The Constitutional Rights of Patients and Medical Marijuana

The Constitutional Rights of Patients and Medical Marijuana

The Hemp Connection: Celebrate and Honor Flag Day by Re-Legalizing Cann...

The Hemp Connection: Celebrate and Honor Flag Day by Re-Legalizing Cann...: "Happy Flag Day! If you don't know what Flag Day is, please let us share some of the History behind it and why I ask each of you today ..."

In Reference to My Chaotic Companion...

Phone Calls Received. To Ease Nerves, This posting has nothing to do with how I am feeling at this moment. This is a Post about My Chatoic Companion ( Bipolar ).. This is to express feelings..Personal experiences might be present in my writing and some are in the past tense. It may be dark to some but I never said it was Beautiful.. Not to Worry.. Its always better to let it out than hold it in.. No matter how painful it may be or appear..

Thanks for Caring & Lots of Love .....

Pot Dealer's Tragic Choice Ended in Death | Video - ABC News

Pot Dealer's Tragic Choice Ended in Death Video - ABC News
MUST SEE VIDEO.. This is Our Governments ( WAR ON DRUGS ).. To Keep Us Safe...

My Chaotic Companion...

That’s funny. You don’t look Bipolar.

Just rode the waves of emotional highs and lows and didn't think much about it.

Imagine waking up one morning and saying to yourself: That's it. I am done.

Today is the day to end it all. Be careful...

If you say it too loud and people hear you, they'll think you're crazy

and lock you in a mental asylum.

Then again, were all a little crazy at times. Aren't we?

My Manic Episode.

              My extreme high.

In my manic periods, I feel as though I am flying, effortlessly getting through the day. The feeling of being invincible with no second thought of all the destructive things I am doing. Body feels charged with energy, I can forget about trying to sleep, so insomnia sets in when my mind needs rest the most. Talking rapidly and forcefully without finishing my sentences, and constantly interrupting others. Time seems to go by twice as fast as usual. Thoughts racing through my mind as if you are tiring to listen to several conversations at once. A struggle just to deal with people, Pacing around and can not focus or concentrate on a simple task. Agitation and frustration starts to set in. Like a ticking time bomb ready to explode at any given moment. A simple comment or question aimed towards me makes its worse, I scream back. WHAT!! Without even recognizing how I just reacted. The guilt begins to set in; I know it’s not really me acting that way, then anger towards myself for not being able to have control over it. I lose my appetite and begin feeling depressed and ashamed.

My symptoms are dynamic and occur in clusters of changing intensity. Sometimes mania dominates, sometimes depression, and I have no way of knowing which it will be or for how long. A day to day struggle, I received a life sentence and can’t understand why.

Soon I lose control of my moods and sensations.

I hear imaginary muffled voices and tunes. Tears may flow regardless of how I feel. As my thoughts continue to race, I lose my ability to concentrate and become extremely anxious—an anxiety that may turn into either pleasure or rage. I feel all-powerful at one moment and suicidal the next.

 I make plans and promises that I will not even remember at the end of the day.

Eventually depression takes over. I become so physically ill that I am too weak to function. I ache all over. The world seems drab and dull. I want nothing to do with other people, and I feel as though my presence is a burden to them. I do not even want to answer the phone or go to the door. I cannot carry on a conversation, because everything people are saying to me seems like a cruel attack.

Activities that usually bring pleasure seem foreign to me. I am overwhelmingly anxious and feel as though I have never done anything right in my life. I am also extremely indecisive; a simple task like getting out of bed and taking a shower takes all morning to plan and complete.  

Just when I think the agony cannot possibly get worse, it does. It seems as though it is never going to end. It is as if there is no future, no present, and no past—an eternal void. My mind and body are ravished by these constant shifts in mood.

My mind races, feeling of anger and hopelessness and then it considers suicide.

The Hanging.

 The flashbacks keep coming back they won’t go away.  The thought of dealing with this for another day.. Why? Sitting on the couch while the Tears slowing falling off my checks, the images won’t stop no matter how loud the screams are coming from inside of me. Pacing the kitchen floor, pulling at fist full of hair. I begin to argue with my own mind. I am incapable of controlling it, full of rage, Yelling at it for it to stop. The voices get louder while images appear.

