrial production faced huge opposition from social and religious conservatives in the country.

“It is my strong view that cannabis will in the long run replace tobacco to become our major cash crop – that will contribute hugely to the GDP,” said Kadzamira, who explained that the industry will create employment opportunities in the farming and industrial sectors.

Agriculture offers employment to nearly 80% of Malawi’s population. Tobacco is the country’s major export, and the global decline in its use has impacted the economy. Malawi’s tobacco industry is also marred by exploitation, as international companies such as British American Tobacco have sought cheap labour – including child labour – and low tariffs on raw tobacco for export.The children labouring in Malawi’s fields for British American TobaccoRead more

“We don’t want to replicate what has happened in the tobacco industry. Malawians should participate, not as tenants, but as equal partners in this new sector,” added Kadzamira, who wants cannabis products to be processed in-country.Advertisement

Cannabis, which can thrive in dry conditions, is a good fit for Malawi’s climate, which has been impacted by the southern African drought.

Invegrow became the first company in Malawi to get government authorisation to conduct research trials on low-THC industrial hemp in 2015. Run by Tanya Clarke, a British entrepreneur, Invegrow completed trials in 2018 and was one of the groups that advised on the draft bill.

Invegrow has processed hemp products such as paper, bricks and cosmetics in Malawi, Clarke said. The next step for the company will involve work with the government to investigate local varieties, as imported seeds were used in the trials.

“There will be lots of people interested and looking at Malawi at the moment, but the next step is to make its investment climate favourable and positive,” said Clarke.

She added that she hopes the medicinal cannabis industry, which is less accessible to local entrepreneurs, will “bring foreign currency and exchange to the country, and that [it] should be done responsibly”.

Clarke said government consultations during the drafting of the bill were inclusive, paving the way for the industry to “open a lot of doors for lots of different kinds of people here”, and stressed the importance of traditional farmers and growers being involved.

Malawi’s Rastafarian community has been among those advocating decriminalisation and contributing to discussions on the draft bill. Though Rastafarians in the country face stigma, attitudes are changing; last month, the country’s high court ruled that dreadlocks must be allowed in school lest Rastafarian children be excluded.

On Thursday evening, Lazarus Kadiwa, 36, was minding his friend’s craft shop in central Lilongwe. “As we Rasta, we make food with ganja, we can make soap with ganja, we can make clothes with ganja, we can make medicines,” he said.

“We’ve been looking for this all these years. It’s our chance to do business with the government, because we need to have our own licences to plant our own ganja,” he added.

Lazarus Kadiwa
Lazarus Kadiwa said Rastafarians would ‘celebrate’ the decriminalisation of cannabis. Photograph: Alice McCool

“People are going to celebrate,” smiled Kadiwa. “Rastas are going to sing and chant and shout, because we know at last we’re going to make something through this healing of a nation, ganja.”

Chatinkha Chidzanja Nkhoma, technical director of Malawi Hemp Association and a prospective cannabis farmer, is also excited for the future. Nkhoma explained that traditionally Malawians have used cannabis to treat illnesses “from fever and smallpox to mental health problems”.

“As a young mother, I was taught to give my baby cannabis when he developed chicken pox,” Nkhoma said. “Hemp will be the new economic frontier, which will greatly benefit Malawians.”

Malawi’s minister for agriculture was not available for comment in time for publication.

Originally published by Alice McCool at: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/feb/28/malawi-legalises-cannabis-amid-hopes-of-fresh-economic-growth

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Project in Morocco combines hemp and solar to go totally off grid

A team of organizations has completed construction of a ground-breaking eco-building in Morocco that combines hemp construction with a high-tech solar energy system for total independence from the electrical grid.

The SUNIMPLANT project, designed as a single-family dwelling, was created as an entrant in the recent “Solar Decathlon” organized by the United States Department of Energy and Morocco’s Centre de recherche en Energie solaire et Energies nouvelles. The biannual international competition challenges teams of students to design and construct solar-powered buildings. The most recent edition was hosted in Ben Guerir, Morocco, the first time the competition has been held on the African continent.

