GLOBITY, EMPIRACY, DOOM
Dear Bruce,
Empires come and empires go, and ours is over. Who said that? Anyone who has been paying attention. Sometimes the end of an empire is due to environmental factors; others have ended due to overextension; sometimes it was because it got too costly; and others have simply outlived their historical usefulness..
The American empire is over, and is presently in its death throes. It is ill and there is no pill that can cure it. Imperialism, both economic, military, and religious, has built the American empire in a relatively short period of time. This is due to the speed of technological change. That same speed is why the empire is ending so quickly. The globe is now truly global. Communication is instantaneous.
What is at the heart of the matter, however, is the very success of the American empire. We have exported our mastery of our economic system and others have embraced it. We have exported our military weaponry and others have embraced it. We have exported our political idealism and others have embraced it. Thus we have been caught up in a major contradiction created by these exportations.
We have sent religious missionaries to the far corners of the globe preaching that it is the “next” world that really matters, while, at the same time, extolling and practicing consumerism based on the premise of getting all you can get in this life. We have exported a religion that extols the very values that promote economic failure in our economic system; to wit, sharing, kindness, honesty, meekness, etc.
We have exported a gospel of social democracy while warring against those who wish to embrace socialism. As if that were not enough to bring down any empire from within, we have recently, over the last 30 years, failed to practice what we preach, based on our own Constitution, which says that we should promote the general welfare and establish justice, and insure the blessing of liberty.
Either we will, as a nation, come into recognition that our empire is over, and scale back, regroup, and give up the concept of “American Exceptionalism.” We will then take care of ourselves and begin to practice what we preach. OR, we will embrace the impossible task of trying to sustain the empire and end up on the dustbin of history.
The contradictions remain only as long as we allow them to. We now live in a culture filled with so much delusion, illusion, and collusion, that it will take a major mental, social, and economic enema to bring this about. Not likely, not likely.
Lee Simon
Far ‘n Away Farm in Virginia
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HOPE STREAMS ETERNAL
Editor,
It's too late not to continue subscribing. Finally I have a little job: struggling stonemason, despite the bladderstone surgery and prostate issues and just plain tired. 70 is the next number. “Not dark yet, but getting there.”
Hope dies last,
Leon Van Putten
Meadow Valley
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MORE OF THE SAME, EXCEPT…
Editor,
Ach DuLieber. It is the end of a year of charismatic Dagwood Beaters, quaint marijuana zombies, and unavailable frontal nudity shots of supervisor Smith. Please avail yourself of funding made possible by my keeper (check enclosed) in the amount of $50 (count'em) dollars US for the next vile chronicles. Perhaps you could start a feature dealing with “Entitled Crones of Whine Country,” or send Pebbles Trippet to a Mensa convention, or do more Diana Duck. But more of the same will keep me happier than a drunk alien in Roswell. How about a contest? Best Turkey Vulture Parody? Recipes for Doberman Pie? Best Jim Jones Lookalike? A Lynch the Sniper poll? Charmian Sightings?
Semper Fi,
Ignatio “Devil Dog” Hephalumpe
Bellingham, Washington
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EVIDENCE? WHAT EVIDENCE?
Dear AVA,
Whenever I read a crime novel or watch a program like CSI, the investigating officers are focused on one thing: evidence. Do we have enough evidence to charge this suspect? Does the evidence we have tie a suspect to the crime?
In the real world? Not even close. All it takes is an accusation from some unbalanced bimbo with a cryptic agenda that I'm not even sure she understands and I'm fighting for my life and spending thousands of dollars to prove my innocence.
Had I known it was this easy to convict someone I would have disposed of all my business and romantic rivals long ago. Not to mention the neighbor who runs his chainsaw at 7am.
The evidence in my case can be summed up as follows: there is what purports to be a bullet hole in the accuser's vehicle. The accuser claims I put it there.
That's it. No independent eyewitness, no gun, no sound of a shot, nothing tying me to the scene, no motive.
A month down the road, the only firearm that's even remotely associated with this case is the unregistered one found in the possession of that traitorous she-hyena, my accuser.