I receive step by step images like an instruction manual.

Step one: Get a rope..  Crying, Searching all over the house for rope, but I have to be quiet my family is asleep and we don’t want to wake them. Ok no rope.. Wait just unplug the phone and use the cord. Standing there with the cord wrapped around each fist pulling to make sure it would not break, I look up and see the light fixture, grabbing a chair standing on my tippy toes while tying one end of the cord to the fixture and the other end around my neck, the tears were flowing faster down my cheeks as I said my sorry and goodbyes to my family.

 Ok kick the chair.  The cord tightens around my neck and all I could do is gasp for air and kick. I start to feel light headed everything goes black..  Finally Peace and quiet, no more racing thoughts, no more voices can be heard. An amazing feeling comes over me as it has been what I been searching for all these years.

  As I opened my eyes and everything is a blur, trying to focus on someone sitting next to me. Asking what was going on since my memory was in a fog, a voice responded back you are in the hospital; I found you hanging in the kitchen and had to cut you down. I suddenly recognized the voice of my husband. I can tell he was pissed by the tone of his voice. I hear.. Why did you do that? What the hell were you thinking? No matter how many questions were asked I just stared at him, there were too many emotions going on to explain. Like he would understand anyways.. I wanted to yell (why didn’t you leave me there) it was going to be over with. I would not have had to go through one more day like this, but my anger quickly changes as I looked at him and can see the pain that I just caused. Then quickly the thought of my kids raced through my mind. The feeling of being ashamed overpowers me for what I just done. Too late for apologies as I am untied for thee hospital bed and strapped into a stray jacket and sent to a mental hospital. Now under control of doctors I am feed multiply drugs and become into a zombie state with no emotions or thoughts of my own..

I get a funny feeling
that comes from deep inside
I get all mad and angry
wanting to go and hide

Doctors call it an illness
some people think it's just me
But the thoughts and feelings
no one are able to see

Some say your psycho

Some say your just weird
It's like I'm a different person
and the old me just disappeared

Thoughts are racing, body is tired

Soul is fragile, scared and dead

Sick of hearing it’s all in your head

Wishing there was help
 Wish it would just go away
Maybe if I keep praying real hard
it will some day

Harsh words & violent blows
Hidden secrets nobody knows
Eyes are open, hands are fisted
Deep inside

I'm warped & twisted
So many tricks & so many lies
Too many when’s & too many whys
Nobody's special, nobody's gifted
I'm just me

Warped & twisted
Sleeping awake & choking on a dream
Listening loudly to a silent scream
Call my mind, the numbers unlisted
Lost in someone

So warped & twisted
On my knees, alive but dead
Look at the invisible blood I've bled
I'm not gone, my mind has drifted
Don't expect much

From someone so warped & twisted
Burnt out, wasted, empty & hollow
Today is just yesterday's… tomorrow
The sun died out, the ashes sifted
I'm still here, warped & twisted

Can't you see
That you are not wired like me

You will never know
This monster inside of me
All the ugliness I see

YOU say is not there

Those of you

Who are not like me
Are blind, you see

You

Who are just not wired like me

Failed D.A.R.E Program

 As parents, caregivers and other important adults in the lives of young people, we know talking with our children about drugs is an important responsibility. However, many of us question the wisdom of the “just say no” anti-drug messages that does not fit with the complex lives our children lead. We as parents must make it be known to our kids that no matter what… they can have an open and honest conversation with us.

 Putting safety first requires that we provide our young people with credible information and resources. We also need to teach our children how to identify and handle problems with alcohol and other drugs—if and when they occur—and how to get help and support.

 Parents and educators need to abandon these failed anti-drug programs based on scare tactics, misinformation and zero-tolerance policies, and instead, focus on engaging youth in Open and honest discussions about drugs and the risks associated with drug use.  Effective drug education requires an interactive environment in which students feel free to ask questions and raise concerns, without fear of judgment or punishment. Students need and deserve effective education and counseling that provide accurate, non-judgmental, science-based information about drugs.