Advanced ‘space ship’

“This ‘space-ship’ is advanced in time and reflects a turn not only in North Africa but in hemp construction, which doesn’t have comparable prototypes anywhere in the world,” said Monika Brümmer, a German architect and natural builder who led the project.

While the building was designed as a stimulus for rural development, the technology also has application in urban settings, Brümmer noted.

Owner at Spain-based Cannabric, Brümmer is also a co-founder of Adrar Nouh (2017), an NGO which promotes the use of indigenous hemp stalk for rural development and sustainable employment in Morocco’s impoverished High Rif. Adrar Nouh was started in 2017 by Brümmer and Abdellatif Adebibe, a Moroccan expert in alternative development in the Rif region.

monika-brummer
Monika Brümmer

The challenge was to create a hemp composite using vegetable-based bio-resins, avoiding technical or synthetic components, Brümmer said. The cylindrical envelope of the circular building, with minimal exposure of the 24 exterior panels, gives interior comfort through optimal damping and thermal phase shift, and osmosis of the components in the hempcrete formulation, Brümmer said.

Nature meets high-tech

Built for around $120,000, the building’s price tag was less than half the cost of the most expensive buildings in the competition. Additional features of the 90 sq. m. SUNIMPLANT building include:

  1. A double skin façade that employs a mixture of hemp, earth, pozzolan and lime, all sourced locally; and bio-composites incorporating hemp technical fibers that were produced via vacuum injection technology.
  2. A spherical, aerodynamic outer skin comprising 24 semi-flexible photovoltaic panels. Sponsored by DAS-Energy, the panels are exposed to all faces for their use of sun and light, with maximum 40% losses.
  3. Curved bio-composite panels made with hemp wool, which increase the performance of the photovoltaic panels by protecting their back side against the weather extremes of the semi-arid region of Ben Guerir, where temperatures reached 42°–46°C (107°– 114°F) in the shade during the construction phase last August and September.
  4. High-performance glass from French glassmaker Saint Gobain.

International cooperation

Brümmer said even greater performance could have been achieved if original plans to install hemp-clay boards for the internal partitions and floors, and other minor modifications, had not been abandoned due to funding constraints.

Adrar Nouh contributed the architectural design, developed the hemp materials and cooperated in the construction of the building. Other participants on the SUNIMPLANT project were Morocco’s National School of Architecture and National School of Applied Sciences, both based in Tetouan, Morocco, and Germany’s Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics.

Originally published by Hemp Today at: https://hemptoday.net/moroco-hempcrete-project/

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All Cannabis Use is Medicinal

Even if the user misidentified it as ‘recreational.’

The medical cannabis movement is sweeping through the nation with such momentum that even conservative legislators are evolving to see the benefits.  All cannabis use appears imminent west of Colorado and north of Virginia while medical cannabis is plowing through the South.  This is exciting news, but we must remain diligent and see this to the end.  There is one phrase that is slowing cannabis law reform; “Recreational Cannabis.”

“Recreational cannabis use” is the most detrimental phrase our industry faces today.

Over half the U.S. population supports “recreational use” of cannabis.  Unfortunately, those whose don’t support recreational use, oppose it vitriolically.  “Recreational cannabis” is exactly what the opposition is fighting to prevent.

The flip side to this is that over 80% of Americans support medical cannabis use and over 85% support freedom in healthcare decisions.  All of these statistics are trending upwards.

In the South, “recreational cannabis use” is a non-starter and a debate that cannot be empirically won.  On the other hand, “medical cannabis use” is a debate we win.  And we don’t need to manipulate our messaging to change the debate, we need only to correctly identify ‘medicinal use.’

Cannabis and The Human Body

Cannabis is imperative to maintaining a healthy body.  Cannabinoid ligands fuel and balance the human endocannabinoid system, a system that regulates the immune system, mood, sleep patterns, appetite, and pain sensation.  Just like vitamins, the human body needs cannabinoids to function properly.  Due to cannabis prohibition, most Americans suffer from endocannabinoid deficiency syndrome.  Endocannabinoid deficiencies manifest themselves in the form of autoimmune diseases, depression, bipolar disorders, neurodegenerative conditions, inexplicable pain, and sleep disorders.