And then there's the bad actor with second billing in this tawdry melodrama: Garrett Matson. It's common knowledge that this “gentleman” stays armed and is not shy about either brandishing or using his weapons. The community knows he got away with murder once. He is currently being sought for questioning in several violent matters.
These, ladies and gentlemen, are my accusers. The people who hold my future in their hands. A bipolar tweaked out ex-girlfriend who can't keep her shit together long enough to keep her kids in the house, and a megalomaniacal mama's boy who bolsters his Napoleon complex with guns and thinks he's living in a western movie.
There needs to be a system of checks and balances in place to ensure that innocent people cannot fall victim to vindictive — what? There is one?! The what, the Constitution? Oh, I see. We just don't use it here in Mendocino County.
Justice for Katlyn Long! Justice for Dan Shealor!
Thank you,
Daniel Shealor
Ukiah
Ed note: Last week in Ten Mile Court in Fort Bragg, Mr. Shealor’s jury trial in this case was set for January 18, 2012.
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DISPENSARY UPDATE
Dear Friends,
This is a head’s up about an important Supervisors meeting this Tuesday at 9am and bit of an wrap-up of what’s been happening with Mendocino Generations — our Anderson Valley medical cannabis dispensary.
This Tuesday at 9am, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors will be voting on a 45-day moratorium on the opening of cannabis dispensaries in our county.
A moratorium would impact the opening of our dispensary, Mendocino Generations, but far more importantly, it will affect patient access to medical cannabis and color the larger discussion on the future of dispensaries in our county.
We are asking for your support now. Please consider attending this meeting. We feel it is important for our county officials to understand how dispensaries contribute to our community and how our patients rely upon us.
The call for a moratorium was generated by a Grand Jury recommendation released a few months ago. That idea has been recently fueled in part by a strong opposition to the opening of Mendocino Generations.
Often with controversial issues, a time out can be a good thing, and this may be the case for the moratorium, which would last initially for 45 days. If this is the will of the community, we support this action.
We also want to give you a low-down on where Mendocino Generations stands now. Supervisor John McCowen has initiated the process for the creation and drafting of a dispensary ordinance for the county. The first public meeting was held on Friday, September 9 and was an opportunity for the public to weigh in on their feelings regarding what this ordinance should look like. Crafting an ordinance will be an exciting and challenging opportunity for all of us to continue to bring cannabis “up from the underground” and provide codified, legal and safe access for qualified patients. We believe this is an unparalleled opportunity to craft the best possible ordinance possible — the “gold standard” for the nation.
Concurrently, the Valley Bible Fellowship, which is the church housed next door to our current dispensary location, has formally asked the county to deny our business license on the premise that they operate a private school at that location. This issue will not be decided by any of the concerned parties, but by a formal decision by County Building and Planning and County Counsel.
In addition, the Anderson Valley Community Action Coalition (CAC), Anderson Valley School District and the Anderson Valley Community Services District (CSD) have all voiced opposition to our dispensary. They seem to be primarily concerned about our downtown location. Although we may disagree with some of their reasoning, we respect and honor their feedback. We continue to listen and have been invited by the CSD to talk about our dispensary project at their next public meeting: Wednesday, September 21st at 5:30.
Tuesday’s Supervisors meeting will be held at the Low Gap County Administration campus in Ukiah. Our long-term goals will not be impeded, regardless of the county’s decision on a moratorium. We will remain steadfastly focused, as you are, upon our shared commitment — to provide safe, affordable, legal access to cannabis, in Anderson Valley and the rest of our county.
Laura Hamburg
Ukiah
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ANOTHER ‘WELLNESS’ GRANT
Editor,
The Wellness Project: AV B Well. A Community Health Network.
AV B Well is a new initiative that focuses on health outreach in our community, with an emphasis on offering preventative and affordable health care classes and workshops to a broader range of people within the Anderson Valley community.
Over 30 health practitioners and educators were invited to the first meeting in August including a wide representation from the healing arts and health community.
AV B Well classes offered this Fall will include Zumba fitness for all members of the community taught by Cora Hubbert, An Easy Stretch Chair Yoga class at the Senior Center (all welcome) taught by Kathy MacDonald and a Bilingual Yoga class for the community taught by Cyd Bernstein.
