SweetMaryKane's Storytime: My Bestie, Elvy Musikka, gets her weed from the federal government.

Yoga is the cats meow and this SmartMat is incredible!

Check it out! They were able to make their original goal to go into production in just under 22 hours and now they're working toward added features and classes including multiple users! Which means you can share a mat with your partner or kiddo. There are still discounted mat deals available including the new $99 "layaway" style option which allows you to hold a SmartMat until they're ready to ship and pay the rest at that time. Not only that but they invoice will only be for $219 meaning you're still getting the mat for $318 which is $129 SAVINGS!!

THIS JUST IN: HOLIDAY SPECIAL FOR A LIMITED TIME AT $257 WHICH MEANS YOU CAN GET YOUR  SMARTMAT AT A $179 SAVINGS NOW THRU

DECEMBER 3, 2014!!

SMK gives up SMJ: Day Three

Speak Easy on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpeakEasyVapeLounge/info
The Speak Easy Vape Lounge: http://speakeasylounge.info/

Quick #Raw check in. Day three off Cannabis. No complaints. Sorry about the lameness of this one, not familiar with my new laptop yet and ready for bed.

A Tuesday Tantrum brought to you by SMK

I occasionally I spend so much time with people who are pro-Cannabis I forget there are people out there who don't understand. For instance today I went to see my nail tech. He's asked me before what I've done for a living, and I've answered him that as he's Vietnamese and English is the cyclic language he didn't quite understand until today. Once he figured it out his response was to tell me “you're crazy”. For the next hour, he cracked jokes about me on a pot smoker  even questioning if I had tried crack? Don't get me wrong I nail tech isn't a bully he's a funny guy. Nevertheless I could tell that the propaganda and stereotype of Cannabis that he held in his head was negative.

How is it that people can be so easily convinced that Cannabis is harmful? Was I ever convinced? I think back to my days in D. A. R. E. It was an overcrowded classroom with one teacher and one police officer to supervise nearly to 40 kids. The handouts were like a coloring book and officer stories were so mild I don't think anyone was convinced. I don't remember him mentioning harder drugs or legal drugs like alcohol and pharmaceuticals. Which together rack up death tolls around 175,000 annually in the United States. I don't remember considering it as truth for even a moment when he told me that plant Cannabis was a drug either. In fact, what I remember most about that D. A. R. E. class was the segment that covered AIDS. Maybe some of the kids had never heard of drugs before as I'm pretty sure many have never heard of AIDS. After the officer gave a brief description, he attempted to shake the hand of the boy sitting in the desk behind me. The boy would not extend his hand to the officer. As I had already had this discussion with my parents, and knew it wasn’t transmitted by a handshake, I eventually leaned back over his desk and took the officer's hand. Perhaps some people just believe the first thing they hear. Especially as children who are taught never to question anything.

After discovering tons of immensely ridiculous ads making outlandish claims that Cannabis can: kill you, be shot up, trigger you to switch teams, drain your beauty, ruining your teeth, etc. The propaganda and how it influences our society is in the forefront of my mind. To those of us who are in the Cannabis industry or on the edges of it, know people in the industry, and/or are inclined to read actual empirical evidence find these outrages blatant lies are nothing more than something for our amusement. Aren't we outnumbered though? If more people buy into the misleading campaigns against Cannabis than have the ability to recognize it as nonsense, why should we let that be a joke? Should we not stand up and call for blackout of such misinformation? It seems to me that our tolerance is every bit as liable for the gap in communication, understanding, and knowledge between anti-and pro-sides of the issue.

The problem with this type of thinking is that it stems from the belief that humans are capable of sharing a unanimous opinion. It blurs the line between ‘we’ and ‘I’. It allows right and wrong to pose as a reality inside my mind when in truth there is only ‘is’. So how can this thing that bothers me change? Since I can only lay claim to my own actions and since I am such a tiny piece of a large puzzle how can I make an impact?