The American Medical Association(AMA) and US Food and Drug Administration(FDA) considers all of these as legitimate medical conditions.  They approve and sell thousands of different drugs developed to treat all of them.

Now, let’s delve into the mind of a ‘recreational’ cannabis user.

Recently, I’ve been interrogating self-proclaimed ‘recreational’ cannabis users to find out what’s so fun about smoking weed.  Their initial answer is always the same; “I don’t know, I just like it.”  But after digging with some questions, it always turns out the same.

Recreational cannabis users are using cannabis for medical purposes, they just don’t realize it.

Here are the post prodding answers and the medical condition that the ‘recreational user’ is treating using cannabis.  I’ve also added common drugs and medications that are the AMA and FDA’s more popular treatments.

“It makes me relax.” – Anxiety.  Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, Prozac, Cymbalta, Wellbutrin, and the generics.

“It helps me sleep.” – Sleep disorder/Anxiety. Ambien, Lunesta, Unisom, Nyquil

“It calms me down.” – ADHD/Anxiety – Ritalin, Adderall, Vyvanse

“It helps me think.” ADHD – see above

“It helps my stomach calm down.” GI, IBS, IBD. Pepto, Pepcid, Prilosec, I don’t know the RX drugs for this.

“It helps me talk to people.” Social anxiety – Alcohol

“It makes spending time with my spouse more fun.” – Sexual dysfunction/Anxiety. Viagra, Cialis, that new female viagra.

These are all medicinal applications.

I encourage all “recreational” cannabis users to reevaluate their use.  If there is a prescription or over-the-counter drug designed to treat something that cannabis helps you with, that’s medical use.  If they sell something at GNC or Vitamin World that cannabis helps you with, that’s medical use.  You may not use these other medications because you already know that cannabis is a superior treatment, you just didn’t realize it.

Our society defines recreationally using a drug or medicine as “abuse.”  Exclaiming that you use any drug recreationally is the first step into a 12 step.  If you still don’t think that your cannabis use is medicinal, please call it ‘therapeutic’ so that you don’t look like an addict and hinder the entire movement.  When we have medical, I promise that you’ll be able to find a doctor that will write you a recommendation.

Originally published by Daniel Macris at: https://halcyonorganics.com/all-cannabis-use-is-medical/

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Justice for The Wisdom’s

My activism probably wouldn’t have gone the direction it did, if it were not for my eye opening, and empowering experience, volunteering at Adela Wisdom’s 420 POW booth at Seattle Hempfest in 2015. I had just relocated to Washington state from Southern California, the month prior. Up to that point, my biggest focus in activism was safe access for medical cannabis patients in Apple Valley, California, where dispensaries had been banned. 

Adela and Aaron Wisdom

Before my volunteer experience with POW 420, I was completely clueless to the fact that prisons across the nation house an extremely large number of non-violent “criminals” serving time, many life, over a completely non-toxic healing plant. It is with great sadness that I am now writing about the injustice Adela, and her husband Aaron, are currently facing. 

Adela has been a judicial reform advocate/activist for nearly 20 years. Her activism has reached worldwide, speaking in many different countries, and advocating for real judicial change at The United Nations. She has written to over 1000 POW 420’s, and has done 3 prison interviews. Not only does Adela believe that no one should be caged for Cannabis, she has walked the talk, helping and educating many. 

Adela and Aaron Wisdom are both judicial reform advocates, and small farmers, residing in Callaway county Missouri. Both husband and wife, are running for political office. Aaron is a candidate for Lt. Govenor. Adela is a candidate for US Representative 3rd District of Missouri. Days after announcing their candidacy, The Wisdom’s were raided. On September 17, 2019, their home was searched by the Sheriff’s department looking for cannabis, and other items related to cultivation, drug trafficking, drug sales, and drug use. Law Enforcement did not find what they were looking for in what seems to have been a politically motivated raid. 