Kira Brennan, who is teaching two Health and Fitness classes at AVHS, is the coordinator for the project and will be incorporating the AV B Well classes into her curriculum. The program will include a nutrition component, integrated arts, karate and self-defense, dance, aerobics, yoga and more.
In addition to offering classes, AV B Well intends to serve as a network for building a healthy community: A network that connects educators and practitioners in the health field and then begins to build better communication and outreach capacity in the community.
AV B Well is funded by grants from Community Foundation of Mendocino County and the Network for a Healthy California. Donations to the projects are much appreciated and welcome.
If you are involved in the education and health fields and did not receive an invitation to the first meeting but are interested in AV B Well, please contact Kira Brennan. If you believe that health begins at home and is essential for the well-being of our community consider making a tax deductible donation to the Wellness Project: AV B Well.
For more information contact Kira Brennan at The Wellness Project: AV B Well by phone at 707-877 3479 or 707-321 8644 and by email at kibrenn@yahoo.com .
Kira Brennan
Philo
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NUTTERY?
Dear AVA:
I just finished reading Alexander Cockburn’s lengthy dissection of the 9/11 conspiracy arguments in the September 8th AVA, along with his repetitious name-calling directed at the “conspirators”: cultic persuasion, fundamental idiocy, preposterous, virus, nuttery, bigotry, political infantilism, peripatic (peripatetic?), obsessions, kookery. I would enjoy Mr. Cockburn’s writing more if he left us to make our own conclusions about his subjects’ character flaws.
L.C. Lewis
Willits
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LAURA’S LAW, WITHOUT STAFF
Letter to the Editor
Report from Mendocino County BOS 9-13-11 meeting
1. Two supervisors (McCowan and Hamburg) are co-sponsoring a future Laura's Law presentation and agenda item. They instructed the Mental Health Director to look into Laura's Law and report back to them.
2. Stacy Cryer, the Mental Health Director and Health and Human Services Director gave a budget report. She was very proud of balancing the budget for the first time. She did this by:
a. Decreasing staff by 40% to 53 employees
b. Decreasing hospital admissions by 96 patients from the year before
c. Cutting the jail psychiatrist’s hours from 20 to 8 a week. There is a 2 to 3 month wait to see a psychiatrist and the doctor was needed outside the jail.
d. Serving only the mandated population.
e. Losing 20 staff members in Psychiatric Emergency Response
Sonya Nesch
Comptche
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DISSING JERE, POST MORTEM
Dear Editor,
I was glad to read Mitch Clogg's letter in your paper about the damage Jere Melo helped facilitate for decades as front man for G-P's timber liquidation. I was glad someone dared to expose the dark side of Mr. Melo. I since learned that the Fort Bragg Advocate-News editor refused to run it, even a shortened version Mitch wrote specifically for it.
Below is my letter to that editor, followed by her reply.
Tom Wodetzki
Albion
Dear Advocate Editor Connie Korbel.
I am very sad to learn that you choose not to allow anything negative to be said about Jere Melo, like Mitch Clogg's letter to the editor, below. Jere was a very public figure and therefore is subject to criticism. It's an undeniable fact that for decades Jere fronted very effectively for the timber corporation's over-harvesting of our forests, arguing against we environmentalists and fisherfolk whenever we testified against GP's environmental destruction and cut-&-run practices. Jere assured the regulators over and over that no damage was being done and GP was here for the long haul. Ha! Wrong on both accounts, and a disaster to our mill workers, loggers and fishers. Huge pain was inflicted on thousands of locals by the corporate policies Jere vigorously defended. This is not opinion; it's documentable fact. If you won't let this be mentioned in your paper, I'm shocked and saddened by your censorship and refusal to let the truth be aired.
Tom Wodetzki,
Albion
Reply from Advocate-News Editor Connie Korbel: “The time to publicly question the work, record and character of Jere Melo was when he was alive and able to personally respond.”
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ELLSBERG SUPPORTS SOLOMON
Editor,
Pentagon Papers Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg Endorses Norman Solomon for Congress; Will Join the Candidate on Campaign Trail.
