News

Just Say No to Drugs Made from Poisonous Snakes

| wgvegaswoody

(Original cannabis art created by Woody Goulart.)

When I was growing up, I dreamed I would work for Walt Disney as a dancing and singing teenage star on television and in movies. Instead, I ended up on the air in Hollywood rock and roll radio on the fabled Sunset Boulevard. I guess I was lucky in my show business job since I did not have to dance or sing while wearing those black plastic mouse ears.

Then, suddenly I felt not so lucky. The radio station was sold and real-life needs (such as eating) forced me to seek employment opportunities elsewhere.

The biggest shift in our lives can occur in those frightening moments when our plans and dreams abruptly fall apart. Out of the blue we can find ourselves falling into chaos and forced to watch order and disorder battling it out to see which side will win.

After Tinseltown

Following my Los Angeles radio broadcasting experiences, I chose to be mature and refocus my life. I headed back to school where I earned two graduate degrees and started a full-time career as an educator at the university level. I also went for training and certification to become a professional coach, which is what I focus upon today.

I once incorrectly believed when you become older you become less likely to face the danger zone of chaos. In 1996 I met Sam Glass, Jr. while working in Washington, DC. We’ve been a couple ever since and got married in Las Vegas in 2016. Then in 2018 we fell into deep chaos.

Sam relied upon physicians routinely recommending a variety of FDA-approved prescription medications as treatment for osteoarthritis and hypertension. While we lived in the San Francisco Bay Area I encouraged Sam to consider medical marijuana. He did so and immediately noticed relief from joint pains that no RX meds ever had done for him. But he also kept taking certain doctor-prescribed meds for high blood pressure.

Say Hello to a Poisonous Snake

Sam remained taking medical marijuana but continued using a commonly prescribed ACE-inhibitor developed from the poisonous venom of a South American snake—yes, it does sound a bit like a Quentin Tarantino movie.

Early in the morning on Thanksgiving Day in 2018 while he was crafting what was to be our festive holiday meal later that day, this African American male at age 58 started experiencing difficulty breathing. His throat was rapidly swelling shut. Medical professionals had only two minutes to save his life in a Las Vegas hospital emergency room procedure involving the insertion of a plastic tube into his trachea so he could continue breathing.

Unintended Outcomes

For Sam, his decision to stay on that RX drug led to quite severe outcomes:

  • complete respiratory failure
  • two cardiac arrests
  • kidney disease requiring multiple dialyses

His experiences were not unique for patients within the American medical establishment and fatalities have occurred. An online group was created to share lessons learned.

Sam pulled through successfully from a coma and finally was taken off life support. He then spent many weeks in intensive care and ended up with bed sores and debilitating muscle atrophy. At least he remained among the living! I felt beyond helpless to mitigate what was happening to him, but all this taught me something crucial.

What You Can Do Seeking to Avoid This

Get free online cannabis awareness coaching with no obligation and no purchase necessary.

 

Today I believe we all need to consider becoming advocates for ourselves if we expect our interests in health and wellbeing to be protected. I’m not the only person troubled by the medical community’s apparent interest in risky stuff like snake venom medicine. It seems ironic to me that an approved RX drug can make anyone feel worse or threaten to kill them. In contrast, today medical marijuana is officially off limits for the establishment medical community in the United States. Meanwhile, Israel became the global leader in medical marijuana research and patient care.

Would it be sensible to stop taking all your prescription medications and focus instead of using medical marijuana? No, of course not. At least you should talk to your doctor if what you’re being prescribed right now originated from a cold-blooded reptile.

Medical marijuana became the alternative direction of choice for reducing pain and suffering for myself and for the people I love. This is why I become a cannabis advocate. Simply put, seeing the joy in the eyes of a loved one who manages chronic pain with medical marijuana is an indelible personal experience.

Encourage Your Passion

My passion for cannabis advocacy motivates me to share the emerging awareness about the cannabis industry. I provide research-based cannabis advocacy training and orientation to educate adults 21 and older that otherwise might never become savvy about a strange plant known for thousands of years to have medicinal properties. I also offer coaching and training for cannabis industry employees on how to use trustworthy methods of adapting what they say and how they frame it when talking to retail cannabis customers face-to-face.

Like many of my fellow Nevadans today, I use marijuana products legally. I have personal experience using CBD (cannabidiol) under my tongue, in pill and capsule form, in vaping, and also in cream and lotion form rubbed onto my skin for relieving pain. I also use today’s emerging blends of CBD plus THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) for the “entourage effect” derived whenever these two cannabis ingredients are combined into one retail product.

Where you happen to live has everything to do with which options are open to you if you want to consider medical marijuana legally to reduce your pain and suffering. The online community that I created and others like it can provide opportunities for everyday people to share questions and answers so everyone benefits from each person’s lessons learned.

Who Needs to Stop and Buy Cannabis in Needles, California?

| wgvegaswoody

Twenty years ago I lived in Southern NV near enough to visit Needles, CA on a regular basis. This little former railroad town is unique in many respects. I learned in those days about a local saying that all you need do is add another “S” to the name so it becomes “NEEDLESS” — a real indication of civic pride, I’m sure. Now we are living in the 21st century and times have changed for the little town due to legalization of cannabis in California. Here is a believe-it-or-not news story about how Needles, CA is considering changes in their local laws to attract visitors to stop there and buy legal cannabis products there instead of driving through on Interstate 40 as quickly as possible.