A little after 8:00 am, early June 2020, a National Guard helicopter flew over the Wisdom’s farm. Using a telescopic lens, noxious Cannabis was seen on the Wisdom’s property. From the air, they also observed Aaron and Adela burning weeds. Missouri Dept of Agriculture lists Cannabis Sativa  L as a noxious weed. The Oxford dictionary defines noxious weed as a weed which is considered to be harmful to the environment or animals, especially one which may be the subject of regulations governing attempts to control it. 

The observation of the noxious weed, along with the legally required destruction of it, made Law Enforcement feel justified in conducting a warrantless search. Plain clothed officers showed up to the Wisdom’s property, wearing ski masks, and did not identify themselves. Adela had a gun pointed at her face, by a man who she did not know the intentions of, or why he was on their property. Both Aaron and Adela were arrested. They face a decade in prison each for the victimless crime of having 22 wild growing noxious weed plants growing on their property, and destroying them per Missouri law. The raid was carried out by both the Mustang Task Force and local Law Enforcement. At any time, these charges could become Federal charges. 

Seems to me it is pretty clear that the current powers that be in Missouri, feel threatened by Adela and Aaron’s candidacy for political office. Missouri currently has over 7,000 rape kits sitting on shelves, collecting dust, untested. There is no funding to process those rape kits and get violent rapists off the streets, yet somehow funding is always available to investigate and prosecute people over a plant. I say: No Victim No Crime. 

The consequences of unjust Cannabis laws are always about more than just a loss of freedom. For Aaron and Adela it has put a halt on the child adoption process they were in. Due to the ongoing investigation, they cannot pass an FBI background check. Adela has had her chances at motherhood taken from her. A baby in need of a loving, stable home with courageous, compassionate parents, who actively make this world a better place, had that opportunity lost.  

Long time Wisdom family friend Victoria Hughes was asked about what kind of people the Wisdom’s are. “Adela has turned personal tragedies into a passion for helping others who are struggling. She has a way of bringing hope to people who have often been forgotten by society” Victoria shared. “Aaron is a very hard-working gentle soul. He goes out of his way to take care of others around him. I watched him prepare meals daily to take to their 80 year old Veteran neighbor, without asking for anything in return.”

Callaway County, the state of Missouri, nor the World will be any bit safer by having Adela and Aaron locked in prison for 10 years. In my opinion, it would actually be a disservice to all of humanity to have The Wisdom’s incarcerated. They need our help. 

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Martin Luther King Jr 

*Write a letter to Judge Carol England asking she drop all charges against Aaron and Adela. Please be polite. A template, or sample letter is available on Adela s website. 
https://www.adelawisdom.com/call_to_action


*Write up a “Drop all charges against Adela and Aaron” sign. Take a photo with your sign and email to itskckush@gmail.com. Photos will be arranged into collages, and sent to the court, in support of Aaron and Adela. 

Originally written by By Kerry Cannon for cannabisactivismnow.com

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Raid on family farm reflects Sweden’s regressive approach to hemp

Stakeholders say the recent raid at a family hemp farm in Sweden reflects lingering ignorance among authorities that is holding back the sector in Scandinavia’s biggest market of 10 million consumers.

Michael Henell and crew at Magic Herb, Öland, Sweden

“The whole thing is probably about ignorance on the part of the police as they must have mistaken the industrial hemp for marijuana and therefore destroyed the cultivation,” Michael Henell said of law enforcement on the island of Öland, where Henell and his family operate Magic Herb, a boutique hemp company that grows and sells hemp buds and products based on extracts.

Henell said police raided his legal hemp business unannounced Aug. 13 while he and and his family were away on vacation, destroying his small hemp crop and, armed with a search warrant, seizing finished products that were stored in the family’s home.

‘No excuse’

It is legal to grow certified varieties of hemp in Sweden under permitting by the Swedish Board of Agriculture.

