I hope the community will support Phoenix Pain Management Society.
There are people in our community who are suffering and dying of diseases that cannabis medicines are being shown to treat or cure in the scientific literature (MS, Parkinson’s, epilepsy, arthritis, cancer, Alzheimer’s, hypertension, IBS, Crohn’s, anxiety, depression...).
This medicine has been in use for millennia and it’s impossible to overdose on cannabis (the parts of your brain that control breathing and heart rate are the only areas in the body that have no receptors for cannabis compounds).
The federal MMPR program restricts access to concentrates and products that people can use effectively for medicine, instead only allowing people to buy the raw product to smoke (not nearly as effective for most conditions). Most people don’t have the means to turn this into edible medicinal products.
Having access to affordable cannabis medicines is people’s right and has been recommended in Canada since the LeDain Commission. It’s not an exaggeration to say that for many it’s a matter of life or death.
I hope people will contact the city and the RCMP and ask them to allow this society to provide education and access to cannabis medicines for people in need.
Our society in general is becoming much more aware of the usefulness of cannabis as a medicine, and realizing that it is not something that is harmful or easy to abuse, unlike alcohol, tobacco or prescription meds. Colorado’s success since increasing access to cannabis is a case in point.
Bringing these medicines into the light of day is one way to reduce the stigma and reduce the appeal to younger people who think it’s a recreational drug and not a medicine.
Cannabis isn’t so cool when Grandpa is using it for his arthritis.
The bottom line is that people should have a safe place to discuss whether cannabis is an option for their conditions, and the government is not currently providing that for us.
Would the RCMP rather these activities continue in the black market with absolutely no accountability, or will they allow a safe grey market until government policy catches up with what a majority of Canadians want?
Cory PahlParksville