 Educators should produce an atmosphere of trust with their students to discuss questions or concerns they may have and the harms associated with drug use, not try to scare them into abstinence by bringing in the police. When schools identify students with substance use problems, they should provide special assistance and counseling to these young people and engage them in restorative practices

 No parent wants his or her child to use drugs. We urge young people to avoid alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, but national surveys show us that substance use is common among high school students and most young people accept it as part of teenage social life.  If we ignore the reality of teen drug use and fail to provide young people with honest, informative drug education, we increase their risk of falling into abusive and dangerous patterns.

 We need reality-based approaches to drug education at home and in school that have open and honest dialogue around the risks and consequences of drug use.  Students need drug education that respects their intelligence and gives them the tools to stay safe and healthy. Clearly, students, parents, and educators need to work together to address the problems that drug abuse presents to schools and communities. Drug education programs should help students make safe and sensible lifestyle decisions.

Currently, the largest such program is the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program. Without a doubt it had good intentions, and even though it has been called ineffective by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of the Surgeon General, National Academy of Sciences, and Government. The science shows that D.A.R.E. is not effective in achieving its stated goal of reducing student drug abuse.

Perhaps it should be no wonder that this program would be doomed to failure. It is built on fear and distrust between students, parents, educators, doctors, and law enforcement As those of us know, who went through it, the D.A.R.E program employs uniformed police officers – not health care professionals – to teach students about drugs. Rather than providing students with science-based information about drugs, the students are scared with horror stories about drug addiction. They are told to avoid drugs because of the legal and disciplinary consequences of their use, by the same people who will send them to jail if they are caught. 

 It undermines the open relationship necessary for students to ask candid questions about drugs or their drug problems for fear that they might be reported to law enforcement authorities. 

It has taught the youth to be afraid to speak openly with there doctors, educators, and parents about drugs fear of being incarcerated, and shows distrust towards our law enforcement.

The D.A.R.E abstinence-only approach fails to effectively reach students who have used or are at high risk of using drugs. It doesn’t provide a fallback strategy for students who don’t “just say no.” This flawed program can’t be improved by making superficial changes to its curriculum and calling it “New D.A.R.E.” The federal governments $120 million a year anti-drug ad campaign has repeatedly been shown to be a failure in encouraging young people to stay away from drugs. In addition the federal government has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on, exaggerated often laughable, anti-drug media campaigns that have failed entirely to curb youth drug use.

 Not surprisingly, in recent years the General Accounting Office, the Department of Education, and the U.S. Surgeon General have come to recognize the ineffectiveness of the D.A.R.E. program. Yet local D.A.R.E. programs still receive federal funds (directly or indirectly) and the (SDFSCA) Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Act still promotes drug education policies which break down the crucial trust between students and their educators needed for effective drug education. 

 It is time to stop wasting tax dollars on fear-based anti-drug advertising campaigns and instead channel resources into providing young people with honest information about safety, risk and treatment.

A Letter to Every Parent and Child...

Dear James,

This fall you will be entering high school, and like most American teenagers, you'll have to navigate drugs. As most parents, I would prefer that you not use drugs. However, I realize that despite my wishes, you might experiment.

I will not use scare tactics to deter you. Instead, having spent many years researching drug use, abuse and policy, I will tell you a little about what I have learned, hoping this will lead you to make wise choices. My only concern is your health and safety.

When people talk about "drugs" they are generally referring to illegal substances such as marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine (speed), psychedelic drugs (LSD, shrooms, heroin etc)..

These are not the only drugs that make you high. Alcohol, cigarettes and many other substances (like glue) cause intoxication of some sort. Then there is the legal drugs, prescription drugs Lortab, Soma, Oxycotin, Xanax and Prozac just to name a few.

 The fact that one drug is legal and another is illegal does not mean one is better or worse for you. All of them temporarily change the way you perceive things and the way you think.

Some people will tell you that drugs feel good, and that's why they use them. But drugs are not always fun. Cocaine speeds up your heart, Meth can lead to psychotic behaviors and severe dental problems. The ability to function both mentally and physically will decrease and people sometimes die suddenly from taking heroin. LSD can make you feel disoriented, effects (called a “trip”) vary greatly from person to person, Alcohol can cause impaired judgment, balance difficulty and  impaired speech, Cigarette smoking leads to many illness and cancer such as lung cancer, dental problems. Prescription drugs have numerous side effects that can affect you physically and mentally. Marijuana alters the way you think, behave and react.