I don't know. Maybe it can't be changed. It is probable there will be little to no impact from my immediate action is anyways. I'm not the kind of girl who backs down from a fight though. So what am I going to do? The same thing that I've always done, which is write letters to the people that are responsible when something upsets me, only now I'm going to do it without sharing the actual propaganda itself.

DIRTY LAUNDRY

Sometimes a girl’s just got a come clean, not that I ever had any reason to lie to you. You see the thing is you might think that I'd never had a sip of alcohol the way I'm so vocal about my disdain. The truth is if you would have seen me back in the day you've been convinced I would die from my love affair with alcohol.

That's right, this sweet little girl, used to drink and swear and run amuck with the best of them. I guess that's one of the things that make it so terrible to lose my cousin to a drunken driving accident. Don't get me wrong he wasn't hurt by someone else he was the driver who drank. That doesn't change the fact that I lost him.

In fact, this is actually the second DUI he would have been facing. It had been quite some time since his first; I suppose I just wanted to assume he was unlucky and that he knew better now. We weren't that close to begin with, me growing up in Oregon him in Colorado, but that's no excuse for my neglecting to offer my help. I can't take back the things I never said, but if I could, I would've said to him, one time in private, “Cousin, if you never want to drink again, you don't have to. Call me anytime.”
It is funny how you could interpret” taking back the things you never said” to suggest that someone twisted your words, and you can't apologize for what they thought you meant, but not me. Me, I always interpreted to mean, if you don't speak from your heart - if you don't have the courage to say the things that need to be said you will regret it. Boy, do I DUCKING regret that.

There was never a pitcher to live who had anything on the curve ball that the universe will throw you. And so I guess the message is this: Too Bad, Don’t Drink!

Denver, CO: WHACKED OUT WEED HEAD SHOOTS TWO

Any outlandish headline will do, after all. I cringe at the horrid headlines that could be used swirling around my head. There is a positive outcome yet to be discovered! I tell myself. Denver, Colorado. Civic Center Park. 4/20/2013. Shots fired.

Previously....

What a blessing of a day today. I am so ecstatic to rally with my brothers and sisters and revel in the joys we share and love we hold. Today is the day that we can all say we have worked hard, we have organized, we have spoken up, we have done a good job Bob Saget, and WE DESERVE A BREAK! We gather, and we meet and share. Stories, spliffs, our selves, our dreams and passions, more simply love.

I woke up early to a magnificent sun shining through the windows. Just in time for breakfast, which being that all I had to do was walk down the hall, and the inn keeper prepared me as much coffee and fresh fruit topped French toast as I could take, was marvelous itself.

I dressed myself comfortably and decided to bring Sweet Mary Kane herself out to play. Then off I went on my dearest arm (which, by the way, is my favorite spot to be) to the High Times Cannabis Cup. Superb time, of course, however, I just cannot pass up that 420, in the park, count down. It has long been my favorite moment, to be among so many of my brothers and sisters who share the same desire for Cannabis freedom as I. In that moment, I don't care if your opinions are strictly medical or recreational, your preferred structure of regulation, I don't care if you have a beer in your hand while you're shouting it. All I care is that you are standing with me shoulder to shoulder, and WE are standing up and crying out against this injustice together. All of us. Oh and bonus, by the way, while we're doing it lets share a doobie.

Civic Center Park 420 Rally Denver, CO 2013

At the 420 Rally, for the most part, my closest friends cross my path. There is good music. The crowd is unbelievable. From behind the stage I scan the faces in the crowd trying to take in all in. The diversity across all platforms, sex, age, race, is incredible. I am well medicated. My gratitude and appreciation grows as I blaze. I am full, for lack of a better word to describe how overjoyed I am. I am love at loves greatest. I am.

Present time:

Back in my room I prepare to shower, nap, and get up for a night out. I am daydreaming about how wonderful my life with Mr. Kane is when the news that there has been a shooting reaches me. It feels as though I have only just left and my soul flinches.