Daniel Ellsberg, the renowned advocate for peace and the First Amendment who leaked the historic Pentagon Papers on the Vietnam War, endorsed congressional candidate Norman Solomon on Thursday. Ellsberg will join the independent progressive Democrat on the campaign trail next week.
Once referred to by President Nixon’s adviser Henry Kissinger as “the most dangerous man in America,” Ellsberg is an enthusiastic supporter of Norman Solomon for Congress. The famed whistleblower will speak at a house-party fundraiser for the Solomon campaign in Marin County on Sept. 22, an event bringing together two generations of antiwar leaders.
Solomon is running for Congress in the new coastal district that stretches from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border.
For details on scheduled campaign events, please click here .
On Thursday, Ellsberg issued the following statement in support of Solomon for Congress:
“For years I've trusted and relied on Norman Solomon's judgments on political action more than my own or others’. No one could better represent ME in Congress: Norman's values and priorities are virtually identical to mine, and I don't know anyone who would pursue them in Congress as effectively, energetically and eloquently.
“In Congress, Norman will not be silent when Democratic leaders lose their way or their nerve. He’ll be a strong, independent voice for economic justice, civil liberties and rigorous environmental protection — and a determined foe of the militarism that is depleting our society in countless ways.
“Since he refuses all corporate PAC money, I encourage peace-and-justice-minded citizens across the district — and across the country — to rally behind Norman Solomon’s campaign. I’ve worked with him for years and I'm honored to be joining him on the campaign trail.”
Norman Solomon
Inverness
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PAINLESS TRANSPORTATION
Dear Editor,
I don’t think the Republicans care much about what happens to our transportation infrastructure as long as the elevators and airports are in good shape.
John Wester
San Diego
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STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
Letter to Editor,
Gee, it’s so reassuring to know we'll get better government in Point Arena as a result of that nasty recall, and to see that only two of the currently elected City Council members have had sex with the previous Mayor Sinnott. Now we know why Patricia Schwindt was so adamant about that recall.
Debra Keipp
Point Arena
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SUPES GET ONE RIGHT
Dear Editor,
A beautiful thing happened at the Board of Supes meeting last week.
A well prepared and articulate citizen firefighter named Jeff Hedin from the Piercy Fire and Rescue Department told the supes that they made a big mistake when they imposed a huge event fee on the volunteer Fire Department last weekend as they were trying to raise enough money to pay for the gas it takes to get to the next fire.
The new fee far exceeded any gas money the fire department could ever raise. The room was full of folks who support our volunteer fire people and who know that our county needs to support these brave men and women who pay to risk their lives for us all.
Supervisors Smith and Pinches were outraged at the mistake that Jeff pointed out and promised to revisit and correct this obvious error. It is great to see our Supervisors respond quickly, take responsibility and move to protect our local volunteer Fire and Rescue angels.
Good move Supervisors.
Bess Bair
Dos Rios
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CONSPIRACISTS, MENDO BRANCH
To the Editor at the AVA:
Your September 7th issue provided us with Alexander Cockburn's attack upon those of us who do not believe the Bush Administration's version of what happened on 9-11. It is so full of down right misconceptions of fundamental engineering and physics that it deserves a response. Alex apparently has had no technical education and never bothered to take the time to become even modestly informed before taking off after us conspiracy nuts. I read his columns regularly and watch his blog site Countepunch as well. I seldom have a bone to pick with his views, but I can't restrain myself after this latest diatribe.
Cockburn states that the conspiracists think that the floors of the World Trade Center towers pancaked because Cheney's agents planted demolition charges. We members of Architects and Engineers for 911 Truth, against whom he levels most of his attacks, believes precisely the opposite: that the floors did not pancake. Apparently you never bothered to understand that controlled demolition has nothing to do with floors falling on one another and causing them all to drop in turn. The towers were mainly held up by a rigid central core of massive interior box beams and containing the elevators shafts, stairwells and utility corridors. The open office space 60 feet long and 35 feet side is supported on one side by this core and by the relatively light aluminum alloy framing on the outside perimeter. It consists of floor trusses with no interior columns. If pancaking had occurred it would have been confined to these open office areas since pancaking could not possibly have brought down the massive central core. This design is quite different from the conventional design Alex's adviser, a retired structural engineer named Herman Soifer, was familiar with. In fact Soifer explains to us that the towers were “essentially hollow tubes.” Nothing could be further from the facts. There was nothing hollow about these buildings.