CBG Ceremony + Yoga and Meditation

| wgvegaswoody

CBG Ceremony + Yoga and Meditation

Guest Blog Post | Jul 18, 2019 | Cannabis Lifestyle, Events, Health & Wellness, Yoga |

On Saturday July 14, 2019 I was able to participate in a private CBG Ceremony hosted by Takara Chanel Entertainment, Steve’s Goods, and Dip Devices  with Yoga Instructor Samantha Prock at the International Church of Cannabis in Denver, CO. 

The purpose for this ceremony was to offer attendees the chance to try out a variety of CBG based products to really hone in on their individual experience of the product. Since cannabinoid research is still very much in it’s early stages Steve’s Goods is taking the initiative to jump start the conversation and get people excited about other cannabinoids besides the two most well known compounds, THC and CBD. 

What is CBG? 

CBG Ceremony Yoga

Cannabigerol (CBG) is a non-psychotropic cannabinoid found within in the cannabis plant. Interestingly enough CBG is the starting point or chemical parent for all the other cannabinoids. As a result many researcher’s are wondering if CBG should be more dominant in our health regimen. It’s also been known to be more effective on our CB2 receptors in the immune system and related organs versus the CB1 receptors found in the brain and nervous system. 

 

 
 
CBG Ceremony 

Over the last year Steve’s Goods has introduced over 1,000 participants to the cannabinoid CBG in this CBG type ceremony setting. 

Before the CBG consumption started we did a few minutes of mindful meditation led by Samantha Prock to drop CBG Ceremony Yogaus into the present moment. Sam gently guided us by starting to listen to our breath, and become more aware of the inhales and exhales, slowly start to equally lengthen each breath. Before class I was feeling very anxious. We just drove through a hail storm to get to class which was pretty stressful and I was also experiencing some menstrual cramps. Not really feeling like myself I was wondering how I was going to get through this meditation, ceremony and yoga practice. 

I was feeling rather agitated during the meditation, my mind was racing in a million directions and I couldn’t sit still. The pressure from my tummy was unbearable so I started to gently move my body in seated pose. Eventually meditation was over (thank gosh!) and the CBG ceremony started. 

Tyler, of Steve’s Goods led the CBG Ceremony introducing us to CBG, how it differs from CBD and THC, and the various products Steve’s Goods had to offer. The ceremony included samplings of CBG isolate, CBG tincture, and Steve’s Goods salve.

CBG Ceremony YogaParticipants sat in a circle around the products mindfully consuming each offering. Tyler advised us to hold in the product as long as possible in the inhale to truly allow the product to flow through the body. After passing around the DipStick Vapor a few times and mindfully consuming the CBG isolate I was started to feel better, it was definitely taking the edge off. I lathered myself up in the CBD pain cream stick and consumed a dropped of Blueberry CBG oil. Thankful for the consumption I was ready to get the yoga class started! 

Yoga Practice with CBG 

As yoga started my body and mind gently started to warm up to one another allowing me to drop into the present moment a little bit easier. I noticed pretty quickly from the consumption that I was feeling better. 20 minutes prior my body was in agony and I could barely move, now I was moving through the various postures feeling much more invigorated. While there was still some kinks to work out I was really starting to experience the benefits of the CBG isolate, tincture, and salve work together. 

About midway through our yoga practice a blunt was passed around the class. Now, as a cannabis yoga teacher I CBG Ceremony Yoga have no problem with THC so I took a puff enjoying the mid class consumption and not really thinking much about it. As the class winded down into meditation and I began to close my eyes I started to feel a spinning sensation in my mind and maybe even a few visuals. Pair the consumption with the trippy art visuals in the Cannabis Church and I’m sure that’ll leave anyone a bit starry eyes. 

Sam guided us through a mindful savasana covering my eyes will our Greenlove lavender eye pillows I drifted off into space thoroughly enjoying myself, the practice, and ceremony. As we woke up I didn’t want to leave this trance. I felt so good – it was amazing! My mind and body had finally slowed down, the chatter faded away, and I felt 100% better than I did two hours before. 

Takeways

After the class Tyler asked everyone to sit in a circle sharing their experiences of the CBG ceremony. Everyone had mostly similar experiences feeling more relaxed, connected, and centered while others let go of pain and tension in the body. Overall it was a very positive experience for everyone involved. Tyler shared that was mostly what the feedback from other participants had been with really only 10-15% not having any sensation from the CBG. 

I also left feeling very positive about the potential medical benefits of CBG and how this cannabinoid could be useful for those who aren’t looking for the intoxicating high you get from THC. I even started to think about switching my cannabis gym routine with a puff of CBG/CBD isolate instead just to see how I felt.

At the very end of the experience when speaking with another member of Steve’s Goods it hit me. We consumed a blunt during yoga – that blunt was filled with THC. Lightbulb moment – how I was feeling after the ceremony could have been due to the THC consumption in conjunction with the CBG not 100% CBG derived! I was disappointed to say the least. 

After going through that very positive mindful experience I felt like the experiment was tainted by the THC consumption. Especially since the focus of the ceremony was on CBG and its affects on the mind/body there was really no reason to bring another variable into the mix. 

While I distantly remember how I felt pre-blunt I also had more remembrance of how I felt afterwards – a little buzzed and stoned from the blunt. Sigh. 

Next time I hope the CBG Ceremony sticks with CBG only as that’s really the only way to truly gauge the effects from this cannabinoid! Overall, it was a very positive experience and I would do it again. 

Have you utilized CBG yet? What has been your experience? 

Check out Steve’s Goods online one of the most reputable sources of CBD products I’ve found to date! 

 

This guest blog post originally appeared on https://www.greenlovedenver.com/cbg-ceremony-yoga-and-meditation/