I am heart broken. I am angry. I am outraged. I am sad. I am grateful. I am joyful. I am love. I call to all the media to react to this incident rather than over react. Do not misunderstand me. There is no intention to simply brush this incident under a rug or say that it is of no important. My sincerest wishes for the best care and a quick recovery go to the victims and witnesses. I pray that everyone minds be well taken care of, and all need are met be they psychological or physical. With that said (and having left the park just before the shots were actually fired) I also pray to see the media take their time in writing and let the investigation develop before pinning it on pot.

And to the shooter: I don't know you and I'm sorry you felt like you had to do what you did, but I am really really upset with you right now, and even though I love you and I hope you get the help you need I want you to get a long sentence. Jah knows our Cannabis POWs are getting longer than they deserve for victim-less crimes and you ought to be ashamed of yourself.

The Center of Sweet Mary Kane

If I tried to keep it a secret it would be an obvious one, that my essential being has been at a struggle for balance. Since my ToughMudder injury my physical needs haven't been being met. At just about the same time I found myself battling an infection that I would continue to fight five plus months until I finally won. Not only was I not caring for my body properly with regular exercise I was struggling to maintain normalcy and mask the daily pain, nausea, and weakness that accompanied my infection. Whats more, I could not or would not (to avoid pain and nausea) consume adequate calories, vitamins, minerals, fat, protein well adequate anything really. 

In turn my mental requirements have been overburdened with the task of balancing my emotional state on its own. Unfortunately, regardless of the fact that we can [and have] separate the brain from the body, Side note: I found the severed brain I held in 2004 surprisingly firmer than expected, the two are not independent of each other. The longer your mind is compensating the more fragile its state becomes as well. Have you ever tried to enjoy your ice cream while you had a brain freeze? That is how my experience of life became. A unwavering desire to want to enjoy it with an unfaltering presences of misery. 

So the time has come, I'm almost completely done with my final round of antibiotics, praise Jah, to get this ship in order. It is time to nourish the light in me. 

There is no doubt that I use my voice to speak for Cannabis frequently, socially, politically, and relentlessly. I am Cannabis. Cannabis will always be dear to my heart and I will continue to have a relationship with Cannabis it until the day that I die. 

That said as I come out of what seems like a deep dream and regain my strength and stamina I find my eyes fixated on Hemp. Hemp clothes, Hemp foods, Hemp cosmeceuticals, Hemp fuels! The list goes on and on.  The history of Hemp is simply as fascinating as anything Cannabis has to offer.

So I guess what I am trying to say here is that if you notice Sweet Mary Kane seems a little MIA don't fret. Its simply time for growth, healing, and centering. I can already forewarn you however, at my return I would expect to see more Hemp talk, not that there will be any less Cannabis talk. 

It doesn't mean I love you any less. 

One Love ~

SMK

Thursday Pot Thoughts: Volume 6; The ABC's of SMK

A

• Something I like: Apples

• Something I dislike: Apathy

• Something I love: Art

• Something bad: Agony

B

• Something I like: Bass 

• Something I dislike: Bland food

• Something I love: Banter

• Something bad: Being lied to 

C

• Something I like: Charm 

• Something I dislike: Cake

• Something I love: Cannabis

• Something bad: Cheaters

D

• Something I like: Dirt

• Something I dislike: Drama

• Something I love: Denver

• Something bad: Disrespect

E

• Something I like: Elegance 

• Something I dislike: Earwigs

• Something I love: Earth

• Something bad: Evenings alone

F

• Something I like: Fun  

• Something I dislike: Fakes

• Something I love: Fruit

• Something bad: Falling

G

• Something I like: Gangstas 

• Something I dislike: Gravity (when it makes me fall)

