Old School Politics
And so it begins, Season Two of The Canna Mom Show. Not something I could have predicted even though I stopped trying to predict my future a long time ago.
There was a time when I knew how my future would look - who my community would be - the purpose of my life.
Turns out I was wrong.
It’s surprising what a girl can do with a some confidence, a good education and bottomless persistence. I’ve tried many different ways to optimize my time and talents since becoming a mother, sadly most didn’t really work out. There was even a time that I wanted to be a politician, it’s true. I ran old-fashioned campaigns, full of door knocking, face-to-face communication and personal connections. But after losing – twice - I walked away from the political game with some hard earned wisdom and a great cocktail-party story about my eleven-year old campaign manager, Zev.
After that experience I finally understood the truth of the adage that whatever I believe there is someone who believes the exact opposite. But I know that sometimes one person is just wrong. The problem is determining who it is.
Belief is one thing and success is another. I think the reason I failed so often at so many different endeavors is because I’m a leader still searching for her followers. We all know that politicians are followers held up as leaders. They follow us, we do not follow them. So running for office didn’t really work out for me, and neither did law or factory work. But I understand the importance of law and policy because I’ve lived a bit and have seen the world from many different perspectives.
The dearth of good politicians at every level of government is hurting everyone, really, and the cannabis industry specifically. In every segment of the emerging industry from small businesses to farmers, and from bankers to product developers, bad laws and ridiculous policies are hurting everyone except the lawyers!
Truthfully, I’m an advocate at heart and spend most of my time caring for others and trying to add value to this world. In Season Two I’m advocating for cannabis truth and adding value with my micro-leadership as a podcast host.
In this era of alternative facts and intentional lies, it’s crazy to me that we continue to play the linguistic game with the healing powers of cannabis. In order to market the products to the people in our communities who need it most for pain and anxiety and sleep, we need to pretend that the endocannabinoid system (ECS) doesn’t exist and that these products don’t really “heal” but may “help.” It’s like pretending we humans don’t have bones or blood or nervous systems.
I’m done with that bullshit.
The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is being studied in labs and academic institutions where the science is proving that our politics around cannabis are wrong. And just because the American politicians who are making the rules don’t know what the ECS is, that doesn’t mean it’s not real.
The difference between saying a product treats a symptom as opposed to curing a specific ailment is enormous. But for now and until our politicians catch up to the people, medical professionals and business in the cannabis industry, America will remain stuck in a patchwork of bad laws and misguided policies burdened by political beliefs that differ not just from state to state, but often from county to county and town by town, burdening the ability of this industry to grow efficiently and heal us and our communities. This could be clarified with politicians willing to step up, acknowledge the farce of criminalization and fix what is broken.
I’ve observed that sometimes the absence of the negative isn’t so much positivity as normalcy, and we all just want end the negative demonization of this plant and allow it to be just another plant in the medicinal tool box.
Normal.
Because I am not a cannabis compliant company that hopes to go public and therefore must be very careful with my words, I can tell you the truth.
Cannabis can treat ailments ranging from anxiety to turrets and seizures to insomnia. How, do you ask, could one plant do all that? Because the cannabinoids and terpenes of cannabis work with our bodies to reduce inflammation and keeps us in homeostasis. In addition, cannabis can bring the personalization of medication into reality. We are all looking for relief in these stressful times and cannabis is waiting to heal us.
We live in a time of alternative facts, outright lies and literal fantasies. Yet Americans are not allowed to speak about the curing capacities of something that is very, very real.
The ECS is both real and powerful, so we must demand that our politicians stop playing this dangerous game of “believing” in cannabis and move forward toward understanding and appreciating what it is offering us. Medicine. Science. Health.
I know that a promise made and not kept is upsetting. But this is a promise I can keep.
If you want to really understand cannabis and why it works for so many symptoms we humans suffer, you should connect with Amy Chin’s site, Calm Better Days. She explains with beautifully clear language why it’s important to listen to what our body is telling us, and how cannabinoids can help us prevent intense tension from exploding in us. After you hear her speak you will understand how a cannabinoid deficiency can be dangerous and why replenishing cannabinoids is necessary for good health.
Repetition works, so say it again and again until you believe and find the voice to tell your elected official to follow our lead and do everything in his or her power to end the era of prohibition once and for all so we can all begin healing in 2021.
Cannabis is a plant.
Cannabis should never have been criminalized.
Cannabis can heal.
Let’s all practice a little old-school politics and spread the gospel of cannabis through face-to-face communication, personal connections and, if you want, some good old-fashioned door-knocking.