Cockburn's other expert: “Pierre Sprey, a former plane and weapons designer who knows a great deal about explosions” but apparently has no civil or structural engineering competence, dismisses as “puffs of smoke” the huge explosions about every ten floors that shot heavy box beams from the building's central core 160 feet horizontally out through the exterior shell and all the way across the street, where many were impaled in the sides of neighboring buildings. Some puffs these!
Alex Cockburn complains that “the conspiracists have never put forward an overall scenario of the alleged conspiracy.” He is right here: we have had to work with only a portion of the data, since the rest is either buried in the debris quickly scooped up and shipped to China and India for recycle, or hidden away in the recesses of the CIA and Pentagon. We have not been able to subpena data, as one would do in a court case, and have carefully avoided expanding the study beyond the question of what made these towers collapse. Does Cockburn really think we should give up on the case because of the government's reluctance to open up the records ten years later? He also faults the “9-11 conspiracists” for forcing coincidences into logical sequences and treating forensic evidence in a whimsical manner. Yet he does not offer even one example to support these very general charges so we cannot respond.
Finally, Cockburn groups together some of the most zany theories that various loonies have invented, like the idea of a guided missile rather than an airplane hitting the Pentagon, and a bizarre story about President Bush shooting airliner passengers in Nebraska, and uses these to discredit the many years of hard work by logical and cold-eyed analysts. He does not even bother to question why FEMA quickly hauled away the wreckage from the Pentagon, and why the FBI has never released 80 sets of film seized within minutes of the Pentagon crash. He does not stop to wonder at the demolition of WTC-7 nine hours (Cockburn says erroneously that it was 7 hours) after the WTC 1&2 crashes without the assist of flaming jet fuel, nor is he puzzled that the 9/11 Report did not even mention this 47 story building's free-fall collapse. He summarizes his case by insisting that “Cheney couldn't even contrive a provocation sufficient to justify a war against Iran” and therefore was certainly not smart enough to pull off the WTC collapse. Surely Alex Cockburn can do better than this.
Jim Houle
Redwood Valley
Alexander Cockburn replies: “Truthers,” by definition, have nailed their colors to a theological commitment — “truth” — but their actual appetite for this commodity is very limited. Their doctrines are rife with implacable certainty — predictably displayed by Houle — though embedded in pitiful credulity, as when assaying such topics as putative NORAD response times. Have they read no military history, had no experience of military or civil screw-up, particularly in large organizations?
Back in 1999 the Mars Climate Orbiter had been speeding through space for nine months, and speaking to NASA in metrics. But the engineers on the ground were replying in non-metric English. The mathematical mismatch that was not caught until after the $125 million spacecraft, a key part of NASA's Mars exploration program, was sent crashing too low and too fast into the Martian atmosphere. The craft has not been heard from since. “We were on the wrong trajectory and our system of checks and balances did not allow us to recognize that,” Edward Stone, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said. The NASA center in California was in charge of the Mars mission.
Now, this was not a blunder born of haste and emergency. The contractors and NASA supervisors had what Stone touchingly invokes as “our system of checks and balances,” with plenty of time to review, check, test. The reaction of your average 9/11-er, fresh from arguing that NORAD emergency procedures were foolproof, hence failure was surely born from conspiracy, will surely be that NASA’s metric mismatch MUST have been a conspiracy, with reasons for same progressing on through various stages of nuttiness, depending on the mental stability of the “Truther” reviewing the case. We no doubt would end up with an allegation it was all part of the cover-up of the notorious fake moon landing, or a preparatory stage in the planting of the nuclear devices which, in the view of other conspiracists, provoked recent Indonesian and Japanese earthquakes.