• Something I love: Ganja snacks

• Something bad: Grinding teeth

H

• Something I like: Hugs 

• Something I dislike: Horror

• Something I love: Happiness

• Something bad: Hurt

I

• Something I like: Islands 

• Something I dislike: Irritations

• Something I love: Ibis

• Something bad: Illness

J

• Something I like: Jaq 

• Something I dislike: Jaq

• Something I love: Jaq

• Something bad: Jaq

K

• Something I like:  Kottonmouth Kings

• Something I dislike: Koalas

• Something I love: Kink

• Something bad: Killers

L

• Something I like: Learning

• Something I dislike: Loneliness

• Something I love: Love

• Something bad: Lag

M

• Something I like: Men 

• Something I dislike: Maintenance

• Something I love: My tribe

• Something bad: Meanness 

N

• Something I like:  Nest outside my window

• Something I dislike: Narrow-mindedness

• Something I love: Nenes

• Something bad: Nerve pain

O

• Something I like: Ocean 

• Something I dislike: Oppression

• Something I love: Openness

• Something bad: Oppression

P

• Something I like: Pomplamoose

• Something I dislike: Paper waste

• Something I love: People

• Something bad: Pain

Q

• Something I like: Quilts 

• Something I dislike: Quiet

• Something I love: Quiet

• Something bad: Quiche with meat in it at the meeting where I was assured that everyone knew I was a vegetarian and I didn't need to bring my own breakfast

R

• Something I like: Raver days 

• Something I dislike: Racism

• Something I love: Rat Pack

• Something bad: Rotten anything

S

• Something I like: Sunshine 

• Something I dislike: Selfishness

• Something I love: Someone

• Something bad: Stress

T

• Something I like: Tattoos

• Something I dislike: Treachery 

• Something I love: Trees

• Something bad: Tetnitus

 U

• Something I like: Umbrellas

• Something I dislike: Unagi

• Something I love: Uterus-es 

• Something bad: Unkindness.

V

• Something I like: Violin

• Something I dislike: Verge of insanity

• Something I love: Venus fly traps

• Something bad: Velvet underwear

W

• Something I like: Women

• Something I dislike: War

• Something I love: Waterfalls

• Something bad: Windburn

X

• Something I like: X chromosome

• Something I dislike: X chromosome

• Something I love: Xyris

• Something bad: Xerox

 Y

• Something I like: Yellow

• Something I dislike: Yodeling

• Something I love: You

• Something bad: Yearning

 Z

• Something I like: Zig Zags

• Something I dislike: Zebra farts

• Something I love: Zion

• Something bad: Zero (no seriously that word is just so dumb in english)

Dear Cannabis: Will you be mine?

Valentine that is, when I say to you "be mine" I do not me that I should own you. You bring me the type of joy one can't hide behind sunglasses. Give me such wealth of love its abundance overflows from my soul. And I would have to say this is one of those open type relationships. Not open like I don't care who else you see but open like I trust you and I don't care who else you see, as long as you see me.

Cannabis, you have saved me from myself a time or two. Relieved my own pain on numerous occasions and so much more. Your potential amazes me. I look forward to discovering more about you as we grow old together. The number of ailments and people you have helped is astounding. You inspire me to be a better me.

I promise to, maintain integrity, moderately educate, investigate science, assert my voice to our elected officials, exhibit professionalism, and manifest global quality of life improvement while showing my support for you. I want to be your valentine every day.

All my love,

Sweet Mary Kane

Thursday Pot Thoughts: Volume 4 (not twenty ... yet).

I may have told you guys this story before, but it has been on my mind lately a lot, so I'm going to talk about it. One night this summer my whole family was piled in the car on our way up the interstate heading home. Just before a white SUV whizzed past us my boyfriend said "Look at this guy!" We were traveling at least 75 mph maybe 80 mph even, and that vehicle just blew by us like we were at a stand still. Within seconds I muttered "He's going to lose control of that vehicle." pointing at it as I watched it began to shudder during a lane change. Sure enough we saw it head sharply toward the median and then back toward the center lane. Did they hit the wall? I thought.