“I have triple checked that all papers are correct for the cultivation. We have had hemp for several years and it has never been a problem,” said Henell, who had approval of both local administrators and the national agriculture board for a hemp grow of about 1,000 plants that he was cultivating both outdoors and in a greenhouse.

Henell believes ignorance is no excuse. “It is utterly damning that the police can come and destroy our life’s work, for which we have shed blood, sweat and tears. Our entire annual harvest has now been destroyed by the police,” he said.

Prejudice lingers

Swedish authorities’ prejudice against hemp is rooted in aggressive national anti-cannabis campaigns carried out in the 1970s and ’80s, according to David Appelgren, Chairman of the Swedish Hemp Association, a 200-member strong group that advocates for the sector.

David Appelgren, Chairman, Swedish Hemp Association [Photo by: Crelle]

“Slowly, we’re turning. Most youth understand hemp is a regular thing, and even older people are using CBD,” said Appelgren, who tours Sweden educating about hemp. “But they’ve been pushing this agenda for 40 years,” he said of anti-cannabis elements in the country. “It’s still in the culture and hard to get rid of.”

Little grown

Hemp barely registers in Swedish agriculture. Modern-era records that date to 2004 show 150 hectares were under hemp that year. By 2007, hemp fields had grown to 829 hectares, but then started to decline. A total of 170 hectares were cultivated this year, according to government statistics. Appelgren estimates there are about 150 hemp operators in Sweden, most of which are small family businesses like Henell’s.

Hemp grown in Sweden since 2004, in hectares

The sector has survived only because of court cases that went against the government, both Henell and Appelgren said. Most notable, hemp farmer Ulf Hammarsten received damages from the Swedish state after his hemp crop was repeatedly destroyed by authorities. EU officials found in Hammarsten’s favor in 2003, ruling that national legislation prohibiting the cultivation and possession of industrial hemp was incompatible with the “common organization of markets” under EU law.

Swedish hemp history

Hemp is in Sweden’s history, archeologists have found, with cultivation generally presumed to have begun in sometime in the second half of the first century AD, as indicated by pollen records. Finds of seeds demonstrate that the plant was locally cultivated and processed during that epoch.

Hemp fiber is also revealed in subfossil remains found at Lindängelund in the region of Malmö, signalling the earliest evidence of hemp retting in Scandinavia discovered so far. Experts also have said they found evidence of small scale fiber processing in settlements through 400 AD. Remains of hemp later found in lake sediments indicate that the retting of hemp eventually relocated from settlements to lakes shores, where processing became larger in scale and more integrated into the agricultural system of the time.

Originally published by Hemp Today at: https://hemptoday.net/raid-on-family-farm-reflects-swedens-regressive-approach-to-hemp/

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The Injustice of Peggy & Glenn and How I Helped keep Them Free

Halloween night 2017, an act of compassion quickly turned into a 2 year and 9 month long living nightmare for one Ohio family. Glenn Keeling had a friend in need of cannabis, so he gifted his friend 2 grams of cannabis concentrate. Not too long after the friend drove away from the Kimmel-Keeling residence, he was pulled over by law enforcement. That’s when this good deed became a crime. 

Despite the fact that Medical Cannabis was legal in Ohio, law enforcement set their sights on Glenn Keeling. He led the first ever Global Marijuana March in Ohio. Glenn also ran for political office in his town as an open medical cannabis patient. He and his wife Peggy, had began a NORML chapter in their area. Law Enforcement’s attention on this family was no doubt, politically motivated. They were seeking to make an example out of Glenn in corrupt Mercer county Ohio, and had long been doing surveillance on his family’s home.

 
 “I smell marijuana”, the 3 words law enforcement officers often use as probable cause. Those 3 words were said to the friend, when he was pulled over after leaving Glenn and Peggy’s home. The friend fully cooperated with the officer, including naming Glenn as the source of where his cannabis concentrate came from. Later that night, police officers arrived at the Kimmel- Keeling residence. The husband and wife, both being legal patients with a doctors recommendation, thought the misunderstanding could be cleared up by cooperating with the officers. They quickly found out differently. The officers had no interest in seeing Glenn or Peggy’s  doctor signed recommendations.  Their home was immediately raided. What was discovered by officers, was a legal supply of cannabis for 2 patients, along with a teenage girls craft supplies, the officers assumed was for making cannabis edibles. The officers decided that despite medical cannabis being legal in Ohio, not  yet having operating dispensaries, made patients criminals. 