The Truthers can't all be espousing “truth” in anything other than a posture of religious commitment since they espouse many theories, many of them mutually contradictory. Typically, Houle here lavishes scorn on “various loonies,” who in turn lavish scorn on him, like Arians and Athanasians battling it out in the fourth century at the Council of Nicaea on the nature of the Godhead and the Trinity.
David Ray Griffin, the Truthers' Aquinas, was raised in Oregon in the Disciples of Christ. He is, by profession, a professor of religious philosophy. According to Wikipedia, “he started to become a process theologian while attending John B. Cobb’s seminar on Whitehead’s philosophy. According to Griffin, process theology, as presented by Cobb, ‘provided a way between the old supernaturalism, according to which God miraculously interrupted the normal causal processes now and then, and a view according to which God is something like a cosmic hydraulic jack, exerting the same pressure always and everywhere (which described rather aptly the position to which I had come)’. Many of Griffin’s writings are devoted to developing postmodern proposals for overcoming the conflicts between religion and modern science. Griffin came to believe that much of the tension between religion and science was not only the result of reactionary supernaturalism, but also the mechanistic worldview associated with the rise of modern science in the seventeenth century.”
JFK conspiracists at least produce fully fledged scenarios, with names spelled out, guilt carefully apportioned. In ten years, beyond ex cathedra mantras about free fall and so forth the Truthers still remain studiously vague about anything other than the most blurry contours of this amazing conspiracy. Houle gestures vaguely to secrets “hidden away in the recesses of the CIA and Pentagon,” and seems to hint to Cheney’s involvement. In ten years Truthers can’t do better than that? I don’t think they can, not because of the prudence of Houle’s “logical and cold-eyed analysts,” but because a detailed scenario would expose the ten thousand obvious questions they decline to address or dismiss as libels on their faith.
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NO SO FAST, TOM
Editor:
The death of books and libraries has been greatly exaggerated (Tom Hine, Ukiah Daily Journal, 9/18/11), just as the death of radio was proclaimed many years ago. “Books and libraries are evolving” would be the correct assessment in my opinion.
What I'm learning from my customers is that some people, mainly younger, are indeed moving completely into personal technology for their book reading; some, mainly older, will have nothing to do with reading books on a computer screen; but most book readers still love having physical books in their hands to read, and to pass around, while they also may use technology sometimes when they travel.
I think that will be the norm for awhile yet, and then, as Peak Oil starts pushing energy prices into the stratosphere, and our energy infrastructure crumbles, as it is already beginning to do, then all bets are off. How affordable will eBooks be then, or even available? Will real books be used as barter currency? Will there be armed guards at the library and Mendocino Book Company to prevent looting? Hmmm. You may want to hang on to those books taking up space in your house for awhile yet, Tom. A local farmer may be quite willing to trade some organic potatoes and kale for your dog-eared copy of War and Peace, when times get really tough and your Kindle is gathering dust in the closet.
Dave Smith, Bookseller
Ukiah
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CANNABINOIDS
Dear Editor,
I've been out of town, but returned to find the rhetoric around the new AV dispensary ratcheted up to witch hunt level. “What about the children?” Yet no one can describe a single way a dispensary could possible cause harm to a child. “What about the Church?” The Church sent herbal healing into the dark ages for centuries and burnt all the herbalists at the stake. Between that and their priests' penchants for truly harming children perhaps they shouldn't throw stones. “What about the recovering addicts?” Cannabis is being shown as an excellent tool for giving up harder drugs and alcohol. Although I shouldn't need to say more, I've written the following article in hopes of making a dent in the ignorance surrounding Marijuana and its uses. You may all feel free to publish or use it at will if it helps in any way. I will continue to offer classes in this community as well. I believe the current Board of Supes understands the need to protect our rights to healthcare and protect our thriving local economy where all other economies are failing. But they are not the leaders, we are!
“Blessed are those who soften the emotional rigidity of their hearts, for they shall have all the power of nature.” From the teachings of Jesus Christ translated directly form Aramaic to English.