We all smelled it before we saw the break lights and in an instant were at a dead stop. It seemed like eons before my brain pieced it together. What do you see? The SUV is stopped at an angle in the center lane. I cannot see drivers side. Did they hit the median? There's a body in the road. WHAT!? There is a body in the road. Where did it come from? The windows are all intact. Slow motion set in as the gears in my mind turned trying to solve the puzzle. And then it happened, the SUV pulled forward 100 yards into the left lane. There was a motorcycle under the SUV. You don't have your phone. "HAZARDS!" I declared "I don't have a phone, find yours and call 911." I'm out of the car. "Stay in the car." I say to the back seat in a tone no child would ever question. I'm dressed for a birthday party, but I jog toward the injured man in my heels regardless. Not everyone is stopping. He lifts he head up and makes eye contact with me as I approach. I'm almost to him when he reaches for the face mask he was wearing. He's not wearing a helmet. "Sir. Please do not move." I instruct him. I know he comprehends me because he immediately puts his arm back at his side and his forehead to the street. "I am a CNA!" I hear a young woman exclaim. I tag out. KIDS! Not everyone is stopping! My head is battling itself with priorities. PLATE!

"Get the plate," I hear my boyfriend call as if we're having the same experience. I turn back to get the number only to find it's brand new and the tinted windows are too dark to read the temporary tag. I dash back to the car and ask the man parked behind me not to move his car. He is a prison security guard in uniform, he agrees. I look at the faces of my children. They are wide eyed but not hysterical. I hold up one finger and nod at them, they nod back. Traffic already direct the traffic!  I couldn't honestly say how we communicated, hand signals, yelling, telepathically, I think it was probably all of the above, but my boyfriend and I took up the traffic controlling. Miracle! We are in line with an on-ramp and an ambulance just happens to be heading up it. Maybe three minutes have passed. The sun is setting. From no where a man jumps over the median and begins running at us. He doesn't make it to me before my boyfriend intervenes. He is dressed in biker clothing. The man was waiting to meet his friend who never arrived. We send him to the hospital. He verifies that is indeed his missing friends bike.

My boyfriend manages to close off the left side of the highway with the help of other drivers forming a blockade with us. I am stopping and starting traffic from the right lane into the on ramp lane where they can get around the accident if no one is coming up the ramp. I have no means to block this route, other than my body, which loses in a fight to a car every time. A car comes speeding up the on-ramp, and I gasp. They hit no one. My boyfriend comes to my aid and begins directing the oncoming ramp traffic to slow down. We have no flares. They can't see him. Another car zooms past as he raises his arms, willing them to slow down. He's going to try to cross. I hear the engine revving up before I even see the black coupe, but I can't see the driver. I'm fixated on my boyfriend who has stepped out in front of this car to get it's attention. Time froze, and I saw every possibility in that moment. My brain flashed threw clip after clip of outcomes until my mind zeroed in on the one that it wanted. He twisted and leapt into a matrix fast float out of harms way. We don't jump that way, people only move that way in the movies, but he did. Safety praise Jah! The car slowed and missed the EMTs also.

Abruptly traffic from both directions stopped. Ten minutes have passed. Police have arrived and shut down the interstate. I am so relieved to be back in the car with my children. My boyfriend is running around talking to other witnesses and police. You should have taken pictures before they moved him. I grab my tablet and snap a picture of the bike as it lie, from my car door. I want my boyfriend to get back in the car. He doesn't. The officers inform us that the driver had been apprehended a quarter of a mile up the interstate where they lost control of the vehicle. They had not hit anyone else. Three more hours pass before we are told they will call the officer on the on ramp and let him know we're coming down. It's well past the hour for bed on a school night. They don't call and we can't pass the squad car without it moving. The officer gets out of his car and is approaching ours swiftly pulling his mag-lite from his belt as he does. "Where did you come from?" he shines the light on us and heads back to move his car without listening to our explanation.  