Glenn was arrested that night. His wife Peggy was charged at a later date. Their daughter had to get out of bed, to leave her home for the night, to stay with her adult brother. Multiple charges were brought against Peggy and Glenn. Each faced over 50 years in prison. Peggy and Glenn were both allowed to continue treating their health conditions with cannabis, per their bond conditions. That was a first in Ohio.

Unfortunately, this family did not initially have local support outside of their family. I became aware of this injustice, while scrolling Facebook one day. Peggy had reached out for help in ‘The International Cannabis Patients Wall’ Facebook group. I reached out to Peggy to learn more about what was happening to her family. Not only did she tell her side of the story, but she also provided proof to back up everything she said. One of the charges that hit me right in the heart, was child endangerment. I read the letter Peggy provided from the CPS caseworker. In less than 1 month, CPS completed their investigation, with the determination that Peggy’s teenage daughter (Glenn’s stepdaughter) was safe in the family home and should remain in her parents care. Yet overzealous Mercer County Ohio Prosecutor Matt Fox, persisted with child endangerment charges, as well as many other bogus charges, in an attempt to prosecute and persecute this couple. 


I personally believe that no one, anywhere, with any amount of a healing non-toxic plant should face criminal charges. No Victim, No Crime. The only victims I saw in all this, was a family at risk of being torn apart. I knew I had to do something to help. 


I began a public awareness campaign via social media. Making many more aware of this injustice was step 1. A call to action to call the prosecutors office, to politely ask that all charges against Peggy and Glenn be dropped, was put out shortly after. Many people had made this phone call. Some had telephone conversations with Mr. Fox. The prosecutor told numerous people that the full story wasn’t being told. Sadly some believed that tax dollars wouldn’t be wasted if there was no serious crime, and refused to support this family. It felt like Matt Fox was playing a game, with the arrogance of assuming he’d win.

With all of the details of Peggy and Glenn’s cases being public, I printed up both dockets from the courts website, took to social media in a live video, read all of the charges, showed all of the proof Peggy had provided, compared Ohio law, and proved to many of the doubters, that at most the punishment should have been a small fine. That helped public support really pick up. Throughout this time, I was also collecting photos from all across the country, and the globe, of people holding a handwritten “Drop All Charges Against Peggy and Glenn” sign. I arranged these hundreds of photos into collages. Those photo collages were sent into the court, and added to both of their case files.

Unfortunately, all the stress that came with this long, drawn out legal nightmare, resulted in increased health issues for Peggy. The stress was literally killing her. Glenn came to the conclusion that he needed to take a plea deal, accept whatever consequences Judge Ingraham decided, so that his wife may live. I have much respect for Glenn for making such a loving decision. The stress had taken it’s toll on his health as well. He did what any honorable man would do, he put his wife above himself.

 
The day to sign the plea deal came. Glenn and Peggy both signed deals. They were instructed to check in with their probation officer before the court date for sentencing. I was very pleased to learn that at the meeting with their probation officer, Peggy and Glenn learned they had their probation officer’s support. I was later told that their probation officer was aware of the ‘Keep Peggy And Glenn Free’ photo collages, as well as a petition I wrote on their behalf. Officer Gross asked Peggy and Glenn to have me email him everything, so he could make sure Judge Ingraham sees them. One Monday morning, I sent the emails. Mr. Gross replied quickly, that he was already printing the photos up and thanked me. I thanked him for his help as well. 


Although I have yet to meet Peggy and Glenn in person, nor ever stepped foot into Ohio, I have much love for them and their family. While working on behalf of ending their family’s injustice, I watched them still do all they could do to help others, despite their struggles. I got to know amazing people, who I now consider family.

