Do you feel it? Do you see it? It’s unfolding before our very eyes.
The nation is starting to change its view on cannabis. Cannabis, the most misunderstood plant in the world. For some of you any way. What a time to be alive. Cannabis users everywhere are slowly being able to come out of the closet, so to speak. Cannabis has become recreationally legal in 10 states, plus the District of Columbia, and medically legal in 33 others. There must be demand for all these states to legalize in one form or another.
American’s Love Cannabis
A Marist University survey concluded that American’s love their cannabis. Nearly 55 million of them, or 22 percent, currently use it – the survey defines “current use” as having used cannabis at least once or twice in the past year. Close to 35 million are what the survey calls “regular users,” or people who use cannabis at least once or twice a month. A Gallup poll found that more than 33 million adults identified as “current” cannabis users, although it didn’t specify a time frame the way the Marist survey did. A 2015 federal survey on drug use found about 33 million adults used cannabis in the past year, considerably lower than the Marist poll’s 55 million figure. Either way, there are a lot of people whose lives are changing in so many fantastic ways with cannabis.
Dismissed as Second-Class Citizens
Forget for a moment that people finally can receive and use a natural and safe medicine for a whole host of conditions and ailments. Based off the numbers, cannabis users are in your neighborhood and certainly within your community. Cannabis users come from all walks of life. They are teachers, doctors, police, PTA members, we’re everywhere.
We have lived in the shadows for so long. We have been looked down upon and called names, dismissed as second-class citizens. The non-cannabis patient doesn’t understand the struggles and hardships many cannabis patients have endured. Most patients were previously dealing with the black market and the threat of arrest, job loss, and their personal safety.
Risk vs Reward
Cannabis users know the risks that come with using a plant to medicate. That’s all changing. I know, I am one of them. I have dealt with it all in my 30 years of trying to medicate with an illegal plant. All of us have had to deal with the ever-present threat of being arrested. Some Americans still live with this threat everyday as they medicate naturally.
I remember vividly the stress and anxiety that came along with having cannabis on me anywhere but my home. I remember the white knuckle drives home after scoring a decent amount of cannabis from one of my many connections. Staying off the main roads and constantly looking for police was the norm. Now the ride home from the dispensary is a joyous one, like a child eagerly waiting to get home to open and play with his new toy. I no longer must look over my shoulder when I medicate somewhere discreetly away from home for fear of being arrested. I’ve even been to many events that were for cannabis patients and consumption was permitted, right out in the open.
It’s always a fantastic experience when you can safely medicate among fellow patients who are doing the same. An instant bond is formed, and many lifetime friendships are forged.
Mind Blown
It’s the little things. I no longer must deal with “connections” to obtain my medicine. No more meeting somewhere sketchy at their convenience, not mine. No more acting like I like them as people or having to sweat the whole time for fear of being arrested or worse. The not having to track them down. Not having to hear they are sold out. Not knowing what strain, I am buying, or where it came from, or what’s in it, chemical wise. Not knowing if the medicine is any good at all.
Being able to walk into a well-lit, safe dispensary seven days a week is truly life changing. Being able to select from a plethora of different strains that all have been tested, with labels I can review, is mind blowing. Being able to obtain cannabis in so many different forms; flower, shatter, budder, diamonds, sauce, elixirs, RSO, capsules, salves, troches, and many others is something out of a dream. None of my connections ever had RSO or really anything else on the regular except flower, and even that was hit or miss.
Best part is I can get the same product that works for me again and again. These are just my experiences. There are many of us, each with a story or two. We’re finally able to tell them.
To try and understand how big an impact this makes on everyone, let’s look at some numbers. The overall value of the cannabis industry in 2018 was $10.4 billion dollars. The estimated number of people employed by the cannabis industry is 250,000. The cannabis movement is coming for you.
Urbn Holistic is a medical cannabis evaluation clinic located in Baltimore. For an appointment or information on getting certified Call or text 410-314-9548. urbnholistic.com