The next day I Google search the accident. I find two links that seem to reference the accident but when I click them the both redirect me to an 'article has been removed' page. In the following weeks I searched several times over and came up with zip. Who the devil was in that SUV? I can not even find out if the man survived. I give up. I resign that whoever was driving that SUV was important enough to be protected and so I would never find anything more out. I don't search it and I forget the date for months.

Then suddenly I begin remembering the man's face clear as day, the perplexity in his eyes. I remember thinking how much worse his internal injuries must have been at that speed than what his outward physique revealed. What did you say to him? I wish that I would have said "Sir, my name is Sweet Mary Kane and I am here to help you. Please attempt to lay still in case you have a spinal injury. Someone is calling 911 right now." I wish that I would have offered more comfort than "Sir. Please don't move." I wish I could have asked his name and sent flowers. You wish you knew if he made it. That's true. Perhaps today is the day I Google it again.

2013 ~ Sweet Mary Kane's Year of Being Love

It's 2013, and for the first time in my life I have no expectations of the events to come throughout the year. I am relaxed yet eager. When I look back over the slide show of my 2012, I can't hold back tears of joy. What an extraordinary journey I had! Never in a million years would I have told you that I'd be doing the things that I made habits in 2012.

Prior to my experiences with Cannabis I wasted so many years, never satisfied. Which wasn't the exact problem, but rather that I didn't even know what I wanted the outcome to be. All events were equally not enough; I always needed more and was certain I would never have it. Ever. And that's the type of thinking that gets you in this messed up sort of situation in your head. A sort of standstill in which you can not satisfy yourself because you don't have a direction to go in and you can't find your direction because you're dissatisfaction has robbed you of hope.

Right about now you're asking yourself where the hell is she going with this dark depressing hogwash? Maybe this year I can break that answering all questions in a round-a-bout story telling manner, but I doubt it.

Looking back I had every reason in every moment to be grateful, and Cannabis allowed me to do that all year long. 2012 went by before I could blink. I moved in with the love of my life. I got to see Cypress Hill, twice. I golfed at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort (Mountain course). I had the pleasure of staying across the hall from the glamourous Ms Elvy Musikka whom I just love and adore. My children are excelling academically and extra circularly. I met more incredible, wonderful, enlightening people in one year than I ever have in my life. I ran 56 flights of stairs in 12 minutes and 50 seconds. I connected with my kindred sister, Zen, a saving grace in my life. We completed Tough Mudder Beaver Creek, CO in 5 hours and 40 minutes. My eyes and ears have been graced with so much incredible information, education, anecdotal evidence, passion and love my mind can’t absorb the magnitude of it all. I golfed, I golfed, and I golfed and was lucky enough to participate in The Clinics 3rd Annual Golf Tournament. I VOTED. I wrote letters and made phone calls all year long (you might laugh if you got your hands on my cell phone contact list which includes FDA, White House, Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division, and the like).  For the first time,  I went skiing, and I didn’t die! I was given the opportunity to help the school children with their ‘who’ makeup for the Grinch play. I witnessed the first ever Cannabis Business Awards. And at the end of every day I get to tuck my kids in and fall asleep next to my soul mate. These are the reasons I know that I am on the “favorite children of Earth” list. I have been so abundantly blessed, and I can’t wait to get this year’s giving back underway.

So let me get to the point already. If everything in 2012 happened just the same way, except I wasn't medicating with Cannabis I have no doubt that I would be unsatisfied without justification another year.

It feels good to have no expectations of whats to come yet know that it's going to be brilliant! It feels really good to just be love.

What Ails You Sweet Mary Kane? Part Two

The fact is simply that I am Cannabinoid deficient when I do not medicate. And if you're not using Cannabis I would argue that you are too. Evolution has not 'weeded out' the presence of Cannabinoids in mothers breastmilk. They're importance and function should not be ignored for lack of understanding.

