Written by Christopher Meyer | 6:28 pm on December 23, 2011

In all of the discussions that take place about marijuana’s role in our society and in our culture, recreational versus medicinal use of cannabis is often at the forefront of the conversation.

A recent Gallup poll showed 50% of Americans support legalization while 70% support making cannabis medically available.

What is the important difference for the 20% of those who favor making cannabis available medically, but do not wish to give access to adults? What about cannabis recreation is undesirable? Is there ever a time when cannabis use can be both recreational and medical? (more…)

Written by Christopher Meyer | 6:07 pm on December 3, 2011

We trust our health to doctors. They have a position of stature and respect. Unfortunately that trust is manipulated by a healthcare system which focuses more on profit than on well being, and the repercussions of this neglect manifest themselves in public policy, politics, and in our own bodies.

Data from a study conducted between 1999-2004 by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) indicated that accidental poisoning was second only to automobile accidents as the listed cause of death. What’s shocking is the amount of increase for prescribed drugs.

‘Rates for drug poisoning deaths increased 68.3%, and mortality rates for poisonings by other substances increased 1.3%. The largest increases were in the “other and unspecified,” psychotherapeutic, and narcotic drug categories.’

How is this allowed to happen? It is a common misconception that the FDA actually tests the drugs that it is charged with approving. In fact, clinical trials are performed by pharmaceutical companies themselves and the data is passed onto the FDA for approval. This situation is the epitome of a potentially lethal conflict of interest. (more…)

Written by Christopher Meyer | 6:10 pm on September 6, 2011

It is a cruel irony that the de-prohibition of the cannabis plant used as a medicine could occur before legal hemp production comes to fruition in the United States.

The oldest know human artifact is an 8000 year old piece of hemp cloth found in the Mesopotamia (modern-day Turkey) where western human civilization began.

It suffices to say that the cannabis plant has accompanied humanity throughout our history for its usefulness as a fiber, as a food, and as medicine. (more…)

Written by Christopher Meyer | 9:05 am on August 27, 2011

Societally we have an ingrained trust in the medical profession. Prior to the technological era, the doctor was often the most wise, educated, and trustworthy person within the community, relied upon not only for medical treatment, but for advice, counseling, and direction.

Rather unfortunately, the same cannot necessarily be said of today’s doctors who are so intrenched in the health care system dictated by the wiles of insurance companies. This combined with ever present pressure from pharmaceutical and medical technology companies to prescribe and employ their latest and greatest treatments, produces doctors who reflect their environment.
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Written by Christopher Meyer | 11:22 am on August 19, 2011

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

- Tenth Amendment

This is the second part in our series exploring how the advancement of the marijuana movement does more than just erode prohibitionist attitudes, and has far-reaching benefits in many aspects of our society.

Ending marijuana prohibition in Colorado isn’t just about the medicine. The ability of states to set laws that govern what goes on within their borders as provided by the Tenth Amendment is also at stake. (more…)

Written by Christopher Meyer | 7:29 pm on June 21, 2011

Almost imperceptibly the change began taking place, but marijuana is entering the mainstream conversation in ways that it hasn’t in the past.

Even the recently crowned Miss America is on board with medical marijuana, and Miracle Grow wants to produce nutrients for the industry.

With many influential politicians and public policy makers becoming outspoken about the failure of the drug war, other countries are beginning to notice (like in this simple New Zealand story), and whether you are for or against marijuana, it is undeniable that buzz about cannabis is everywhere. (more…)

Written by Christopher Meyer | 2:52 pm on April 6, 2011

If you had the opportunity to visit the High Times Cannabis Cup this last weekend, you saw a wide variety of businesses that are participating in the marijuana movement; not just from Denver, but from around the country. The volume of people standing in lines on Saturday was a testament to how many are eager to see marijuana culture up close.

If you are legal Colorado medical marijuana patient, you had the opportunity to visit a restricted area where Colorado medical marijuana centers and vendors of infused products had booths to represent their young businesses.

While I am sure there were many who enjoyed their visit to this room, I had the awful feeling that it wasn’t a very good reflection of what a legitimate and professional industry should look like or sound like (there were at least three competing PA systems). (more…)

Written by Christopher Meyer | 1:43 am on November 12, 2010

This comes regarding a recent (Nov2010) decision to disqualify up to 2,000 Colorado medical marijuana patients from legal access to safe, alternative medicine because the doctor they visited had some restriction regarding their practice of medicine. Often these sorts of restrictions have nothing to do with malpractice but relate to different fields of medicine the doctor can practice and allowances for oversight of new doctors.

After over a year of working in the medical marijuana industry and having watched various legislation, city councils, and rulemaking boards decide how Coloradans’ constitutional right to medical marijuana will be regulated, I am fully aware not only of the difficulties faced in recovering our right to alternative and non-traditional medicine but also how many obstacles there are to making our voice heard when decisions that directly affect us are being made. (more…)

Written by Christopher Meyer | 6:30 pm on October 16, 2010

Grow Deep Roots
Good plants grow slow and build deep roots. Roots go unseen but their health is always reflected in the health of the vegetation and in the fruit that the plant bears. A plant that is well rooted will thrive if it has the space and resources it needs to flourish.

The medical marijuana industry is no different. In 2009, after Obama declared that DEA agents would no longer raid medical marijuana centers so long as they operated within the bounds of State law, there was a sudden rush to open dispensaries. (more…)

Written by Christopher Meyer | 9:43 pm on July 4, 2010

If we must take responsibility for our health and the health of our communities, how do we determine what it means to be healthy? The question seems oddly obtuse. I hear you say, “Chris, healthy is simple. Healthy is when you feel good, when you are not sick, and can expect the same when you wake up tomorrow. ”

“Okay,” I respond, “If that is what it means to be healthy, if being healthy is that simple, why is it so difficult for so many people to be healthy, or to make healthy decisions? ”

The difficulty, as I see it, is not that we don’t have a general knowledge of health in our common sense, but that in application what we call “health” today has dissolved into half-efforts and reactionary measures to what is already unhealthy. (more…)