It’s legal! Sort of. Hemp, CBD, is for sale everywhere. For some it seemed inevitable. For others it was unimaginable. It’s been years and generations in the tearing down and the making. A long road travelled. A lot of people chased down and arrested for sowing and reaping the wicked weed.
I’ve slightly researched this mysterious plant with the interesting leaves, but it has been in the periphery conversation of a nation (when not on the front pages of newspapers and the internet). The negative conversation consumed many with the stories of hallucinogenic trips around an imaginary world, while a massive army of supporters had cited, for years, research from the US Government about the enormous health benefits.
Industrial hemp has been around for at least 10,000 years, when first documented as being spun into fiber. It was made into rope, especially for use on ships, but the hemp rope absorbed water so that it had a tendency to rot. The use of hemp became abundant then, and continues, today: used in fabric, animal feed, seeds mashed for food, and, of course, leaves pressed for the oil, and many other uses.
Thousands of people have started their own businesses selling hemp oil on the internet, farmer’s markets, and at town festivals and state fairs. It’s selling like cotton candy.
Hemp oil seems to be at the top of many grocery lists, before milk and bread. And, it sells at a hefty price. All those folks out there who passed up the opportunity to get high in the past, just might try hemp oil, without THC, supposedly for its health benefits, because it’s legal and presumably safe. Some will try it for curiosity sake because it’s been deemed as safe and possibly good for us.
I’ve heard the many stories, but personally, I know a cancer patient, many of you probably do too, who could only tolerate pain and nausea by using THC, marihuana, cannabis, weed, pot. No matter what name we tag on, the health benefits have been at the helm of this battle for legality for years.
Long ago, I thought perhaps that I might be the only person in the universe who had not passed around a joint. Frankly, I was busy. It just wasn’t in my frame of reference. I had children. I was heavy with responsibilities, had a good healthy fear of drugs, I took serious note of the current research that my brain cells were limited and I didn’t want to lose what brain I had, and good Catholic guilt. I am thankful for all those.
Hallucinogens of all sorts ended lives as people jumped from tall heights, thinking they could fly, and lost their real dreams when their hearts stopped from overdoses, while looking for false dreams.
I’ll share a couple of cannabis-related, and/or loco weed, stories that I heard first-hand. I recall when I was 18 years old, living in Germany, that an Army sergeant told me about his one and only trip, probably with loco weed. He described his slo-mo walk across a field that scared him so intensely, he said he would never again try any hallucinogen.
Then there was the young teenager in the emergency room who pointed to the worms, spiders and many other creepy crawlies that spewed from light fixtures/outlets and corners. He vowed to never ingest that particular substance again.
But, I am hopeful that Hemp oil lives up to its many expectations. I want to have something to relieve pain that doesn’t cause myriad side effects. I went by ambulance once to the ER after taking ONE pill that my doctor prescribed for RLS…duh, doc.
So far, I have talked with a young woman who takes two drops of hemp oil each day and avoids the many ibuprophen tablets she used to take throughout the day for pain. Remember that ibuprophen can tear up your stomach.
Another person that I know personally has experienced relief from daily anxiety…without the high-effect.
And, yet another personal connection has found relief from headaches and migraines.
No negative side effects! That’s a good thing. Hope it stays that way. Natural can be better. Man-made chemicals (meds) are full of negative side-effects. Have you read that scary paper you get with your prescriptions? They often end with… “or death”.
Did I mention that about 20 years ago, on impulse, I bought a small, cross-body purse made of hemp fabric. I really liked it…but it had to go. I can’t remember if it had a marihuana leaf or the word, hemp, but I was obsessed with keeping it turned toward my side so no one would see it. Wish I still had it.
Until next time, live well
Brenda