Now let's talk about my other ailments I choose Cannabis over big pharma to treat. We'll start with PMS I have the kind of PMS that makes one go utterly mad, I'm talking like suicidal mad and the physical pain is ridiculous, as well. Since my tubal ligation my symptoms seemingly worsen with time. Rubbing on a little salve relieves cramps, of such intensity I would have been bed ridden on Percocet for two days otherwise, within minutes. When I saw a nurse practitioner seeking relief from the uncontrollable  frequent, and random suicidal thoughts that were bombarding me during my cycle I was given many samples (probably six months worth) of a drug called Geodon, from big pharma. I was told it was a mood stabilizer and sent home. I took them and drove home several times considering continuing a straight path although the road curved. Fortunately I was also a nursing student at the time, and I immediately pulled out my drug reference book to discover the truth. I had just seen the drug dealer, and she was pushing anti-psychotics on me, out of a student health care center, without a mental health professional on staff! I threw them out and got by on Percocet and bed rest for several years before discovering Cannabinoid treatment. I'm not going to lie I can still get almost split personality crazy (we even have a humorous name for her), but fortunately for me a good brownie will knock her out within 20 minutes, and I can be part of my life again without waiting it out under the covers. Works the same way with depression.

Next up Alopecia Universalis: an autoimmune disorder in which your body does not recognize hair growth as part of you and, therefore, kills the enemy. I have been totally hairless, including eyelashes/brows, ear and nose hair, etc. for just over a decade. This is a tricky one because there is not a lot of factual information out there. Being considered a cosmetic disorder only many insurance companies do not cover treatment (which unfortunately is more like experimentation). Being considered otherwise healthy in combination with our low numbers (approximately 2% of the population affected) doesn't earn us any priority on the research list either. Here, is what I do know. If you have an autoimmune disorder, you are more likely to develop a second. If you have an autoimmune disorder, your pain tolerance is extremely high. I save a ton of money on hair related expenses and can take a shower faster than anyone that I know.

As far back as I can remember I recall my complaints of pain being met with 'suck it up', 'nothing looks wrong with you', 'it's all in your head' and the like. I also remember the pain continuing to nag at my brain as I tucked it away at these remarks. Sometimes my brain doesn't recognize pain properly or sends me an improper signal, like my hip hurts, but the only thing wrong with me is a kidney infection that presented no other symptoms. If I have to go to a hospital, I am treated like a hypochondriac, drug seeker, and/or giving a "prescription bandage" and discharged swiftly.

I have no desire to attempt to regrow my hair with Cannabis. As the person experiencing this disorder and all my other symptoms, I believe that they are related to the Alopecia Universalis. And while I am not saying that Cannabis could be a cure for it, I want the right to treat my symptoms as I see fit.

I also have a whiplash injury causing a reverse cervical bend and a knee injury that I use the balm on often. I once swung to hard and strained my shoulder golfing. I could have taken four Ibuprofen and waited twenty minutes, but I opted for the Cannabis salve, and my  oldest son watched the clock waiting for me to notify him that it had worked. Three minutes. We continued to play. I put more salve on at bed time and the next day my shoulder felt just brilliant.

'Spirituality and Cannabis' is an entire blog of its own.

There are other things we could talk about. For instance when I treat my symptoms with Cannabis and am no longer pestered by incessant pain signals I am able to soak up information like a sponge. My 4.0 GPA during my college years can be credited to "Wisdom Weed". I can be creative. I can spend quality time with my children. We could go on and on, but I think I have gone on long enough for now. It's your turn.