 
After 2 years and 9 months this family’s nightmare came to an end. July 27, 2020 was sentencing day. Peggy was facing 84 months in prison, 10 years suspended drivers license, and $17,000 in fines. Glenn faced 90 months in prison, 15 years suspended drivers license, and $37,000 in fines. During the hearing, Judge Ingraham held up a binder of photo collages, mentioning I had sent them in to the court. Peggy and Glenn both escaped prison time. They were sentenced to 5 years probation each. Neither had their drivers licenses suspended, and the mandatory fines were waived. What a huge relief for their entire family. One of the great things that comes from the outcome of their cases, is the precedent now set. It can, and will help other medical cannabis patients in Ohio, that may find themselves in a similar situation. 


Public support matters. We all have the power to make a difference. Together we have the power to make a greater difference and a real change. Be the change you wish to see. Stand against injustice. Even if we are not directly affected, we are all indirectly affected. My work made a difference, only because of each and every person who took action with me.   I greatly appreciate all who did. 


Written by: Kerry Cannon aka “KC Kush” exclusively for cannabisactivismnow.com

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How The Cannabis Industry Actually Stifles Innovation And Causes Higher Prices For Patients

When many people hear the words ‘cannabis industry’ they often think of a utopian world where legalization in America applies to everyone and nobody will ever go to jail for growing, possessing, or selling cannabis.

While this may be true for the ultra rich capitalist class of people in America who can afford to pay over a million dollars for a legal cannabis license, it is not true for the majority of us hard working Americans who just want to put some food on our table and smoke a joint or take a dab after a long day of work.

As an activist in Colorado, I learned some interesting things that you won’t see in High Times, NowThis, or any other for-profit corporate media conglomerate. They are only interested in getting money from their rich sponsors, who are only interested in numbers of viewers. The more eyeballs, the more the media company can charge advertisers. This is why they publish sensationalist viral garbage over and over, they seek to appeal to the lowest common denominator and will promote any company who gives them money to do so.

In Colorado, We The People were able to pass a referendum that legalized cannabis for personal use and home growing. As soon as we voted on our own proposed amendment to the Colorado constitution and it passed, politicians in conjunction with cannabis business owners immediately began to roll back our progress and began stripping our newly appointed rights away with dozens of new laws, regulations, and restrictions which hurt patients and only benefited the big business cannabis companies who donated to those politicians to restrict our rights.

While a few of the more ‘daring’ or ‘independent’ media out there might slightly mention what I just described, they will NEVER talk about the main point of this article; how the cannabis industry actually stifles innovation and causes higher prices for patients.

In the capitalist world, everything hinges on one basic concept: ‘intellectual property’. Intellectual property refers to intangible property that is the result of creativity, such as patents, copyrights, etc. Capitalists use intellectual property to justify charging a higher price for their product. Typically this will be done through words and phrases along the lines of: ‘our product was created with a special formula by scientists using a very technical, very expensive machine’… When in reality this product, or one extremely similar, can be made yourself at home quite easily. The capitalist business man, who we will now refer to as the vulgar economist, does not want you to know that you can do this yourself at home because that would hurt his profits. If you can make this, he can’t make money off you buying that product or service from him. So he protects his ideas (which he learned from someone else) by strict intellectual property laws and by deceptively keeping that information from the public.

When we are talking about using cannabis for medical use, keeping vital information that can improve a patient’s outlook and life is not only immoral but is down right destructive. Let’s take the case of Charlotte’s Web, (although every company in the cannabis industry is guilty of this unless they are completely open, transparent, and show the entire process behind how and what is used to make their product).

When Charlotte’s Web came out, nearly every magazine and news station in America carried a story about it and it’s ‘miraculous health benefits’. The company did nothing special to make this product. They simply got a strain from another grower, or created their own which is not hard to do yourself. They then hid any information about what this strain was, so that patients could not grow this strain themselves. Their only option was being forced to purchase products from the vulgar economist made from the strain at the highest price the market allows. If the corporate board members instead would have released the information that ‘Charlotte’s Web’ is pretty much the same thing as the strain ‘R4’, then thousands of patients could have easily have grown this plant at home and maybe then because of the massive increase in moms and dads growing for their epileptic children maybe we could actually achieve a true legalization in America in which all prohibition laws are repealed and we can all grow, sell, and process cannabis instead of just the rich friends of politicians.

