cannabisnews.com: Shopping in Oakland for Her Medicine 





Shopping in Oakland for Her Medicine 
Posted by CN Staff on February 20, 2003 at 14:26:36 PT
By Susan Swartz, The Press Democrat
Source: Press Democrat 
Lenore goes to Oakland for a special blend known as White Widow. It's her medical marijuana. She takes it on those days, she says, "when I'm at the bottom."Lenore was diagnosed with breast cancer around Thanksgiving. She felt something in her breast while toweling off at the gym and went immediately for an exam. She's started chemotherapy and is weighing other treatment options.
Part of the healing involves shopping for pot in downtown Oakland."It's a little weird" to be picking out buds over the counter, says Lenore. But she's found the experience to be easy and definitely worthwhile.She has a note from her oncologist that makes her legal. Early on she asked her doctor about medical marijuana. He signed a form that allows her to buy it. It's not a prescription but a note that carefully avoids saying he approves or recommends medical marijuana. It merely states Lenore can receive it while being treated for cancer.To gain entry to a medical marijuana distribution site she needs to show the doctor's note and membership card for the Cannabis Buyers Cooperative. Her buyers card cost $25 and is good for a year. The word "compassion" is stamped on the front. This refers to the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, or California's Proposition 215, which allowed seriously ill patients to obtain marijuana with a doctor's OK. That was back when the word compassion was more than a political spin term.The people in Oakland who sell medical marijuana refer to it as "medicine," and so does Lenore. "I used to call it dope, but that has a bad connotation, and pot seems like street stuff. This really is medicine."They asked Lenore what symptoms she wanted to alleviate. Insomnia? Lack of appetite? There are different blends of cannabis that purportedly have different effects. Some are calming. Others provide energy."I told them I wanted euphoria," said Lenore. "I wanted to buffer the bad feelings. They knew what I meant. The people there are friendly and probably patients themselves. They called me 'Ma'am.'"She purchased an eighth of an ounce of White Widow for $55 and a $300 vaporizer. She chose the vaporizer because she worried about coughing if she smoked."This way it's more like breathing steam." She uses it before and during each run of chemotherapy."I suppose you could really get blasted on it, but that's not my objective. I'm only interested in a mild edge. It's a mood elevator. It comes on slowly and fades slowly."It's in bud form and comes in orange plastic prescription bottles with tamper-proof caps. At another distributor, in Berkeley, she purchased the drug in baggies.That's more the style of the old days when marijuana was not so much about medicine. Some people can't get past those old days.Take John Ashcroft, for instance, and other federal drug enforcers. Don't they have enough real threats to pursue without harassing sick people and those who help them?The latest shameful act is the Kafka-esque case of medical marijuana advocate Ed Rosenthal of Oakland, convicted earlier this month of federal cultivation charges by a jury that was not allowed to know he grew it for medical patients.Lenore shakes her head in disbelief. "Medical marijuana is such a benign option. To demonize it is laughable. Except that they're serious."Because that is the case Lenore has now made two purchases. She needs to plan ahead. Next time she'll go to a place in Marin County where they take credit cards. She likes the brashness of it, "putting marijuana on my Visa card."Source: Press Democrat, The (CA)Author: Susan Swartz, The Press DemocratPublished: February 18, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Press DemocratContact: letters pressdemo.comWebsite: http://www.pressdemo.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Ed Rosenthal's Trial Pictures & Articleshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htmMedical Pot Growers Find No Refuge from Feds http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15490.shtmlFederal, State Laws Duel Over Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15489.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by freedom fighter on February 20, 2003 at 17:42:33 PT
You Go Girl!
She likes the brashness of it, "putting marijuana on my Visa card."Now Visa is part of a conspiracy to sell illegal drug!!Where's John Ashcroft?ff
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