Gratitude List

Things Sweet Mary Kane is Grateful For in Life

Having my beautiful, funny, intelligent, compassionate, resilient children.
Find my loving, honest, hardworking, fun, intelligent and passionate soul mate.
Home. With a yard, safe neighborhood, AND washer and dryer.
Beds.
Socks.
Technology.
Long distance friends.
Awesome school for my boys.
Ozma of Oz: Time Traveler Extraordinaire. (My Car)
Being a highly favored child of Earth.
My mother.
Knowing my grandparents, their parents, and my partner's parents in my life time.
Sunshine.
Green grass.
The right to vote.
The ability to walk the path of enlightenment.
Fresh flowers.
Tough Mudder.
Food enough to share.
Vegetables.
Fruit.
Tofu.
New friends.
Old friends.
Photos.
Learning.
Mountains.
Exercise.
Teaching.
People who deal with spiders for me.
Postal Service.
Reading and Writing.
Tattoos.
Love.
Progress.
Cannabis.

I Am a Federal Criminal

Before I go into details, let’s talk about the other things that I am. I recognize myself as so much more than merely a federal criminal. Just as you are not your occupations, your spouse, your election decision, your diet, or any one thing about you alone, there is more to me than this one nasty label.

The first thing I am is a mother, it's even on my business card, and it’s the only title on my business card. My children have been the biggest blessing in my life. They are a gift to me. They bring me responsibility. They show me new ways to view the world. They grant me laughter. I gain everything, and it is an honor to watch them grow into the intelligent, compassionate, generous young men that they are. Just like any other parent, I want to provide them with more than I had for myself. They will grow and know so much more than I can comprehend and I wish for nothing more than the ability to prepare them to navigate and improve upon this Earth.

Next I am a community member. I believe in the people. I am peaceful. I participate in my life and the lives of others. I show up. I put forth the effort and base my decisions on a conscious understanding of doing the next right thing. I listen. I laugh. I love. I commit time and energy to charity events from the American Lung Association to the Wounded Warrior Project. I know my neighbors. I help strangers push their cars to the station when they run out of gasoline. I smile. I share. I support. I speak out against any wrong doing I witness in the world. I value the humans and animals on our planet as a family.

I am an activist. From the moment I heard that, a plant had been outlawed such effrontery of our government has burrowed into my heart and soul calling out for my action. I am not always good at it, and I have made mistakes, but I never surrender. I post hand written letters. I make phone calls. I read laws. My contact list includes the White House, the FDA, and the senators and governors of Washington, Colorado, and Oregon. Did you know that the phone is answered "White House" when you call? I phone bank for issues that matter to me.

I could make a very very long list of all the things that I am. Chef, housekeeper, secretary, chauffeur, sister, daughter, girlfriend, woman, writer, and on forever more. However that would be an obnoxiously long blog, and I wouldn't want to do that to you.

So it is that I am also a federal criminal. I don't want to be a criminal of any sort on any level, let alone of the federal magnitude. Having once ceased use of Cannabis to comply with the federal stance I now follow the laws and regulations of a medical state. I never sell Cannabis or share it with non-patient users. I keep it out of reach and educate my children about it leaving no room for curiosity to get the better of them. I maintain current registration and strict adherence to law, policy, and procedure. I wake up in the morning, and I ask myself who I am today and what I am going to do. The answer is always that I will not be afforded a sense of me without being pain-free and so today to be me I am going to medicate. I am going to break federal law to do it. I will not choose alcohol or prescriptions which chain me to a life of parenting from my bed. I will not live in pain allowing my mental and emotional balance to be disrupted in the attempt to compensate for the physical vexation. I will never stop fighting for freedom.

You may see me flagging you down to let you know your brake light is out. You may pull up to Dutch Bros to find that your coffee has already been paid for. You may discover you're thirty cents short in the market, but there is a helping hand around to lend you the money. I am not alone. You will find my brothers and sisters out there on their journey to freedom and while you may find some who wouldn't be labeled federal criminal a lot of us choose Cannabis even if we're still in the closet.

I have considered sitting down and shutting up in the interest of my children. Then I concluded self-censorship for fear of government would be of horrendous consequence. I am a lead by example kind of parent. I must show no fear. I must stand strong and teach them preparation, education, commonality, justice, and faith. Bottom line this is a civil rights issue, and I don't dare to imagine what type of a world we would live in if our historical leaders had let terror gag their messages.