To: The Residents of Mendocino County and their Board of Supervisors:
The medicinal chemicals found in Cannabis are called cannabinoids. There are over 90 of them identified. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is a cannabinoid. It is the only psychoactive cannabinoid in the plant. THC is activated by heat, which is why those looking for a high smoke or cook their cannabis. THC is also an analgesic (pain relieving), a nueroprotectant, anti-cancer, and an appetite stimulant. It modulates many systems including the liver, the gastrointestinal system, the cardiovascular system, and it modulates other neurotransmitters in the body. The other non-psychoactive cannabinoids in Marijuana can be accessed through consuming fresh cannabis, taking tinctures, or applying cannabis medicines topically.
Cannabis can be used to treat such a wide range of conditions because cannabinoids are neurotransmitters, or packets of information, passed between cells. They also modulate other neurotransmitters, like seratonin, dopamine, or glutamate. They help many of the systems in the body by turning up or turning down, turning on or turning off, multiple functions.
Cannabis is very good at correcting chronic inflammation, which drives many diseases like asthma, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, and colitis. It is an excellent pain reliever – even for nueropathic pain. It helps tremendously with diseases caused by neural misfiring, like Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, seizures and tremor disorders. It reduces the rate and intensity of Autism outbreaks. Because Marijuana can cross cell membranes and cross the blood brain barrier, its anti-oxidant properties are about 1000 times that of Vitamin C, which is only water-soluble. It is a tissue protectant, a cardioprotectant, a nueroprotectant, an anti-spasmodic and anti-epileptic. Therefore Cannabis is excellent for preventing and treating strokes, heart attacks, Parkinson’s disease and HIV dementia.
Cannabis is anti-cancer. It counters angiogenesis (development of blood vessels) in tumors and shrinks them. It kills cancerous cells, and prevents cancerous cells from proliferating and traveling. Cigarette smokers who also smoke Marijuana get far less lung cancer, and those that smoke Marijuana alone get no more lung cancer than non-smokers. Cannabis acts as an appetite stimulant for those on chemotherapy or suffering from wasting diseases, including infant Failure-to-Thrive disorder.
Cannabinoids operate in the reproductive system by regulating uterine contractions, spermatogenesis, fertilization, zygote transport to womb, implantation, suckling, fetal development, and neuro-chemical communication between mother and fetus.
They regulate our immune systems and control and reverse auto-immune disorders such as arthritis and Lupus. They regulate blood sugar and help with diabetes.
In the skeletal system they down-regulate osteoclasts (cells that break down and reabsorb bone cells) thus allowing osteoblasts (bone builders) to recoup bone loss in osteoporosis and broken bones. They prevent and relieve muscle spasms and act as vasorelaxants and so are useful in controlling high blood pressure. Because they are anti-inflammatory and regulate gastro motility, they help with digestive disorders such as colitis, irritated bowels, and gastritis. They are expectorants and break up lung congestion. They relieve ocular pressure in cases of Glaucoma and eye injury. They are anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal.
Cannabis is a favorite medicine for sleep disorders, PTSD, and non-THC cannabinoids are anti-psychotic.
I am a clinical healer, and in my practice, and through anecdotal stories throughout the Pacific Northwest, I have witnessed the use of cannabis salves and the consumption of fresh cannabis and cannabis tinctures cause tumors, including terminal brain tumors, to disappear, cause Alzheimer’s to reverse itself, and cause chronic inflammation in the back and joints to disappear. I have seen it save women from extremely severe menstrual cramps, and allow the crippled to become more mobile.
In our current society it is only possible for someone to legally purchase a topically applied cannabis salve through a dispensary. Dispensaries can legally make fresh cannabis leaf available to patients. Legally, I can only sell the cannabis tinctures that I make through a dispensary. These simple, non-psychoactive forms of cannabis are saving peoples lives and improving the quality of their lives by correcting compromising conditions. At the moment, it is within the power of the Board of Supervisors to allow me to give or sell these medicines to those who need them. I ask for your cooperation so that I am not criminalized for healing a torn rotator cuff with something as simple as massage oil.
(I hold a BS degree in biochemistry and work as a holistic healer. I operate the Caretaker’s Garden, a natural healing center in the heart of Boonville. I am an herbalist and a medicine maker who teaches the healing arts throughout California.)
Thank you,
Wendy Read
Boonville
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