I have tried to give you a short description of the drugs you might encounter. I choose not to try to scare you by distorting information because I want you to have confidence in what I tell you. Although I won't lie to you about their effects, there are many reasons for a person your age to not use drugs or alcohol.

First, being high on marijuana or any other drug often interferes with normal life. It is difficult to retain information while high, so using it -- especially daily – can affect your ability to learn.

Second, if you think you might try marijuana, please wait until you are older. Adults with drug problems often started using at a very early age.

Finally, your father and I don't want you to get into trouble. Drug and alcohol use are illegal, and the consequences of being caught are huge. Here in the United States, the number of arrests for possession of marijuana has more than doubled in the past six years. They are serious about "zero tolerance." If caught, you could be arrested, expelled from school, barred from playing sports, lose your driver's license, be denied a college loan, and/or be rejected for college.

Despite my advice to abstain, you may one day choose to experiment. I will say again that this is not a good idea, but if you do, I urge you to learn as much as you can, and use common sense. There are many excellent books and references, including the Internet, that give you credible information about drugs. You can, of course, always talk to me. If I don't know the answers to your questions, I will try to help you find them.

If you are offered drugs, be cautious. Watch how people behave, but understand that everyone responds differently -- even to the same substance. If you do decide to experiment, be sure you are surrounded by people you can count upon. Plan your transportation and under no circumstances drive or get into a car with anyone else who has been using alcohol or other drugs. Call us or any of our close friends any time, day or night, and we will pick you up -- no questions asked and no consequences.

And please, James, use moderation. It is impossible to know what is contained in illegal drugs. The majority of fatal overdoses occur because young people do not know the strength of the drugs they consume, or how they combine with other drugs. Please do not participate in drinking contests, which have killed too many young people. Whereas marijuana by itself is not fatal, too much can cause you to become disoriented and sometimes paranoid. And of course, smoking can hurt your lungs, later in life and now. James as your father and I have always talked to you about a range of activities (including sex), think about the consequences of your actions before you act. Drugs are no different. Be skeptical and most of all be safe.

Love Mom…

Her Sons Response :

Dear Mom,

It has been eight years since I entered high school on the heels of your advice about drugs:

"James -- be skeptical and, most of all ,.. Be safe." Although I'd like to tell you that I never needed your advice because I never encountered drugs.  I'd prefer to be as honest with you as you have been with me.

Just as you predicted, I spent high school and college navigating a highly experimental teenage drug culture. While some of the substances that I encountered were illegal, like marijuana, cocaine, and Ecstasy, many were not, like alcohol, cigarettes, and Ritalin. Because you explained that a drug's legality does not mean that it is better or worse for me, I approached every substance with skepticism, moderation and common sense.

Our household mantra of 'safety first' guided me through a maze of difficult decisions, particularly in college where alcohol use and abuse is widespread. Because you didn't lie or exaggerate the risks of drug use, I took your warnings seriously. I always made plans for sober transportation; I refused to leave friends alone if they were highly intoxicated; and I was never afraid to call home if I found myself in a dangerous situation.

Of course you advised me not to use drugs, but as an expert in the field, you knew that I was likely to experiment. Most parents panic in response to this likelihood, but you and Dad remained levelheaded: You didn't impose rigid rules that were bound to be broken, and you didn't bombard me with transparent scare tactics. Instead you encouraged me to think critically and carefully about drug use. When I inquired, you armed me with truthful, scientifically based information from which I could make my own decisions. This was excellent practice for adulthood, and we built a loving relationship based on trust and truth.

Mom, your work does so much more than teach parents how to talk to their kids about drugs; your work keeps parents and kids communicating at a time when most kids shut their parents out. Our relationship is a perfect example. For never ceasing to communicate with me, even when I tried to shut the door on you, and for tirelessly keeping me, my sisters, and so many other kids safe.

 Thank you.

Love, James