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The Plant War Rages On….

June 5, 2020 two women on a road trip from Colorado to North Dakota, stop to take a picture of the sunset in South Dakota. This wasn’t a typical road trip. One of the woman was fleeing from her rapist. While the woman were stopped on the side of the highway, for a moment of solitude & beauty, a state trooper stopped to check on their well being. Their quest for safety quickly turned into a nightmare. 

Jennifer Ter Doest consumes Cannabis to treat her severe anxiety and depression. In January of this year, she was able to replace all of her pharmaceutical drugs with Cannabis. It has led Jennifer to an improved quality of life. She says she’s now balanced, steady, alert and actually wants to do things, instead of just existing. 
   

Jennifer was visiting Colorado and considering a move there from Oregon. After just a few days in Colorado, she became the victim of a sexual assault. Jennifer and a friend gathered all of her belongings quickly, loaded her car, and began their  quest to safety in North Dakota, after the assault. Jennifer and her husband are separated, but own a home together in North Dakota. She has family and friends who are military and law enforcement there, who she knew would keep her safe, and help her through this difficult time. 
 

On the side of I-29 in South Dakota, the state trooper who stopped to check on the women, asked who had the marijuana, after learning they just stopped to take a sunset photo. The trooper asked Jennifer and her friend to step outside of the car. They complied. Jennifer stood outside barefoot with heat blisters on her feet. While one trooper searched her car, another conducted a field sobriety test on Jennifer, aware of her blistered bare feet. She was informed that she was facing 4 felony and 1 misdemeanor charge. Jennifer was arrested for paraphernalia, possession of Marijuana, possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to distribute, and possession of Marijuana 2 oz to less than 1/2 lb. She reported the sexual assault she was a victim of in Colorado to the trooper. 
 

What was found to warrant this arrest?  In Jennifer’s vehicle were empty drams she had collected from her budtender days in Oregon, and saved to recycle. There were also 2 bowls, a bong, a nectar collector, less than 1/2 oz of concentrate, and even less flower. 
 

A South Dakota State Trooper took Jennifer to Millbank Hospital. The staff there was instructed to do a drug screen, blood draw and rape kit. The unprepared hospital didn’t have a single rape kit that was not expired. While calls were being made to locate a rape kit for Jennifer, she was instructed by a nurse to do a Urine Analysis. She spoke up about doing a sterile wipe of her vagina, removing evidence for the rape kit, but was told to do it anyway. After Jennifer was released from the hospital, transported to the police station, she was then taken back to the hospital. The staff at Millbank had to do a video conference call with a hospital in Sioux Falls to complete the rape kit. 
 

Across the nation, there is an extremely large number of rape kits sitting on shelves, collecting dust, unprocessed. It boggles my mind that victimless Cannabis “crimes” are what Law Enforcement chooses to waste their time and resources on. When there is no victim, there is no crime. Sexual offenders give their victims a life sentence from the trauma they’re forced to endure.  Law Enforcement across the nation is obviously more concerned with a healing plant, than actual crimes. Their funding is usually dependent upon it. We The People should demand that our hard earned tax dollars stop being used for the plant war, and start being used to get actual criminals off our streets.

Please contact your elected representatives about this matter, it can make all the difference in this case. I met Jennifer at a rest stop, while traveling on the Canna Bus not so long before this horrific experience of hers. After noticing her “Prohibition still doesn’t work” bumper sticker on her car, I struck up a conversation. She is a lovely, intelligent, compassionate woman.  She posed with my Free Lance Gloor sign for a photo that will be sent to The White House, to help with the effort to release Lance from an unjust 10 year Federal prison sentence for legal medical Cannabis in Washington state. Now she needs our help. 

Written by: Kerry Cannon