Just for fun, I started writing today's column, which highlights "4/20," at precisely 4:20 — the ideal time to draw attention to April 20. That's the day set aside in the '70s to honor America's favorite healing herb, a powerful plant that has been part of human health, well-being and giggles for thousands of years.
Yes, we're talking cannabis, also known as grass, marijuana, weed, bud, ganja or, as it's called on one of the many websites I visited during my painstaking research, "the little plant that could."
To repeat the obvious (which can happen if you're not focused), cannabis is legal now, in some form or another, in more than half the country. We have nine states and Washington, D.C., allowing adults full access to cannabis, and 20 more making it available with a prescription.
From the personal well-being point of view, this is what progress looks like.
In 1969 — when minor league selling or puffing could get you sent to prison for life — just 12 percent of Americans surveyed were in favor of legalizing cannabis. One popular misconception, for instance, was that it leads to hard drugs. Now, according to "Is Marijuana the New Merlot?" in The Oprah Magazine's April issue, 61 percent approve.
Why? Because contrary to Attorney General Jeff Sessions' alternative facts, we now know it's not the devil weed we were warned about for decades. We now know it has therapeutic powers to help and heal, with or without getting "high."
And aside from all the medical research, books and scientific articles available, lots of us now know people just like us who rely on cannabis to ease anxiety; boost their well-being; sleep better; clean the garage; and help cope with a variety of ailments, including anorexia, arthritis, glaucoma, post-traumatic stress disorder and cancer.
Summing up the $10 billion-a-year industry that has grown up around legal cannabis, I would say that the people have spoken, even if some do it very slowly, munching on chips, staring at old pictures from the prom.
Of course, cannabis is still controversial — and still illegal at the federal level for reasons that have nothing to do with its safety and everything to do with denial and discrimination — but I'm not getting into that now.
If you want to, I highly recommend Chris Conrad and Jeremy Daw's book, "The Newbie's Guide to Cannabis and the Industry." It details both the history and extraordinary healing properties of cannabis sativa, which can finally be prescribed by doctors for patients who are sick of the side effects of Big Pharma drugs.
"Cannabis has been among the most widely used of medicinal plants for 3,500 years," write Conrad and Daw. "We used it here in the USA to treat more than 100 distinct diseases or conditions. Cannabis and all the cannabinoids are non-toxic. It is exceptionally safe; not one single death by cannabis overdose has ever been reliably reported in medical history." (Whereas opioids killed more than 42,000 people in the U.S. in 2016. Just saying...)
Is cannabis 100 percent effective for all people? No. Nothing is. Is it helpful for some people, some times? Absolutely!
Should you read and think about it before you partake?
Yes. Cannabis use is no laughing matter... well, sometimes it is — and that's good, too. It all depends on how you choose to use it.
It's a brave new world out there, and you need to do your cannabis homework if you want to dose wisely and stay out of trouble, because people are still being arrested and jailed on marijuana charges. (Shameful!)
One reliable source of information is The Cannabist (https://www.thecannabist.co), run by The Denver Post and filled with the latest marijuana news, products and research. Leafly (https://www.leafly.com) is another website to explore, and so is MarijuanaDoctors.com, a highly recommended resource for finding a physician with experience in medical marijuana.
Edibles or tinctures? THC or CBD? Simply for pleasure or for treating pain?
That's for you to answer, and thanks to new laws, informed citizens, and old fears blown to bits, you can. And that's why 4/20 is a day to lighten up and celebrate. Cannabis is now legal in 29 states and Washington, D.C. For millions — including me — it's a pipe dream come true.
ENERGY EXPRESS-O! PASS IT AROUND
"The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world." — Carl Sagan
Marilynn Preston is the author of Energy Express, America's longest-running healthy lifestyle column. Her new book "All Is Well: The Art {and Science} of Personal Well-Being" is available now on Amazon and elsewhere. Visit Creators Publishing at creators.com/books/all-is-well to learn more. For more on personal well-being, visit www.MarilynnPreston.com.
View Comments